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Methane Fluxes from Alpine Wetlands of Zoige Plateau in Relation to Water Regime and Vegetation under Two Scales

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Abstract

Methane fluxes in alpine ecosystems remain insufficiently studied, especially in terms of the magnitude, temporal, and spatial patterns. To quantify the mean methane emission of alpine ecosystems, methane fluxes were measured among six ecosystems and microsites within each ecosystem at Zoige National Wetland Reserve. The average methane emission from Zoige Plateau was 2.25 mg CH4 m−2 h−1, which fell into the range of methane emission rate reported by a number of studies in other alpine wetlands. Prevailing ecosystem types had important impacts on the methane flux on the landscape scale. In the wet ecosystems, the microsites had different methane emissions resulting from the differences in the depth of water table and associated vegetation characteristics. The identification of the microsites based on their vegetation characteristics thus allows upscaling of methane emissions in these ecosystems. However, in the dry ecosystems showing even methane uptake, the spatial variation in the methane fluxes was low and the vegetation has a poor predicative value for the methane fluxes. There, the soil porosity linked to the gas diffusion rate in soil would be the key factor explaining methane fluxes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by National Natural Foundation of China (40671181, 90511008), Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC (2009BB7182), Chinese Postdoctoral Foundation (20090460058), and Key Laboratory of Mountainous Ecological Restoration and Biological Resources Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences (KXYSWS0902). We must give personnel thanks to Mr. Zhang Ming and Mr. Li Hua for their suggestions and logistic arrangement on our field measurements. Ms. Wan Xiong, an expert for ESP, was thanked for her great and patient help in our writing and reasoning. The anonymous reviewer was thanked for his or her detailed evaluation and constructive suggestions about our manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Huai Chen & Ning Wu

  2. College of Resources and Environment, Chongiqng University, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Huai Chen

  3. Institute of Environment Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, C3H3P8, Canada

    Huai Chen & Changhui Peng

  4. Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yanfen Wang

  5. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Yongheng Gao

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Correspondence to Ning Wu.

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Chen, H., Wu, N., Wang, Y. et al. Methane Fluxes from Alpine Wetlands of Zoige Plateau in Relation to Water Regime and Vegetation under Two Scales. Water Air Soil Pollut 217, 173–183 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-010-0577-8

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