Contribution of plant-induced pressurized flow to CH4 emission from a Phragmites fen

Abstract

The widespread wetland species Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. has the ability to transport gases through its stems via a pressurized flow. This results in a high oxygen (O₂) transport to the rhizosphere, suppressing methane (CH₄) production and stimulating CH₄ oxidation. Simultaneously CH₄ is transported in the opposite direction to the atmosphere, bypassing the oxic surface layer. This raises the question how this plant-mediated gas transport in Phragmites affects the net CH₄ emission. A field experiment was set-up in a Phragmites-dominated fen in Germany, to determine the contribution of all three gas transport pathways (plant-mediated, diffusive and ebullition) during the growth stage of Phragmites from intact vegetation (control), from clipped stems (CR) to exclude the pressurized flow, and from clipped and sealed stems (CSR) to exclude any plant-transport. Clipping resulted in a 60% reduced diffusive + plant-mediated flux (control: 517, CR: 217, CSR: 279 mg CH₄ m^-2 day^-1). Simultaneously, ebullition strongly increased by a factor of 7-13 (control: 10, CR: 71, CSR: 126 mg CH₄ m^-2 day^-1). This increase of ebullition did, however, not compensate for the exclusion of pressurized flow. Total CH₄ emission from the control was 2.3 and 1.3 times higher than from CR and CSR respectively, demonstrating the significant role of pressurized gas transport in Phragmites-stands.