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Concept
Greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands
Summary
Greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands of concern consist primarily of methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Wetlands are the largest natural source of atmospheric methane in the world, and therefore remain a major area of concern with respect to climate change. They contribute approximately 167 Tg of methane to the atmosphere per year. Wetlands account for approximately 20 percent of atmospheric methane through emissions from soils and plants. Wetlands are characterized by water-logged soils and distinctive communities of plant and animal species that have evolved and adapted to the constant presence of water. This high level of water saturation creates conditions conducive to methane production.
Most methanogenesis, or methane production, occurs in oxygen-poor environments. Because the microbes that live in warm, moist environments consume oxygen more rapidly than it can diffuse in from the atmosphere, wetlands are the ideal anaerobic environments for fermentation as well as methanogen activity. However, levels of methanogenesis can fluctuate as it is dependent on the availability of oxygen, temperature of the soil, and the composition of the soil; a warmer, more anaerobic environment with soil rich in organic matter would allow for more efficient methanogenesis.
Some wetlands are a significant source of methane emissions and some are also emitters of nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 300 times that of carbon dioxide and is the dominant ozone-depleting substance emitted in the 21st century.
Wetland#Types
Characteristics of wetland classes can assist to inform on magnitude of methane emissions. However, wetland classes have displayed high variability in methane emissions spatially and temporally.
Wetlands are often classified by landscape position, vegetation, and hydrologic regime. Wetland classes include marshes, swamps, bogs, fens, peatlands, muskegs, prairie pothole (landform), and pocosins.
Depending on their characteristics, some wetlands are a significant source of methane emissions and some are also emitters of nitrous oxide.
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