Abstract
The inundation of boreal forests and peatlands through the construction of hydroelectric reservoirs can increase carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emission. To establish controls on emission rates, we incubated samples of forest and peat soils, spruce litter, forest litter and peatland litter collected from boreal ecosystems in northern Quebec for 16weeks and measured CO2 and CH4 production rates under flooded or non-flooded conditions and varying oxygen concentration and temperature. CO2 production under flooded conditions was less than under non-flooded conditions (5-71 vs. 5-85mgCg-1C), but CH4 production under flooded conditions was larger than under non-flooded conditions (1-8158 vs. 0-86μgCg-1C). The average CO2 and CH4 production rate factor for flooded:non-flooded conditions was 0.76 and 1.32, respectively. Under flooded conditions, high oxygen concentrations increased CO2 production in peat soils but decreased CH4 production in forest and peat soils and spruce litter. Warmer temperatures (from 4 to 22°C) raised both CO2 production in peat soils and peatland litter, and CH4 production in peat soils and spruce litter. This study shows that the direction and/or strength of CO2 and CH4 fluxes change once boreal forests and peatlands are inundated.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 381-392 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Science of the Total Environment |
Volume | 511 |
Early online date | 30 Dec 2014 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2015 |
Keywords
- Boreal forests
- Carbon dioxide production
- Flooding
- Methane production
- Oxygen concentration
- Peatlands
- Temperature
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Chemistry
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Pollution