Radiative forcing of methane fluxes offsets net carbon dioxide uptake for a tropical flooded forest

Abstract

Wetlands are important sources of methane (CH₄ ) and sinks of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ). However, little is known about CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes and dynamics of seasonally flooded tropical forests of South America in relation to local carbon (C) balances and atmospheric exchange. We measured net ecosystem fluxes of CH₄ and CO₂ in the Pantanal over 2014-2017 using tower-based eddy covariance along with C measurements in soil, biomass and water. Our data indicate that seasonally flooded tropical forests are potentially large sinks for CO₂ but strong sources of CH₄ , particularly during inundation when reducing conditions in soils increase CH₄ production and limit CO₂ release. During inundation when soils were anaerobic, the flooded forest emitted 0.11 ± 0.002 g CH₄ -C m^-2 d^-1 and absorbed 1.6 ± 0.2 g CO₂ -C m^-2 d^-1 (mean ± 95% confidence interval for the entire study period). Following the recession of floodwaters, soils rapidly became aerobic and CH₄ emissions decreased significantly (0.002 ± 0.001 g CH₄ -C m^-2 d^-1 ) but remained a net source, while the net CO₂ flux flipped from being a net sink during anaerobic periods to acting as a source during aerobic periods. CH₄ fluxes were 50 times higher in the wet season; DOC was a minor component in the net ecosystem carbon balance. Daily fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ were similar in all years for each season, but annual net fluxes varied primarily in relation to flood duration. While the ecosystem was a net C sink on an annual basis (absorbing 218 g C m^-2 (as CH₄ -C + CO₂ -C) in anaerobic phases and emitting 76 g C m^-2 in aerobic phases), high CH₄ effluxes during the anaerobic flooded phase and modest CH₄ effluxes during the aerobic phase indicate that seasonally flooded tropical forests can be a net source of radiative forcings on an annual basis, thus acting as an amplifying feedback on global warming.