Abstract
This study evaluated quantitative indices (soil organic matter, tabile C, and sulfate concentrations) correlated with methane production rates along related vegetation and salinity gradients in the Louisiana coastal marsh region. Expressed on a soil dry mass basis, soil labile C was the variable most closely correlated with CH4 production rates (R2=0.69). Expressed on a surface area basis, labile C and SO4 2− were both significantly correlated with CH4 production rates (R2=0.36). Lower CH4 production rates in saline marshes were attributed to higher SO4 2− content per unit area. This effect was confounded with the effect of plant species changes along the salinity gradient. Soils underSpartina patens produced less CH4 if collected from brackish marshes than from less saline intermediate marshes. Thus, variation in CH4 production across the broader gradient was not a result of plant species changes alone. Laboratory production data such as this can be useful in designing sampling schemes for future studies of field CH4 emissions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
American Public Health Association. 1976. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 14th edition. American Public Health Association—American Water Works Association— Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, DC, USA.
Anderson, J.P.E. 1982. Soil respiration. p. 831–871.In A.L. Page, R.H. Miller, and D.R. Keency (eds.) Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2, 2nd ed. Agronomy Monograph 9. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA.
Bartlett, K.B., D.S. Bartlett, R.C. Harriss, and D.I. Sebacher. 1987. Methane emissions along a salt marsh salinity gradient. Biogeochemistry 4:183–202.
Chabreck, R.H. 1970. Marsh zones and vegetative types in the Louisiana coastal marshes. Ph.D. Dissertation. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Chabreck, R.H. and R.G. Linscombe. 1982. Changes in vegetative types in Louisiana coastal marshes over a 10-year period. Proceedings of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences 45:98–102.
Crozier, C.R., R.D. DeLaune, and W.H. Patrick, Jr. 1995a. Methane production in Mississippi deltaic plain wetland soils as a function of soil redox species. p 247–255.In R. Lal, J. Kimble, E. Levine, and B.A. Stewart (eds.) Soils and Global Change. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Crozier, C.R., I. Devai, and R.D. DeLaune. 1995b. Methane and reduced sulfur gas production by fresh and dried wetland soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 59:277–284.
Davies, B.E. 1974. Loss-on-ignition as an estimate of soil organic matter. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 38:150–151.
DeLaune, R.D., C.J. Smith, and W.H. Patrick, Jr. 1983. Methane release from Gulf coast wetlands. Tellus 35B:8–15.
Dlugokencky, E.J., K.A. Massaire, P.M. Lang, P.P. Tans, L.P. Steele, and E.G. Nisbet. 1994. A dramatic decrease in the growth rate of atmospheric methane in the northern hemisphere during 1992. Geophysical Research Letters 12:45–48.
Graedel, T.E., T.S. Bates, A.F. Bouwman, D. Cunnold, J. Dignon, I. Fung, D.J. Jacob, B.K. Lamb, J.A. Logan, G. Marland, P. Middleton, J.M. Pacyna, M. Placet, and C. Veldt. 1993. A compilation of inventories of emissions to the atmosphere. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 7:1–26.
Jakobsen, P., W.H. Patrick, Jr., and B.C. Williams. 1981. Sulfide and methane formation in soils and sediments. Soil Science 132: 279–287.
King, G.M. and W.J. Wiebe. 1980. Regulation of sulfate concentrations and methanogenesis in salt marsh soils. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 10:215–223.
Nesbit, S.P. and G.A. Breitenbeck. 1992. A laboratory study of factors influencing methane uptake by soils. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 41:39–54.
Penfound, W.T. and E.S. Hathaway. 1938. Plant communities in the marshland of southeastern Louisiana. Ecological Monographs 8: 1–56.
SAS Institute Inc 1989. SAS/STAT User’s Guide, Version 6, 4th ed., Vol. 2. SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
Schimel, J.P., E.A. Holland, and D. Valentine 1993. Controls on methane flux from terrestrial ecosystems. p. 167–181.In Agricultural Ecosystem Effects on Trace Gases and Global Climate Change. ASA Special Publication no. 55. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA.
Siegel, S. and N.J. Castellan. 1988. Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY, USA.
Wahlen, M. 1993. The global methane cycle. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 21:407–426.
Wang, Z., C.R. Crozier, and W.H. Patrick, Jr. 1995. Methane emission in a flooded rice soil with and without algae. p. 245–250.in R. Lal, J. Kimble, E. Levine, and B.A. Stewart (eds.) Soils and Global Change. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Whiting, G.J. and J.P. Chanton. 1993. Primary production control of methane emission from wetlands. Nature 364:794–795.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crozier, C.R., DeLaune, R.D. Methane production by soils from different Louisiana marsh vegetation types. Wetlands 16, 121–126 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160685
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160685