Diel and seasonal methane flux across water–air interface of a subtropic eutrophic pond

Abstract

Methane, which is an important greenhouse gas, has received less attention regarding its flux in ponds. Small ponds, whose area only occupies approximately 8.6%, comprise the bulk of CH4 efflux from lakes and ponds on a global scale. However, temporal and spatial variability, as well as consequences of CH4 fluxes from ponds, remains unknown. The aim of this study was to examine using 4 field experiments diel methane (CH4) fluxes from a subtropic eutrophic pond in different seasons. For the eutrophic pond, the mean CH4 efflux for all seasons was 1.772 mg/m2/h, and CH4 emissions in summer were approximately three-fold higher than total of winter, spring, and autumn. Methane diffusive emissions were positively correlated with water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and air temperature but negatively related to pH and to the difference between water temperature and air temperature. The diel diffusive CH4 flux among different seasons varied significantly. The CH4 bubble flux did not differ markedly in winter, spring and autumn, but the quantity in summer was significantly different from all other seasons. Bubble is the main pathway for CH4 emissions. The CH4 ebullition flux accounts for 66, 71, 97 and 98% of the total in winter, spring, summer and autumn, respectively. On an annual scale, the CH4 ebullition flux accounts for 77% of the total fluxes (diffusive + ebullitive). Our results show that further investigations need to be carried out to probe temporal variability of CH4 fluxes in ponds located in different climate zones for better understanding of the global carbon budget, which is critical to predict future climate changes.