Articles | Volume 16, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1685-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1685-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
25 Apr 2019
Research article |
| 25 Apr 2019
| 25 Apr 2019
Grazing-related nitrous oxide emissions: from patch scale to field scale
Karl Voglmeier
Climate and Agriculture Group, Agroscope, Zürich, 8046, Switzerland
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
Johan Six
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
Markus Jocher
Climate and Agriculture Group, Agroscope, Zürich, 8046, Switzerland
Christof Ammann
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Climate and Agriculture Group, Agroscope, Zürich, 8046, Switzerland
Related authors
Karl Voglmeier, Voltaire A. Velazco, Luca Egli, Julian Gröbner, Alberto Redondas, and Wolfgang Steinbrecht
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2277–2294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2277-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Comparison between total ozone column (TOC) measurements from ground-based Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers generally reveals seasonally varying differences of a few percent. This study recommends a new TOC retrieval approach, which effectively eliminates these seasonally varying differences by applying new ozone absorption cross sections, appropriate slit functions for the Dobson instrument, and climatological values for the effective ozone temperature.
Karl Voglmeier, Markus Jocher, Christoph Häni, and Christof Ammann
Biogeosciences, 15, 4593–4608, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4593-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4593-2018, 2018
Antoine de Clippele, Astrid C. H. Jaeger, Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Clement Botefa, Glenn Bush, Jessica Carilli, Travis W. Drake, Christian Ekamba, Gode Lompoko, Nivens Bey Mukwiele, Kristof Van Oost, Roland A. Werner, Joseph Zambo, Johan Six, and Matti Barthel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3313, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3313, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical forest soils as a large terrestrial source of carbon dioxide (CO2) contribute to the GHG budgets. Despite this, carbon flux data from forested wetlands is scarce in tropical Africa. The study presents three years of semi-continuous measurements of surface CO2 fluxes within the Congo Basin. Although no seasonal patterns were evident, our results showed a positive effect of soil temperature and soil moisture, while a quadratic relationship was observed with the water table level.
Vira Leng, Rémi Cardinael, Florent Tivet, Vang Seng, Phearum Mark, Pascal Lienhard, Titouan Filloux, Johan Six, Lyda Hok, Stéphane Boulakia, Clever Briedis, João Carlos de Moraes Sá, and Laurent Thuriès
SOIL, 10, 699–725, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-699-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-699-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We assessed the long-term impacts of no-till cropping systems on soil organic carbon and nitrogen dynamics down to 1 m depth under the annual upland crop productions (cassava, maize, and soybean) in the tropical climate of Cambodia. We showed that no-till systems combined with rotations and cover crops could store large amounts of carbon in the top and subsoil in both the mineral organic matter and particulate organic matter fractions. We also question nitrogen management in these systems.
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Daniel Mugendi Njiru, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Marijn Van de Broek
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2796, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2796, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how different organic and inorganic nutrient inputs affect soil organic carbon (SOC) down to 70 cm in Kenya. After 19 years, all organic treatments increased SOC stocks as compared to the control, but mineral nitrogen had no significant effect. Manure was the organic treatment that significantly increased SOC the deepest as its effect could be observed down to 60 cm. Manure was the best strategy to limit SOC loss in croplands and maintain soil quality after deforestation.
Moritz Laub, Magdalena Necpalova, Marijn Van de Broek, Marc Corbeels, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Rebecca Yegon, Wycliffe Waswa, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 21, 3691–3716, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3691-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3691-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used the DayCent model to assess the potential impact of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) on maize production, soil fertility, and greenhouse gas emission in Kenya. After adjustments, DayCent represented measured mean yields and soil carbon stock changes well and N2O emissions acceptably. Our results showed that soil fertility losses could be reduced but not completely eliminated with ISFM and that, while N2O emissions increased with ISFM, emissions per kilogram yield decreased.
Roxanne Daelman, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Emmanuel Bulonza, Lodewijk Lefevre, José Mbifo, Johan Six, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Benjamin Wolf, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The increase in atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gasses (GHG) since 1750 is attributed to human activity, however natural ecosystems, such as tropical forests, also contribute to GHG budgets. The Congo basin hosts the second largest tropical forest and is understudied. In this study, measurements of soil GHG exchange were carried out during 16 months in a tropical forest in the Congo Basin. Overall, the soil acted as a major source for CO2 and N2O and a minor sink for CH4.
Marcel Bühler, Christoph Häni, Albrecht Neftel, Patrice Bühler, Christof Ammann, and Thomas Kupper
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4649–4658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4649-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4649-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane was released from an artificial source inside a barn to test the applicability of the inverse dispersion method (IDM). Multiple open-path concentration devices and ultrasonic anemometers were used at the site. It is concluded that, for the present study case, the effect of a building and a tree in the main wind axis led to a systematic underestimation of the IDM-derived emission rate probably due to deviations in the wind field and turbulent dispersion from the ideal assumptions.
Marijn Van de Broek, Gerard Govers, Marion Schrumpf, and Johan Six
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2205, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2205, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil organic carbon models are used to predict how soils affect the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. We show that equifinality – the phenomenon that different parameter values lead to correct overall model outputs, albeit with a different model behaviour – is an important source of model uncertainty. Our results imply that adding more complexity to soil organic carbon models is unlikely to lead to better predictions, as long as more data to constrain model parameters are not available.
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Liesa Brosens, Philipp Baumann, Jean Paolo Gomes Minella, Gerard Govers, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 349–365, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-349-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-349-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Subsoils in the tropics are not as extensively studied as those in temperate regions. In this study, the conversion of forest to agriculture in a subtropical region affected the concentration of stabilized organic carbon (OC) down to 90 cm depth, while no significant differences between 90 cm and 300 cm were detected. Our results suggest that subsoils below 90 cm are unlikely to accumulate additional stabilized OC through reforestation over decadal periods due to declining OC input with depth.
Karl Voglmeier, Voltaire A. Velazco, Luca Egli, Julian Gröbner, Alberto Redondas, and Wolfgang Steinbrecht
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2277–2294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2277-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Comparison between total ozone column (TOC) measurements from ground-based Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers generally reveals seasonally varying differences of a few percent. This study recommends a new TOC retrieval approach, which effectively eliminates these seasonally varying differences by applying new ozone absorption cross sections, appropriate slit functions for the Dobson instrument, and climatological values for the effective ozone temperature.
Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude R. Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 275–279, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil C saturation has been tested in several recent studies and led to a debate about its existence. We argue that, to test C saturation, one should pay attention to six fundamental principles: the right measures, the right units, the right dispersive energy and application, the right soil type, the right clay type, and the right saturation level. Once we take care of those six rights across studies, we find support for a maximum of C stabilized by minerals and thus soil C saturation.
Armwell Shumba, Regis Chikowo, Christian Thierfelder, Marc Corbeels, Johan Six, and Rémi Cardinael
SOIL, 10, 151–165, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-151-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-151-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Conservation agriculture (CA), combining reduced or no tillage, permanent soil cover, and improved rotations, is often promoted as a climate-smart practice. However, our knowledge of the impact of CA on top- and subsoil soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in the low-input cropping systems of sub-Saharan Africa is rather limited. Using two long-term experimental sites with different soil types, we found that mulch could increase top SOC stocks, but no tillage alone had a slightly negative impact.
Mosisa Tujuba Wakjira, Nadav Peleg, Johan Six, and Peter Molnar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-37, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-37, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
While rainwater is a key resource in crop production, its productivity faces challenges from climate change. Using a simple model of climate, water, and crop yield interactions, we found that rain-scarce croplands in Ethiopia are likely to experience decreases in crop yield during the main growing season, primarily due to future temperature increases. These insights are crucial for shaping future water management plans, policies, and informed decision-making for climate adaptation.
Moritz Laub, Sergey Blagodatsky, Marijn Van de Broek, Samuel Schlichenmaier, Benjapon Kunlanit, Johan Six, Patma Vityakon, and Georg Cadisch
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 931–956, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-931-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-931-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To manage soil organic matter (SOM) sustainably, we need a better understanding of the role that soil microbes play in aggregate protection. Here, we propose the SAMM model, which connects soil aggregate formation to microbial growth. We tested it against data from a tropical long-term experiment and show that SAMM effectively represents the microbial growth, SOM, and aggregate dynamics and that it can be used to explore the importance of aggregate formation in SOM stabilization.
Moritz Laub, Marc Corbeels, Antoine Couëdel, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Magdalena Necpalova, Wycliffe Waswa, Marijn Van de Broek, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six
SOIL, 9, 301–323, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In sub-Saharan Africa, long-term low-input maize cropping threatens soil fertility. We studied how different quality organic inputs combined with mineral N fertilizer could counteract this. Farmyard manure was the best input to counteract soil carbon loss; mineral N fertilizer had no effect on carbon. Yet, the rates needed to offset soil carbon losses are unrealistic for farmers (>10 t of dry matter per hectare and year). Additional agronomic measures may be needed.
Kristof Van Oost and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 20, 635–646, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-635-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-635-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The direction and magnitude of the net erosion-induced land–atmosphere C exchange have been the topic of a big scientific debate for more than a decade now. Many have assumed that erosion leads to a loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere, whereas others have shown that erosion ultimately leads to a carbon sink. Here, we show that the soil carbon erosion source–sink paradox is reconciled when the broad range of temporal and spatial scales at which the underlying processes operate are considered.
Charlotte Decock, Juhwan Lee, Matti Barthel, Elizabeth Verhoeven, Franz Conen, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-221, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-221, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
One of the least well understood processes in the nitrogen (N) cycle is the loss of nitrogen gas (N2), referred to as total denitrification. This is mainly due to the difficulty of quantifying total denitrification in situ. In this study, we developed and tested a novel modeling approach to estimate total denitrification over the depth profile, based on concentrations and isotope values of N2O. Our method will help close N budgets and identify management strategies that reduce N pollution.
Tegawende Léa Jeanne Ilboudo, Lucien NGuessan Diby, Delwendé Innocent Kiba, Tor Gunnar Vågen, Leigh Ann Winowiecki, Hassan Bismarck Nacro, Johan Six, and Emmanuel Frossard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-209, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-209, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Our results showed that at landscape level SOC stock variability was mainly explained by clay content. We found significant linear positive relationships between VC and SOC stocks for the land uses annual croplands, perennial croplands, grasslands and bushlands without soil depth restrictions until 110 cm. We concluded that in the forest-savanna transition zone, soil properties and topography determine land use, which in turn affects the stocks of SOC and TN and to some extent the VC stocks.
Christian Brümmer, Jeremy J. Rüffer, Jean-Pierre Delorme, Pascal Wintjen, Frederik Schrader, Burkhard Beudert, Martijn Schaap, and Christof Ammann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 743–761, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-743-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-743-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Field campaigns were carried out to investigate the biosphere–atmosphere exchange of selected reactive nitrogen compounds over different land surfaces using two different analytical devices for ammonia and total reactive nitrogen. The datasets improve our understanding of the temporal variability of surface–atmosphere exchange in different ecosystems, thereby providing validation opportunities for inferential models simulating the exchange of reactive nitrogen.
Philipp Baumann, Juhwan Lee, Emmanuel Frossard, Laurie Paule Schönholzer, Lucien Diby, Valérie Kouamé Hgaza, Delwende Innocent Kiba, Andrew Sila, Keith Sheperd, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 717–731, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-717-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-717-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This work delivers openly accessible and validated calibrations for diagnosing 26 soil properties based on mid-infrared spectroscopy. These were developed for four regions in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, including 80 fields of smallholder farmers. The models can help to site-specifically and cost-efficiently monitor soil quality and fertility constraints to ameliorate soils and yields of yam or other staple crops in the four regions between the humid forest and the northern Guinean savanna.
Laura Summerauer, Philipp Baumann, Leonardo Ramirez-Lopez, Matti Barthel, Marijn Bauters, Benjamin Bukombe, Mario Reichenbach, Pascal Boeckx, Elizabeth Kearsley, Kristof Van Oost, Bernard Vanlauwe, Dieudonné Chiragaga, Aimé Bisimwa Heri-Kazi, Pieter Moonen, Andrew Sila, Keith Shepherd, Basile Bazirake Mujinya, Eric Van Ranst, Geert Baert, Sebastian Doetterl, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 693–715, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-693-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-693-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a soil mid-infrared library with over 1800 samples from central Africa in order to facilitate soil analyses of this highly understudied yet critical area. Together with an existing continental library, we demonstrate a regional analysis and geographical extrapolation to predict total carbon and nitrogen. Our results show accurate predictions and highlight the value that the data contribute to existing libraries. Our library is openly available for public use and for expansion.
Sebastian Doetterl, Rodrigue K. Asifiwe, Geert Baert, Fernando Bamba, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Benjamin Bukombe, Georg Cadisch, Matthew Cooper, Landry N. Cizungu, Alison Hoyt, Clovis Kabaseke, Karsten Kalbitz, Laurent Kidinda, Annina Maier, Moritz Mainka, Julia Mayrock, Daniel Muhindo, Basile B. Mujinya, Serge M. Mukotanyi, Leon Nabahungu, Mario Reichenbach, Boris Rewald, Johan Six, Anna Stegmann, Laura Summerauer, Robin Unseld, Bernard Vanlauwe, Kristof Van Oost, Kris Verheyen, Cordula Vogel, Florian Wilken, and Peter Fiener
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4133–4153, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4133-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4133-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The African Tropics are hotspots of modern-day land use change and are of great relevance for the global carbon cycle. Here, we present data collected as part of the DFG-funded project TropSOC along topographic, land use, and geochemical gradients in the eastern Congo Basin and the Albertine Rift. Our database contains spatial and temporal data on soil, vegetation, environmental properties, and land management collected from 136 pristine tropical forest and cropland plots between 2017 and 2020.
Philipp Baumann, Anatol Helfenstein, Andreas Gubler, Armin Keller, Reto Giulio Meuli, Daniel Wächter, Juhwan Lee, Raphael Viscarra Rossel, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 525–546, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-525-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-525-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We developed the Swiss mid-infrared spectral library and a statistical model collection across 4374 soil samples with reference measurements of 16 properties. Our library incorporates soil from 1094 grid locations and 71 long-term monitoring sites. This work confirms once again that nationwide spectral libraries with diverse soils can reliably feed information to a fast chemical diagnosis. Our data-driven reduction of the library has the potential to accurately monitor carbon at the plot scale.
Mario Reichenbach, Peter Fiener, Gina Garland, Marco Griepentrog, Johan Six, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 453–475, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In deeply weathered tropical rainforest soils of Africa, we found that patterns of soil organic carbon stocks differ between soils developed from geochemically contrasting parent material due to differences in the abundance of organo-mineral complexes, the presence/absence of chemical stabilization mechanisms of carbon with minerals and the presence of fossil organic carbon from sedimentary rocks. Physical stabilization mechanisms by aggregation provide additional protection of soil carbon.
Sophie F. von Fromm, Alison M. Hoyt, Markus Lange, Gifty E. Acquah, Ermias Aynekulu, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephan M. Haefele, Steve P. McGrath, Keith D. Shepherd, Andrew M. Sila, Johan Six, Erick K. Towett, Susan E. Trumbore, Tor-G. Vågen, Elvis Weullow, Leigh A. Winowiecki, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 305–332, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated various soil and climate properties that influence soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings indicate that climate and geochemistry are equally important for explaining SOC variations. The key SOC-controlling factors are broadly similar to those for temperate regions, despite differences in soil development history between the two regions.
Anatol Helfenstein, Philipp Baumann, Raphael Viscarra Rossel, Andreas Gubler, Stefan Oechslin, and Johan Six
SOIL, 7, 193–215, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-193-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-193-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we show that a soil spectral library (SSL) can be used to predict soil carbon at new and very different locations. The importance of this finding is that it requires less time-consuming lab work than calibrating a new model for every local application, while still remaining similar to or more accurate than local models. Furthermore, we show that this method even works for predicting (drained) peat soils, using a SSL with mostly mineral soils containing much less soil carbon.
Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Travis W. Drake, Landry C. Ntaboba, Basile M. Bazirake, Johan Six, Pascal Boeckx, and Kristof Van Oost
SOIL, 7, 83–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We compared stable isotope signatures of soil profiles in different forest ecosystems within the Congo Basin to assess ecosystem-level differences in N cycling, and we examined the local effect of topography on the isotopic signature of soil N. Soil δ15N profiles indicated that the N cycling in in the montane forest is more closed, whereas the lowland forest and Miombo woodland experienced a more open N cycle. Topography only alters soil δ15N values in forests with high erosional forces.
Christoph Häni, Marcel Bühler, Albrecht Neftel, Christof Ammann, and Thomas Kupper
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1733–1741, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1733-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1733-2021, 2021
Simon Baumgartner, Matti Barthel, Travis William Drake, Marijn Bauters, Isaac Ahanamungu Makelele, John Kalume Mugula, Laura Summerauer, Nora Gallarotti, Landry Cizungu Ntaboba, Kristof Van Oost, Pascal Boeckx, Sebastian Doetterl, Roland Anton Werner, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 17, 6207–6218, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soil respiration is an important carbon flux and key process determining the net ecosystem production of terrestrial ecosystems. The Congo Basin lacks studies quantifying carbon fluxes. We measured soil CO2 fluxes from different forest types in the Congo Basin and were able to show that, even though soil CO2 fluxes are similarly high in lowland and montane forests, the drivers were different: soil moisture in montane forests and C availability in the lowland forests.
Yuan Zhang, Ana Bastos, Fabienne Maignan, Daniel Goll, Olivier Boucher, Laurent Li, Alessandro Cescatti, Nicolas Vuichard, Xiuzhi Chen, Christof Ammann, M. Altaf Arain, T. Andrew Black, Bogdan Chojnicki, Tomomichi Kato, Ivan Mammarella, Leonardo Montagnani, Olivier Roupsard, Maria J. Sanz, Lukas Siebicke, Marek Urbaniak, Francesco Primo Vaccari, Georg Wohlfahrt, Will Woodgate, and Philippe Ciais
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 5401–5423, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5401-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5401-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We improved the ORCHIDEE LSM by distinguishing diffuse and direct light in canopy and evaluated the new model with observations from 159 sites. Compared with the old model, the new model has better sunny GPP and reproduced the diffuse light fertilization effect observed at flux sites. Our simulations also indicate different mechanisms causing the observed GPP enhancement under cloudy conditions at different times. The new model has the potential to study large-scale impacts of aerosol changes.
Long Ho, Ruben Jerves-Cobo, Matti Barthel, Johan Six, Samuel Bode, Pascal Boeckx, and Peter Goethals
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-311, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-311, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Rivers are being polluted by human activities, especially in urban areas. We studied the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from an urban river system. The results showed a clear trend between water quality and GHG emissions in which the more polluted the sites were, the higher were their emissions. When river water quality worsened, its contribution to global warming can go up by 10 times. Urban rivers emitted 4-times more than of the amount of GHGs compared to rivers in natural sites.
Marijn Van de Broek, Shiva Ghiasi, Charlotte Decock, Andreas Hund, Samuel Abiven, Cordula Friedli, Roland A. Werner, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 17, 2971–2986, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2971-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2971-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Four wheat cultivars were labeled with 13CO2 to quantify the effect of rooting depth and root biomass on the belowground transfer of organic carbon. We found no clear relation between the time since cultivar development and the amount of carbon inputs to the soil. Therefore, the hypothesis that wheat cultivars with a larger root biomass and deeper roots promote carbon stabilization was rejected. The amount of root biomass that will be stabilized in the soil on the long term is, however, unknown.
Pascal Wintjen, Christof Ammann, Frederik Schrader, and Christian Brümmer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2923–2948, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2923-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2923-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
With recent technological advances it is now possible to measure the exchange of trace gases between the land surface and the atmosphere. When using the so-called eddy-covariance method, certain corrections need to be applied to account for attenuation in the flux signal. These losses were found to be setup- and site-specific and can be up to 38 % for reactive nitrogen fluxes. We evaluated five different methods and recommend using an empirical version with locally measured cospectra.
Stephen J. Harris, Jesper Liisberg, Longlong Xia, Jing Wei, Kerstin Zeyer, Longfei Yu, Matti Barthel, Benjamin Wolf, Bryce F. J. Kelly, Dioni I. Cendón, Thomas Blunier, Johan Six, and Joachim Mohn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2797–2831, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2797-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2797-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The latest commercial laser spectrometers have the potential to revolutionize N2O isotope analysis. However, to do so, they must be able to produce trustworthy data. Here, we test the performance of widely used laser spectrometers for ambient air applications and identify instrument-specific dependencies on gas matrix and trace gas concentrations. We then provide a calibration workflow to facilitate the operation of these instruments in order to generate reproducible and accurate data.
Tino Colombi, Florian Walder, Lucie Büchi, Marlies Sommer, Kexing Liu, Johan Six, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Raphaël Charles, and Thomas Keller
SOIL, 5, 91–105, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-91-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-91-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The role of soil aeration in carbon sequestration in arable soils has only been explored little, especially at the farm level. The current study, which was conducted on 30 fields that belong to individual farms, reveals a positive relationship between soil gas transport capability and soil organic carbon content. We therefore conclude that soil aeration needs to be accounted for when developing strategies for carbon sequestration in arable soil.
Elizabeth Verhoeven, Matti Barthel, Longfei Yu, Luisella Celi, Daniel Said-Pullicino, Steven Sleutel, Dominika Lewicka-Szczebak, Johan Six, and Charlotte Decock
Biogeosciences, 16, 383–408, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-383-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-383-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study utilized state-of-the-art measurements of nitrogen isotopes to evaluate nitrogen cycling and to assess the biological sources of the potent greenhouse gas, N2O, in response to water-saving practices in rice systems. Water-saving practices did emit more N2O, and high N2O production had a lower 15N isotope signature. Modeling and visual interpretation indicate that these emissions mostly came from denitrification or nitrifier denitrification, controlled upstream by nitrification rates.
Carmen Emmel, Annina Winkler, Lukas Hörtnagl, Andrew Revill, Christof Ammann, Petra D'Odorico, Nina Buchmann, and Werner Eugster
Biogeosciences, 15, 5377–5393, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5377-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5377-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
It is of great interest to know whether croplands act as a net source or sink of atmospheric CO2 and if soil carbon (C) stocks are preserved over long timescales due to the role of C in soil fertility. For a cropland in Switzerland it was found that managing the field under the Swiss framework of the Proof of Ecological Performance (PEP) resulted in soil C losses of 18.0 %. Additional efforts are needed to bring Swiss management practices closer to the goal of preserving soil C in the long term.
Karl Voglmeier, Markus Jocher, Christoph Häni, and Christof Ammann
Biogeosciences, 15, 4593–4608, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4593-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4593-2018, 2018
Michael Bell, Chris Flechard, Yannick Fauvel, Christoph Häni, Jörg Sintermann, Markus Jocher, Harald Menzi, Arjan Hensen, and Albrecht Neftel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1875–1892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1875-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1875-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study applies horizontal concentration gradient measurements and inverse dispersion modelling to evaluate ammonia emissions from cattle grazing. The results can contribute to an emission factor for cattle grazing, where emissions where found to be towards the lower end of the range found in the limited number of existing studies. The influences of ammonia deposition, uneven urine patch distribution and climate conditions are discussed.
Undine Zöll, Christian Brümmer, Frederik Schrader, Christof Ammann, Andreas Ibrom, Christophe R. Flechard, David D. Nelson, Mark Zahniser, and Werner L. Kutsch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11283–11299, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11283-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11283-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate quantification of atmospheric ammonia concentration and exchange fluxes with the land surface has been a major metrological challenge. We demonstrate the applicability of a novel laser device to identify concentration and flux patterns over a peatland ecosystem influenced by nearby agricultural practices. Results help to strengthen air quality monitoring networks, lead to better understanding of ecosystem functionality and improve parameterizations in air chemistry and transport models.
Raphael Felber, Daniel Bretscher, Andreas Münger, Albrecht Neftel, and Christof Ammann
Biogeosciences, 13, 2959–2969, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2959-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2959-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We compare the carbon budget of a pasture using two different system boundaries: including and excluding grazing cows. We reveal the importance of non-CO2 fluxes as budget components depending on the chosen system boundaries and discuss the effect of their uncertainties. Budget components were directly measured or derived from cow related measured parameters like milk yield. The resulting carbon budgets of both approaches agree within the limits of uncertainty showing a near-neutral behavior.
R. Hüppi, R. Felber, A. Neftel, J. Six, and J. Leifeld
SOIL, 1, 707–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-707-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-707-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Biochar is considered an opportunity to tackle major environmental issues in agriculture. Adding pyrolised organic residues to soil may sequester carbon, increase yields and reduce nitrous oxide emissions from soil. It is unknown, whether the latter is induced by changes in soil pH. We show that biochar application substantially reduces nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate maize cropping system. However, the reduction was only achieved with biochar but not with liming.
C. Decock, J. Lee, M. Necpalova, E. I. P. Pereira, D. M. Tendall, and J. Six
SOIL, 1, 687–694, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Further progress in understanding and mitigating N2O emissions from soil lies within transdisciplinary research that reaches across spatial scales and takes an ambitious look into the future.
B. Langford, W. Acton, C. Ammann, A. Valach, and E. Nemitz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4197–4213, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4197-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4197-2015, 2015
M. S. Torn, A. Chabbi, P. Crill, P. J. Hanson, I. A. Janssens, Y. Luo, C. H. Pries, C. Rumpel, M. W. I. Schmidt, J. Six, M. Schrumpf, and B. Zhu
SOIL, 1, 575–582, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, 2015
R. Felber, A. Münger, A. Neftel, and C. Ammann
Biogeosciences, 12, 3925–3940, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3925-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3925-2015, 2015
B. Wolf, L. Merbold, C. Decock, B. Tuzson, E. Harris, J. Six, L. Emmenegger, and J. Mohn
Biogeosciences, 12, 2517–2531, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2517-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2517-2015, 2015
S. Doetterl, J.-T. Cornelis, J. Six, S. Bodé, S. Opfergelt, P. Boeckx, and K. Van Oost
Biogeosciences, 12, 1357–1371, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1357-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1357-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We link the mineralogy of soils affected by erosion and deposition to the distribution of soil carbon fractions, their turnover and microbial activity. We show that the weathering status of soils and their history are controlling the stabilization of carbon with minerals. After burial, aggregated C is preserved more efficiently while non-aggregated C can be released and younger C re-sequestered more easily. Weathering changes the effectiveness of stabilization mechanism limiting this C sink.
E. C. Brevik, A. Cerdà, J. Mataix-Solera, L. Pereg, J. N. Quinton, J. Six, and K. Van Oost
SOIL, 1, 117–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper provides a brief accounting of some of the many ways that the study of soils can be interdisciplinary, therefore giving examples of the types of papers we hope to see submitted to SOIL.
P. Stella, M. Kortner, C. Ammann, T. Foken, F. X. Meixner, and I. Trebs
Biogeosciences, 10, 5997–6017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-5997-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-5997-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Biogeochemistry: Greenhouse Gases
Air temperature and precipitation constraining the modelled wetland methane emissions in a boreal region in northern Europe
Ensemble estimates of global wetland methane emissions over 2000–2020
Seasonal carbon fluxes from vegetation and soil in a Mediterranean non-tidal salt marsh
Explainable machine learning for modeling of net ecosystem exchange in boreal forests
Dynamics of CO2 and CH4 fluxes in Red Sea mangrove soils
Nitrous oxide (N2O) in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania
Technical note: A low-cost, automatic soil–plant–atmosphere enclosure system to investigate CO2 and evapotranspiration flux dynamics
Tidal influence on carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from tree stems and soils in mangrove forests
Drought conditions disrupt atmospheric carbon uptake in a Mediterranean saline lake
Physicochemical perturbation increases nitrous oxide production from denitrification in soils and sediments
Carbon degradation and mobilisation potentials of thawing permafrost peatlands in northern Norway inferred from laboratory incubations
Seasonal dynamics and regional distribution patterns of CO2 and CH4 in the north-eastern Baltic Sea
Interannual and seasonal variability of the air–sea CO2 exchange at Utö in the coastal region of the Baltic Sea
CO2 emissions of drained coastal peatlands in the Netherlands and potential emission reduction by water infiltration systems
Seasonal and inter-annual variability of carbon fluxes in southern Africa seen by GOSAT
Influence of wind strength and direction on diffusive methane fluxes and atmospheric methane concentrations above the North Sea
Eddy covariance fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O on a drained peatland forest after clearcutting
Spatiotemporal variability of CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes from a semi-deciduous tropical forest soil in the Congo basin
Eddy Covariance Evaluation of Ecosystem Fluxes at a Temperate Saltmarsh in Victoria, Australia Shows Large CO2 Uptake
Using eddy covariance observations to determine the carbon sequestration characteristics of subalpine forests in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Isotopomer labeling and oxygen dependence of hybrid nitrous oxide production
The emission of CO from tropical rainforest soils
Interferences caused by the microbial methane cycle during the assessment of abandoned oil and gas wells
Carbon sequestration in different urban vegetation types in Southern Finland
Modelling CO2 and N2O emissions from soils in silvopastoral systems of the West African Sahelian band
A case study on topsoil removal and rewetting for paludiculture: effect on biogeochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions from Typha latifolia, Typha angustifolia, and Azolla filiculoides
Assessing improvements in global ocean pCO2 machine learning reconstructions with Southern Ocean autonomous sampling
Proglacial methane emissions driven by meltwater and groundwater flushing in a high Arctic glacial catchment
Timescale dependence of airborne fraction and underlying climate–carbon-cycle feedbacks for weak perturbations in CMIP5 models
Technical note: Preventing CO2 overestimation from mercuric or copper(II) chloride preservation of dissolved greenhouse gases in freshwater samples
Exploring temporal and spatial variation of nitrous oxide flux using several years of peatland forest automatic chamber data
Diurnal versus spatial variability of greenhouse gas emissions from an anthropogenically modified lowland river in Germany
Regional assessment and uncertainty analysis of carbon and nitrogen balances at cropland scale using the ecosystem model LandscapeDNDC
Resolving heterogeneous fluxes from tundra halves the growing season carbon budget
Lawns and meadows in urban green space – a comparison from perspectives of greenhouse gases, drought resilience and plant functional types
Large contribution of soil N2O emission to the global warming potential of a large-scale oil palm plantation despite changing from conventional to reduced management practices
Identifying landscape hot and cold spots of soil greenhouse gas fluxes by combining field measurements and remote sensing data
Enhanced Southern Ocean CO2 outgassing as a result of stronger and poleward shifted southern hemispheric westerlies
Spatial and temporal variability of methane emissions and environmental conditions in a hyper-eutrophic fishpond
Optical and radar Earth observation data for upscaling methane emissions linked to permafrost degradation in sub-Arctic peatlands in northern Sweden
Herbivore–shrub interactions influence ecosystem respiration and biogenic volatile organic compound composition in the subarctic
Methane emissions due to reservoir flushing: a significant emission pathway?
Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from mounds of African fungus-growing termites
Diel and seasonal methane dynamics in the shallow and turbulent Wadden Sea
Technical note: Skirt chamber – an open dynamic method for the rapid and minimally intrusive measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands
Seasonal variability of nitrous oxide concentrations and emissions in a temperate estuary
Reviews and syntheses: Recent advances in microwave remote sensing in support of terrestrial carbon cycle science in Arctic–boreal regions
Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming
Water-table-driven greenhouse gas emission estimates guide peatland restoration at national scale
Relationships between greenhouse gas production and landscape position during short-term permafrost thaw under anaerobic conditions in the Lena Delta
Tuula Aalto, Aki Tsuruta, Jarmo Mäkelä, Jurek Müller, Maria Tenkanen, Eleanor Burke, Sarah Chadburn, Yao Gao, Vilma Mannisenaho, Thomas Kleinen, Hanna Lee, Antti Leppänen, Tiina Markkanen, Stefano Materia, Paul A. Miller, Daniele Peano, Olli Peltola, Benjamin Poulter, Maarit Raivonen, Marielle Saunois, David Wårlind, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 22, 323–340, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-323-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-323-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Wetland methane responses to temperature and precipitation were studied in a boreal wetland-rich region in northern Europe using ecosystem models, atmospheric inversions, and upscaled flux observations. The ecosystem models differed in their responses to temperature and precipitation and in their seasonality. However, multi-model means, inversions, and upscaled fluxes had similar seasonality, and they suggested co-limitation by temperature and precipitation.
Zhen Zhang, Benjamin Poulter, Joe R. Melton, William J. Riley, George H. Allen, David J. Beerling, Philippe Bousquet, Josep G. Canadell, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Philippe Ciais, Nicola Gedney, Peter O. Hopcroft, Akihiko Ito, Robert B. Jackson, Atul K. Jain, Katherine Jensen, Fortunat Joos, Thomas Kleinen, Sara H. Knox, Tingting Li, Xin Li, Xiangyu Liu, Kyle McDonald, Gavin McNicol, Paul A. Miller, Jurek Müller, Prabir K. Patra, Changhui Peng, Shushi Peng, Zhangcai Qin, Ryan M. Riggs, Marielle Saunois, Qing Sun, Hanqin Tian, Xiaoming Xu, Yuanzhi Yao, Yi Xi, Wenxin Zhang, Qing Zhu, Qiuan Zhu, and Qianlai Zhuang
Biogeosciences, 22, 305–321, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-305-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-305-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses global methane emissions from wetlands between 2000 and 2020 using multiple models. We found that wetland emissions increased by 6–7 Tg CH4 yr-1 in the 2010s compared to the 2000s. Rising temperatures primarily drove this increase, while changes in precipitation and CO2 levels also played roles. Our findings highlight the importance of wetlands in the global methane budget and the need for continuous monitoring to understand their impact on climate change.
Lorena Carrasco-Barea, Dolors Verdaguer, Maria Gispert, Xavier D. Quintana, Hélène Bourhis, and Laura Llorens
Biogeosciences, 22, 289–304, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-289-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-289-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon dioxide fluxes have been measured seasonally in four plant species in a Mediterranean non-tidal salt marsh, highlighting the high carbon removal potential that these species have. Carbon dioxide and methane emissions from soil showed high variability among the habitats studied, and they were generally higher than those observed in tidal salt marshes. Our results are important for making more accurate predictions regarding carbon emissions from these ecosystems.
Ekaterina Ezhova, Topi Laanti, Anna Lintunen, Pasi Kolari, Tuomo Nieminen, Ivan Mammarella, Keijo Heljanko, and Markku Kulmala
Biogeosciences, 22, 257–288, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-257-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-257-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Machine learning (ML) models are gaining popularity in biogeosciences. They are applied as gap-filling methods and used to upscale carbon fluxes to larger areas. Here we use explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods to elucidate the performance of machine learning models for carbon dioxide fluxes in boreal forests. We show that statistically equal models treat input variables differently. XAI methods can help scientists make informed decisions when applying ML models in their research.
Jessica Breavington, Alexandra Steckbauer, Chuancheng Fu, Mongi Ennasri, and Carlos M. Duarte
Biogeosciences, 22, 117–134, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-117-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-117-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Mangrove carbon storage in the Red Sea is lower than average due to challenging growth conditions. We collected mangrove soil cores over multiple seasons to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) flux of carbon dioxide and methane. GHG emissions are a small offset to mangrove carbon storage overall but punctuated by periods of high emission. This variation is linked to environmental and soil properties, which were also measured. The findings aid understanding of GHG dynamics in arid mangrove ecosystems.
Johnathan Daniel Maxey, Neil D. Hartstein, Hermann W. Bange, and Moritz Müller
Biogeosciences, 21, 5613–5637, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The distribution of N2O in fjord-like estuaries is poorly described in the Southern Hemisphere. Our study describes N2O distribution and its drivers in one such system in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania. Water samples were collected seasonally in 2022 and 2023. Results show the system removes atmospheric N2O when river flow is high, whereas the system emits N2O when the river flow is low. N2O generated in basins is intercepted by the surface water and exported to the ocean during high river flow.
Wael Al Hamwi, Maren Dubbert, Jörg Schaller, Matthias Lück, Marten Schmidt, and Mathias Hoffmann
Biogeosciences, 21, 5639–5651, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5639-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5639-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a fully automatic, low-cost soil–plant enclosure system to monitor CO2 and evapotranspiration fluxes within greenhouse experiments. It operates in two modes: independent, using low-cost sensors, and dependent, where multiple chambers connect to a single gas analyzer via a low-cost multiplexer. This system provides precise, accurate measurements and high temporal resolution, enabling comprehensive monitoring of plant–soil responses to various treatments and conditions.
Zhao-Jun Yong, Wei-Jen Lin, Chiao-Wen Lin, and Hsing-Juh Lin
Biogeosciences, 21, 5247–5260, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5247-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5247-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes from mangrove stems and soils of Avicennia marina and Kandelia obovata during tidal cycles. Both stem types served as CO2 and CH4 sources, emitting less CH4 than soils, with no difference in CO2 flux. While A. marina stems showed increased CO2 fluxes from low to high tides, they acted as a CH4 sink before flooding and as a source after ebbing. However, K. obovata stems showed no flux pattern. This study highlights the need to consider tidal influence and species.
Ihab Alfadhel, Ignacio Peralta-Maraver, Isabel Reche, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Sergio Aranda-Barranco, Eva Rodríguez-Velasco, Andrew S. Kowalski, and Penélope Serrano-Ortiz
Biogeosciences, 21, 5117–5129, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5117-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5117-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Inland saline lakes are crucial in the global carbon cycle, but increased droughts may alter their carbon exchange capacity. We measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes in a Mediterranean saline lake using the eddy covariance method under dry and wet conditions. We found the lake acts as a carbon sink during wet periods but not during droughts. These results highlight the importance of saline lakes in carbon sequestration and their vulnerability to climate-change-induced droughts.
Nathaniel B. Weston, Cynthia Troy, Patrick J. Kearns, Jennifer L. Bowen, William Porubsky, Christelle Hyacinthe, Christof Meile, Philippe Van Cappellen, and Samantha B. Joye
Biogeosciences, 21, 4837–4851, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4837-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4837-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse and ozone-depleting gas produced largely from microbial nitrogen cycling processes, and human activities have resulted in increases in atmospheric N2O. We investigate the role of physical and chemical disturbances to soils and sediments in N2O production. We demonstrate that physicochemical perturbation increases N2O production, microbial community adapts over time, and initial perturbation appears to confer resilience to subsequent disturbance.
Sigrid Trier Kjær, Sebastian Westermann, Nora Nedkvitne, and Peter Dörsch
Biogeosciences, 21, 4723–4737, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4723-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4723-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost peatlands are thawing due to climate change, releasing large quantities of carbon that degrades upon thawing and is released as CO2, CH4 or dissolved organic carbon (DOC). We incubated thawed Norwegian permafrost peat plateaus and thermokarst pond sediment found next to permafrost for up to 350 d to measure carbon loss. CO2 production was initially the highest, whereas CH4 production increased over time. The largest carbon loss was measured at the top of the peat plateau core as DOC.
Silvie Lainela, Erik Jacobs, Stella-Theresa Luik, Gregor Rehder, and Urmas Lips
Biogeosciences, 21, 4495–4519, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4495-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluate the variability of carbon dioxide and methane in the surface layer of the north-eastern basins of the Baltic Sea in 2018. We show that the shallower coastal areas have considerably higher spatial variability and seasonal amplitude of surface layer pCO2 and cCH4 than measured in the offshore areas of the Baltic Sea. Despite this high variability, caused mostly by coastal physical processes, the average annual air–sea CO2 fluxes differed only marginally between the sub-basins.
Martti Honkanen, Mika Aurela, Juha Hatakka, Lumi Haraguchi, Sami Kielosto, Timo Mäkelä, Jukka Seppälä, Simo-Matti Siiriä, Ken Stenbäck, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Pasi Ylöstalo, and Lauri Laakso
Biogeosciences, 21, 4341–4359, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4341-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4341-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The exchange of CO2 between the sea and the atmosphere was studied in the Archipelago Sea, Baltic Sea, in 2017–2021, using an eddy covariance technique. The sea acted as a net source of CO2 with an average yearly emission of 27.1 gC m-2 yr-1, indicating that the marine ecosystem respired carbon that originated elsewhere. The yearly CO2 emission varied between 18.2–39.2 gC m-2 yr-1, mostly due to the yearly variation of ecosystem carbon uptake.
Ralf C. H. Aben, Daniël van de Craats, Jim Boonman, Stijn H. Peeters, Bart Vriend, Coline C. F. Boonman, Ype van der Velde, Gilles Erkens, and Merit van den Berg
Biogeosciences, 21, 4099–4118, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4099-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4099-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Drained peatlands cause high CO2 emissions. We assessed the effectiveness of subsurface water infiltration systems (WISs) in reducing CO2 emissions related to increases in water table depth (WTD) on 12 sites for up to 4 years. Results show WISs markedly reduced emissions by 2.1 t CO2-C ha-1 yr-1. The relationship between the amount of carbon above the WTD and CO2 emission was stronger than the relationship between WTD and emission. Long-term monitoring is crucial for accurate emission estimates.
Eva-Marie Metz, Sanam Noreen Vardag, Sourish Basu, Martin Jung, and André Butz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1955, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1955, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We estimate CO2 fluxes in semi-arid southern Africa from 2009 to 2018 based on satellite CO2 measurements and atmospheric inverse modelling. By selecting process-based vegetation models, which agree with the satellite CO2 fluxes, we find that soil respiration mainly drives the seasonality, whereas photosynthesis substantially influences the interannual variability. Our study emphasizes the need of better representing the response of semi-arid ecosystems to soil rewetting in vegetation models.
Ingeborg Bussmann, Eric P. Achterberg, Holger Brix, Nicolas Brüggemann, Götz Flöser, Claudia Schütze, and Philipp Fischer
Biogeosciences, 21, 3819–3838, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3819-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3819-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas and contributes to climate warming. However, the input of CH4 from coastal areas to the atmosphere is not well defined. Dissolved and atmospheric CH4 was determined at high spatial resolution in or above the North Sea. The atmospheric CH4 concentration was mainly influenced by wind direction. With our detailed study on the spatial distribution of CH4 fluxes we were able to provide a detailed and more realistic estimation of coastal CH4 fluxes.
Olli-Pekka Tikkasalo, Olli Peltola, Pavel Alekseychik, Juha Heikkinen, Samuli Launiainen, Aleksi Lehtonen, Qian Li, Eduardo Martinez-García, Mikko Peltoniemi, Petri Salovaara, Ville Tuominen, and Raisa Mäkipää
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1994, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1994, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) were measured from a clearcut peatland forest site. The measurements covered the whole year of 2022 which was the second growing season after the clearcut. The site was a strong GHG source and the highest emissions came from CO2 followed by N2O and CH4. A statistical model that included information on different surfaces in the site was developed to unravel surface-type specific GHG fluxes.
Roxanne Daelman, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Emmanuel Bulonza, Lodewijk Lefevre, José Mbifo, Johan Six, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Benjamin Wolf, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The increase in atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gasses (GHG) since 1750 is attributed to human activity, however natural ecosystems, such as tropical forests, also contribute to GHG budgets. The Congo basin hosts the second largest tropical forest and is understudied. In this study, measurements of soil GHG exchange were carried out during 16 months in a tropical forest in the Congo Basin. Overall, the soil acted as a major source for CO2 and N2O and a minor sink for CH4.
Ruth Reef, Edoardo Daly, Tivanka Anandappa, Eboni-Jane Vienna-Hallam, Harriet Robertson, Matthew Peck, and Adrien Guyot
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2182, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2182, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Studies show that saltmarshes excel at capturing carbon from the atmosphere. In this study, we measured CO2 flux in an Australian temperate saltmarsh on French Island. The temperate saltmarsh exhibited strong seasonality. During the warmer growing season, the saltmarsh absorbed on average 10.5 grams of CO2 from the atmosphere per m2 daily. Even in winter, when plants were dormant, it continued to be a CO2 sink, albeit smaller. Cool temperatures and high cloud cover inhibit carbon sequestration.
Niu Zhu, Jinniu Wang, Dongliang Luo, Xufeng Wang, Cheng Shen, and Ning Wu
Biogeosciences, 21, 3509–3522, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3509-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3509-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our study delves into the vital role of subalpine forests in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau as carbon sinks in the context of climate change. Utilizing advanced eddy covariance systems, we uncover their significant carbon sequestration potential, observing distinct seasonal patterns influenced by temperature, humidity, and radiation. Notably, these forests exhibit robust carbon absorption, with potential implications for global carbon balance.
Colette L. Kelly, Nicole M. Travis, Pascale Anabelle Baya, Claudia Frey, Xin Sun, Bess B. Ward, and Karen L. Casciotti
Biogeosciences, 21, 3215–3238, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3215-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3215-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, accumulates in regions of the ocean that are low in dissolved oxygen. We used a novel combination of chemical tracers to determine how nitrous oxide is produced in one of these regions, the eastern tropical North Pacific Ocean. Our experiments showed that the two most important sources of nitrous oxide under low-oxygen conditions are denitrification, an anaerobic process, and a novel “hybrid” process performed by ammonia-oxidizing archaea.
Hella van Asperen, Thorsten Warneke, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Bruce Forsberg, Sávio José Filgueiras Ferreira, Thomas Röckmann, Carina van der Veen, Sipko Bulthuis, Leonardo Ramos de Oliveira, Thiago de Lima Xavier, Jailson da Mata, Marta de Oliveira Sá, Paulo Ricardo Teixeira, Julie Andrews de França e Silva, Susan Trumbore, and Justus Notholt
Biogeosciences, 21, 3183–3199, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3183-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3183-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon monoxide (CO) is regarded as an important indirect greenhouse gas. Soils can emit and take up CO, but, until now, uncertainty remains as to which process dominates in tropical rainforests. We present the first soil CO flux measurements from a tropical rainforest. Based on our observations, we report that tropical rainforest soils are a net source of CO. In addition, we show that valley streams and inundated areas are likely additional hot spots of CO in the ecosystem.
Sebastian F. A. Jordan, Stefan Schloemer, Martin Krüger, Tanja Heffner, Marcus A. Horn, and Martin Blumenberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1461, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1461, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In a multilayered approach, we studied eight cut and buried abandoned oil wells in a peat rich area of Northern Germany for methane flux, soil gas composition, and isotopic signatures of soil methane and carbon dioxide. The detected methane emissions were of biogenic, peat origin and were not associated with the abandoned wells. Additional microbial analysis and methane oxidation rate measurements demonstrated a high methane-emission mitigation potential in the studied peat-soils.
Laura Thölix, Leif Backman, Minttu Havu, Esko Karvinen, Jesse Soininen, Justine Trémeau, Olli Nevalainen, Joyson Ahongshangbam, Leena Järvi, and Liisa Kulmala
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1453, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1453, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Cities seek carbon neutrality and are interested in the sinks of urban vegetation. Measurements are difficult to do which leads to the need for modeling carbon cycle. In this study, we examined the performance of models in estimating carbon sequestration rates in lawns, park trees, and urban forests in Helsinki, Finland. We found that models simulated seasonal and annual variations well. Trees had larger carbon sequestration rates compared with lawns and irrigation often increased carbon sink.
Yélognissè Agbohessou, Claire Delon, Manuela Grippa, Eric Mougin, Daouda Ngom, Espoir Koudjo Gaglo, Ousmane Ndiaye, Paulo Salgado, and Olivier Roupsard
Biogeosciences, 21, 2811–2837, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2811-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2811-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Emissions of greenhouse gases in the Sahel are not well represented because they are considered weak compared to the rest of the world. However, natural areas in the Sahel emit carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides, which need to be assessed because of extended surfaces. We propose an assessment of such emissions in Sahelian silvopastoral systems and of how they are influenced by environmental characteristics. These results are essential to inform climate change strategies in the region.
Merit van den Berg, Thomas M. Gremmen, Renske J. E. Vroom, Jacobus van Huissteden, Jim Boonman, Corine J. A. van Huissteden, Ype van der Velde, Alfons J. P. Smolders, and Bas P. van de Riet
Biogeosciences, 21, 2669–2690, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2669-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2669-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Drained peatlands emit 3 % of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Paludiculture is a way to reduce CO2 emissions while at the same time generating an income for landowners. The side effect is the potentially high methane emissions. We found very high methane emissions for broadleaf cattail compared with narrowleaf cattail and water fern. The rewetting was, however, effective to stop CO2 emissions for all species. The highest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions had narrowleaf cattail.
Thea H. Heimdal, Galen A. McKinley, Adrienne J. Sutton, Amanda R. Fay, and Lucas Gloege
Biogeosciences, 21, 2159–2176, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2159-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2159-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of ocean carbon are limited in time and space. Machine learning algorithms are therefore used to reconstruct ocean carbon where observations do not exist. Improving these reconstructions is important in order to accurately estimate how much carbon the ocean absorbs from the atmosphere. In this study, we find that a small addition of observations from the Southern Ocean, obtained by autonomous sampling platforms, could significantly improve the reconstructions.
Gabrielle Emma Kleber, Leonard Magerl, Alexandra V. Turchyn, Mark Trimmer, Yizhu Zhu, and Andrew Hodson
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1273, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1273, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our research on Svalbard has uncovered that melting glaciers can release large amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By studying a glacier over two summers, we found that its river was highly concentrated in methane. This suggests that as the Arctic warms and glaciers melt, they could be a significant source of methane emissions. This is the first time such emissions have been measured on Svalbard, indicating a wider environmental concern as similar processes may occur across the Arctic.
Guilherme L. Torres Mendonça, Julia Pongratz, and Christian H. Reick
Biogeosciences, 21, 1923–1960, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1923-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1923-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We study the timescale dependence of airborne fraction and underlying feedbacks by a theory of the climate–carbon system. Using simulations we show the predictive power of this theory and find that (1) this fraction generally decreases for increasing timescales and (2) at all timescales the total feedback is negative and the model spread in a single feedback causes the spread in the airborne fraction. Our study indicates that those are properties of the system, independently of the scenario.
François Clayer, Jan Erik Thrane, Kuria Ndungu, Andrew King, Peter Dörsch, and Thomas Rohrlack
Biogeosciences, 21, 1903–1921, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1903-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1903-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Determination of dissolved greenhouse gas (GHG) in freshwater allows us to estimate GHG fluxes. Mercuric chloride (HgCl2) is used to preserve water samples prior to GHG analysis despite its environmental and health impacts and interferences with water chemistry in freshwater. Here, we tested the effects of HgCl2, two substitutes and storage time on GHG in water from two boreal lakes. Preservation with HgCl2 caused overestimation of CO2 concentration with consequences for GHG flux estimation.
Helena Rautakoski, Mika Korkiakoski, Jarmo Mäkelä, Markku Koskinen, Kari Minkkinen, Mika Aurela, Paavo Ojanen, and Annalea Lohila
Biogeosciences, 21, 1867–1886, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1867-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1867-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Current and future nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are difficult to estimate due to their high variability in space and time. Several years of N2O fluxes from drained boreal peatland forest indicate high importance of summer precipitation, winter temperature, and snow conditions in controlling annual N2O emissions. The results indicate increasing year-to-year variation in N2O emissions in changing climate with more extreme seasonal weather conditions.
Matthias Koschorreck, Norbert Kamjunke, Uta Koedel, Michael Rode, Claudia Schuetze, and Ingeborg Bussmann
Biogeosciences, 21, 1613–1628, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We measured the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from different sites at the river Elbe in Germany over 3 days to find out what is more important for quantification: small-scale spatial variability or diurnal temporal variability. We found that CO2 emissions were very different between day and night, while CH4 emissions were more different between sites. Dried out river sediments contributed to CO2 emissions, while the side areas of the river were important CH4 sources.
Odysseas Sifounakis, Edwin Haas, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, and Maria P. Papadopoulou
Biogeosciences, 21, 1563–1581, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1563-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1563-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We performed a full assessment of the carbon and nitrogen cycles of a cropland ecosystem. An uncertainty analysis and quantification of all carbon and nitrogen fluxes were deployed. The inventory simulations include greenhouse gas emissions of N2O, NH3 volatilization and NO3 leaching from arable land cultivation in Greece. The inventory also reports changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks in arable soils.
Sarah M. Ludwig, Luke Schiferl, Jacqueline Hung, Susan M. Natali, and Roisin Commane
Biogeosciences, 21, 1301–1321, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1301-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1301-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Landscapes are often assumed to be homogeneous when using eddy covariance fluxes, which can lead to biases when calculating carbon budgets. In this study we report eddy covariance carbon fluxes from heterogeneous tundra. We used the footprints of each flux observation to unmix the fluxes coming from components of the landscape. We identified and quantified hot spots of carbon emissions in the landscape. Accurately scaling with landscape heterogeneity yielded half as much regional carbon uptake.
Justine Trémeau, Beñat Olascoaga, Leif Backman, Esko Karvinen, Henriikka Vekuri, and Liisa Kulmala
Biogeosciences, 21, 949–972, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-949-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-949-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied urban lawns and meadows in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. We found that meadows are more resistant to drought events but that they do not increase carbon sequestration compared with lawns. Moreover, the transformation from lawns to meadows did not demonstrate any negative climate effects in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Even though social and economic aspects also steer urban development, these results can guide planning to consider carbon-smart options.
Guantao Chen, Edzo Veldkamp, Muhammad Damris, Bambang Irawan, Aiyen Tjoa, and Marife D. Corre
Biogeosciences, 21, 513–529, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-513-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-513-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We established an oil palm management experiment in a large-scale oil palm plantation in Jambi, Indonesia. We recorded oil palm fruit yield and measured soil CO2, N2O, and CH4 fluxes. After 4 years of treatment, compared with conventional fertilization with herbicide weeding, reduced fertilization with mechanical weeding did not reduce yield and soil greenhouse gas emissions, which highlights the legacy effects of over a decade of conventional management prior to the start of the experiment.
Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Tobias Houska, David Kraus, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Ralf Kiese, Lutz Breuer, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 20, 5029–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Agricultural landscapes act as sinks or sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) CO2, CH4, or N2O. Various physicochemical and biological processes control the fluxes of these GHGs between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Therefore, fluxes depend on environmental conditions such as soil moisture, soil temperature, or soil parameters, which result in large spatial and temporal variations of GHG fluxes. Here, we describe an example of how this variation may be studied and analyzed.
Laurie C. Menviel, Paul Spence, Andrew E. Kiss, Matthew A. Chamberlain, Hakase Hayashida, Matthew H. England, and Darryn Waugh
Biogeosciences, 20, 4413–4431, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4413-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4413-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
As the ocean absorbs 25% of the anthropogenic emissions of carbon, it is important to understand the impact of climate change on the flux of carbon between the ocean and the atmosphere. Here, we use a very high-resolution ocean, sea-ice, carbon cycle model to show that the capability of the Southern Ocean to uptake CO2 has decreased over the last 40 years due to a strengthening and poleward shift of the southern hemispheric westerlies. This trend is expected to continue over the coming century.
Petr Znachor, Jiří Nedoma, Vojtech Kolar, and Anna Matoušů
Biogeosciences, 20, 4273–4288, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4273-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4273-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We conducted intensive spatial sampling of the hypertrophic fishpond to better understand the spatial dynamics of methane fluxes and environmental heterogeneity in fishponds. The diffusive fluxes of methane accounted for only a minor fraction of the total fluxes and both varied pronouncedly within the pond and over the studied summer season. This could be explained only by the water depth. Wind substantially affected temperature, oxygen and chlorophyll a distribution in the pond.
Sofie Sjögersten, Martha Ledger, Matthias Siewert, Betsabé de la Barreda-Bautista, Andrew Sowter, David Gee, Giles Foody, and Doreen S. Boyd
Biogeosciences, 20, 4221–4239, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4221-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4221-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost thaw in Arctic regions is increasing methane emissions, but quantification is difficult given the large and remote areas impacted. We show that UAV data together with satellite data can be used to extrapolate emissions across the wider landscape as well as detect areas at risk of higher emissions. A transition of currently degrading areas to fen type vegetation can increase emission by several orders of magnitude, highlighting the importance of quantifying areas at risk.
Cole G. Brachmann, Tage Vowles, Riikka Rinnan, Mats P. Björkman, Anna Ekberg, and Robert G. Björk
Biogeosciences, 20, 4069–4086, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4069-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4069-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Herbivores change plant communities through grazing, altering the amount of CO2 and plant-specific chemicals (termed VOCs) emitted. We tested this effect by excluding herbivores and studying the CO2 and VOC emissions. Herbivores reduced CO2 emissions from a meadow community and altered VOC composition; however, community type had the strongest effect on the amount of CO2 and VOCs released. Herbivores can mediate greenhouse gas emissions, but the effect is marginal and community dependent.
Ole Lessmann, Jorge Encinas Fernández, Karla Martínez-Cruz, and Frank Peeters
Biogeosciences, 20, 4057–4068, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4057-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4057-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Based on a large dataset of seasonally resolved methane (CH4) pore water concentrations in a reservoir's sediment, we assess the significance of CH4 emissions due to reservoir flushing. In the studied reservoir, CH4 emissions caused by one flushing operation can represent 7 %–14 % of the annual CH4 emissions and depend on the timing of the flushing operation. In reservoirs with high sediment loadings, regular flushing may substantially contribute to the overall CH4 emissions.
Matti Räsänen, Risto Vesala, Petri Rönnholm, Laura Arppe, Petra Manninen, Markus Jylhä, Jouko Rikkinen, Petri Pellikka, and Janne Rinne
Biogeosciences, 20, 4029–4042, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4029-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4029-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Fungus-growing termites recycle large parts of dead plant material in African savannas and are significant sources of greenhouse gases. We measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes from their mounds and surrounding soils in open and closed habitats. The fluxes scale with mound volume. The results show that emissions from mounds of fungus-growing termites are more stable than those from other termites. The soil fluxes around the mound are affected by the termite colonies at up to 2 m distance from the mound.
Tim René de Groot, Anne Margriet Mol, Katherine Mesdag, Pierre Ramond, Rachel Ndhlovu, Julia Catherine Engelmann, Thomas Röckmann, and Helge Niemann
Biogeosciences, 20, 3857–3872, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3857-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3857-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates methane dynamics in the Wadden Sea. Our measurements revealed distinct variations triggered by seasonality and tidal forcing. The methane budget was higher in warmer seasons but surprisingly high in colder seasons. Methane dynamics were amplified during low tides, flushing the majority of methane into the North Sea or releasing it to the atmosphere. Methanotrophic activity was also elevated during low tide but mitigated only a small fraction of the methane efflux.
Frederic Thalasso, Brenda Riquelme, Andrés Gómez, Roy Mackenzie, Francisco Javier Aguirre, Jorge Hoyos-Santillan, Ricardo Rozzi, and Armando Sepulveda-Jauregui
Biogeosciences, 20, 3737–3749, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3737-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3737-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A robust skirt-chamber design to capture and quantify greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands is presented. Compared to standard methods, this design improves the spatial resolution of field studies in remote locations while minimizing intrusion.
Gesa Schulz, Tina Sanders, Yoana G. Voynova, Hermann W. Bange, and Kirstin Dähnke
Biogeosciences, 20, 3229–3247, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3229-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3229-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas. However, N2O emissions from estuaries underlie significant uncertainties due to limited data availability and high spatiotemporal variability. We found the Elbe Estuary (Germany) to be a year-round source of N2O, with the highest emissions in winter along with high nitrogen loads. However, in spring and summer, N2O emissions did not decrease alongside lower nitrogen loads because organic matter fueled in situ N2O production along the estuary.
Alex Mavrovic, Oliver Sonnentag, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Christophe Kinnard, and Alexandre Roy
Biogeosciences, 20, 2941–2970, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2941-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2941-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This review supports the integration of microwave spaceborne information into carbon cycle science for Arctic–boreal regions. The microwave data record spans multiple decades with frequent global observations of soil moisture and temperature, surface freeze–thaw cycles, vegetation water storage, snowpack properties, and land cover. This record holds substantial unexploited potential to better understand carbon cycle processes.
Zoé Rehder, Thomas Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, Victor Stepanenko, Moritz Langer, and Victor Brovkin
Biogeosciences, 20, 2837–2855, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use a new model to investigate how methane emissions from Arctic ponds change with warming. We find that emissions increase substantially. Under annual temperatures 5 °C above present temperatures, pond methane emissions are more than 3 times higher than now. Most of this increase is caused by an increase in plant productivity as plants provide the substrate microbes used to produce methane. We conclude that vegetation changes need to be included in predictions of pond methane emissions.
Julian Koch, Lars Elsgaard, Mogens H. Greve, Steen Gyldenkærne, Cecilie Hermansen, Gregor Levin, Shubiao Wu, and Simon Stisen
Biogeosciences, 20, 2387–2403, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2387-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2387-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Utilizing peatlands for agriculture leads to large emissions of greenhouse gases worldwide. The emissions are triggered by lowering the water table, which is a necessary step in order to make peatlands arable. Many countries aim at reducing their emissions by restoring peatlands, which can be achieved by stopping agricultural activities and thereby raising the water table. We estimate a total emission of 2.6 Mt CO2-eq for organic-rich peatlands in Denmark and a potential reduction of 77 %.
Mélissa Laurent, Matthias Fuchs, Tanja Herbst, Alexandra Runge, Susanne Liebner, and Claire C. Treat
Biogeosciences, 20, 2049–2064, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2049-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2049-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we investigated the effect of different parameters (temperature, landscape position) on the production of greenhouse gases during a 1-year permafrost thaw experiment. For very similar carbon and nitrogen contents, our results show a strong heterogeneity in CH4 production, as well as in microbial abundance. According to our study, these differences are mainly due to the landscape position and the hydrological conditions established as a result of the topography.
Cited articles
Aarons, S. R., Gourley, C. J. P., Powell, J. M. and Hannah, M. C.:
Estimating nitrogen excretion and deposition by lactating cows in grazed
dairy systems, Soil Res., 55, 489, https://doi.org/10.1071/SR17033, 2017.
Ammann, C., Brunner, A., Spirig, C., and Neftel, A.: Technical note: Water
vapour concentration and flux measurements with PTR-MS, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,
6, 4643–4651, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-4643-2006, 2006.
Ammann, C., Flechard, C. R., Leifeld, J., Neftel, A., and Fuhrer, J.: The
carbon budget of newly established temperate grassland depends on management
intensity, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 121, 5–20,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.12.002, 2007.
Ammann, C., Spirig, C., Leifeld, J., and Neftel, A.: Assessment of the
nitrogen and carbon budget of two managed temperate grassland fields, Agric.
Ecosyst. Environ., 133, 150–162, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2009.05.006,
2009.
Arriaga, H., Salcedo, G., Calsamiglia, S., and Merino, P.: Effect of diet
manipulation in dairy cow N balance and nitrogen oxides emissions from
grasslands in northern Spain, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 135, 132–139,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2009.09.007, 2010.
Barneze, A. S., Minet, E. P., Cerri, C. C., and Misselbrook, T.: The effect
of nitrification inhibitors on nitrous oxide emissions from cattle urine
depositions to grassland under summer conditions in the UK, Chemosphere,
119, 122–129, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.06.002, 2015.
Bates, G., Quin, B., and Bishop, P.: Low-cost detection and treatment of
fresh cow urine patches, in Moving farm systems to improved attenuation,
edited by: Currie, L. D. and Burkitt, L. L., Vol. 28, 12, Palmerston North,
New Zealand, 2015.
Bell, M. J., Rees, R. M., Cloy, J. M., Topp, C. F. E., Bagnall, A., and
Chadwick, D. R.: Nitrous oxide emissions from cattle excreta applied to a
Scottish grassland: Effects of soil and climatic conditions and a
nitrification inhibitor, Sci. Total Environ., 508, 343–353,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.12.008, 2015.
Betteridge, K., Costall, D. A., Li, F. Y., Luo, D., and Ganesh, S.: Why we
need to know what and where cows are urinating – a urine sensor to improve
nitrogen models, Proc. N. Z. Grassl. Assoc, 75, 119–124, 2013.
Bhandral, R., Saggar, S., Bolan, N., and Hedley, M.: Transformation of
nitrogen and nitrous oxide emission from grassland soils as affected by
compaction, Soil Tillage Res., 94, 482–492,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2006.10.006, 2007.
Biermann, T., Babel, W., Ma, W., Chen, X., Thiem, E., Ma, Y., and Foken, T.:
Turbulent flux observations and modelling over a shallow lake and a wet
grassland in the Nam Co basin, Tibetan Plateau, Theor. Appl. Climatol.,
116, 301–316, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-013-0953-6, 2014.
Bouwman, A. F.: Direct emission of nitrous oxide from agricultural soils,
Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosystems, 46, 53–70, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00210224, 1996.
Bracher, A., Schlegel, P., Münger, A., Stoll, W., and Menzi, H.:
Möglichkeiten zur Reduktion von Ammoniakemissionen durch
Fütterungsmassnahmen beim Rindvieh (Milchkuh), SHL Agroscope, Zollikofen
Posieux, 2011.
Butterbach-Bahl, K., Baggs, E. M., Dannenmann, M., Kiese, R., and
Zechmeister-Boltenstern, S.: Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: how well do
we understand the processes and their controls?, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B
Biol. Sci., 368, 20130122, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0122, 2013.
Cai, Y. and Akiyama, H.: Nitrogen loss factors of nitrogen trace gas
emissions and leaching from excreta patches in grassland ecosystems: A
summary of available data, Sci. Total Environ., 572, 185–195,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.222, 2016.
Cardenas, L. M., Thorman, R., Ashlee, N., Butler, M., Chadwick, D.,
Chambers, B., Cuttle, S., Donovan, N., Kingston, H., and Lane, S.:
Quantifying annual N2O emission fluxes from grazed grassland under a range
of inorganic fertiliser nitrogen inputs, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.,
136, 218–226, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2009.12.006, 2010.
Cardenas, L. M., Misselbrook, T. M., Hodgson, C., Donovan, N., Gilhespy, S.,
Smith, K. A., Dhanoa, M. S., and Chadwick, D.: Effect of the application of
cattle urine with or without the nitrification inhibitor DCD, and dung on
greenhouse gas emissions from a UK grassland soil, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.,
235, 229–241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.10.025, 2016.
Chadwick, D. R., Cardenas, L. M., Dhanoa, M. S., Donovan, N., Misselbrook,
T., Williams, J. R., Thorman, R. E., McGeough, K. L., Watson, C. J., Bell,
M., Anthony, S. G., and Rees, R. M.: The contribution of cattle urine and
dung to nitrous oxide emissions: Quantification of country specific emission
factors and implications for national inventories, Sci. Total Environ., 635,
607–617, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.152, 2018.
Cowan, N. J., Norman, P., Famulari, D., Levy, P. E., Reay, D. S., and Skiba,
U. M.: Spatial variability and hotspots of soil N2O fluxes from intensively
grazed grassland, Biogeosciences, 12, 1585–1596,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1585-2015, 2015.
Dijkstra, J., Oenema, O., van Groenigen, J. W., Spek, J. W., van Vuuren, A.
M., and Bannink, A.: Diet effects on urine composition of cattle and
N2O emissions, Animal, 7, 292–302, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731113000578,
2013.
Felber, R.: Bridging the gap between animal and ecosystem emissions:
Performance of CH4 and CO2 eddy covariance measurements
over a grazed pasture, ETH Zurich, 2015.
Felber, R., Münger, A., Neftel, A., and Ammann, C.: Eddy covariance
methane flux measurements over a grazed pasture: effect of cows as moving
point sources, Biogeosciences, 12, 3925–3940,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3925-2015, 2015.
Felber, R., Bretscher, D., Münger, A., Neftel, A., and Ammann, C.:
Determination of the carbon budget of a pasture: effect of system boundaries
and flux uncertainties, Biogeosciences, 13, 2959–2969,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2959-2016, 2016.
Flechard, C. R., Ambus, P., Skiba, U., Rees, R. M., Hensen, A., van Amstel,
A., Dasselaar, A., van den Pol-van Dasselaar, A., Soussana, J.-F., Jones, M.,
Clifton-Brown, J., Raschi, A., Horvath, L., Neftel, A., Jocher, M., Ammann,
C., Leifeld, J., Fuhrer, J., Calanca, P., Thalman, E., Pilegaard, K., Di
Marco, C., Campbell, C., Nemitz, E., Hargreaves, K. J., Levy, P. E., Ball, B.
C., Jones, S. K., van de Bulk, W. C. M., Groot, T., Blom, M., Domingues, R.,
Kasper, G., Allard, V., Ceschia, E., Cellier, P., Laville, P., Henault, C.,
Bizouard, F., Abdalla, M., Williams, M., Baronti, S., Berretti, F., and
Grosz, B.: Effects of climate and management intensity on nitrous oxide
emissions in grassland systems across Europe, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 121,
135–152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.12.024, 2007.
Flesch, T. K. and Wilson, J. D.: Estimating Tracer Emissions with a Backward
Lagrangian Stochastic Technique, in: Agronomy Monograph, edited by: Hatfield, J. L.
and Baker, J. M., American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society
of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, USA, 2005.
Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., Harper, L. A., Crenna, B. P., and Sharpe, R.
R.: Deducing Ground-to-Air Emissions from Observed Trace Gas Concentrations:
A Field Trial, J. Appl. Meteorol., 43, 487–502,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(2004)043<0487:DGEFOT>2.0.CO;2,
2004.
Foken, T., Leuning, R., Oncley, S. R., Mauder, M., and Aubinet, M.:
Corrections and Data Quality Control, in: Eddy Covariance, edited by: Aubinet, M., Vesala, T., and Papale, D., 85–131, Springer Netherlands,
Dordrecht, 2012.
Fuchs, K., Hörtnagl, L., Buchmann, N., Eugster, W., Snow, V., and Merbold,
L.: Management matters: testing a mitigation strategy for nitrous oxide
emissions using legumes on intensively managed grassland, Biogeosciences, 15,
5519–5543, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5519-2018, 2018.
Gu, J., Zheng, X., and Zhang, W.: Background nitrous oxide emissions from
croplands in China in the year 2000, Plant Soil, 320, 307–320,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-9896-1, 2009.
Häni, C.: bLSmodelR – An atmospheric dispersion model in R,
available at: http://www.agrammon.ch/documents-to-download/blsmodelr/
(last accessL 24 October 2017), 2017.
Häni, C., Flechard, C., Neftel, A., Sintermann, J., and Kupper, T.:
Accounting for Field-Scale Dry Deposition in Backward Lagrangian Stochastic
Dispersion Modelling of NH3 Emissions, Preprints, 2018, 2018030026,
https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201803.0026.v1, 2018.
Hensen, A., Groot, T. T., van den Bulk, W. C. M., Vermeulen, A. T., Olesen,
J. E., and Schelde, K.: Dairy farm CH4 and N2O emissions, from one square
metre to the full farm scale, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 112, 146–152,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.08.014, 2006.
IPCC: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, in: Prepared
by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, edited by: Eggleston, H. S.,
Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. and Tanabe, K., IGES, Japan,
2006.
IPCC: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report, Contribution of Working
Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, Core Writing Team, edited by: Pachauri, R. K. and Meyer, L. A., IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2014.
Jones, S. K., Famulari, D., Di Marco, C. F., Nemitz, E., Skiba, U. M., Rees,
R. M., and Sutton, M. A.: Nitrous oxide emissions from managed grassland: a
comparison of eddy covariance and static chamber measurements, Atmos. Meas.
Tech., 4, 2179–2194, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-2179-2011, 2011.
Kaimal, J. C. and Finnigan, J. J.: Atmospheric boundary layer flows: their
structure and measurement, Oxford University Press, New York, 1994.
Kim, D.-G., Giltrap, D., and Hernandez-Ramirez, G.: Background nitrous oxide
emissions in agricultural and natural lands: a meta-analysis, Plant Soil,
373, 17–30, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1762-5, 2013.
Krol, D. J., Carolan, R., Minet, E., McGeough, K. L., Watson, C. J.,
Forrestal, P. J., Lanigan, G. J., and Richards, K. G.: Improving and
disaggregating N2O emission factors for ruminant excreta on temperate
pasture soils, Sci. Total Environ., 568, 327–338,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.016, 2016.
Langford, B., Acton, W., Ammann, C., Valach, A., and Nemitz, E.:
Eddy-covariance data with low signal-to-noise ratio: time-lag determination,
uncertainties and limit of detection, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4197–4213,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4197-2015, 2015.
Luo, J., Wyatt, J., van der Weerden, T. J., Thomas, S. M., de Klein, C. A.
M., Li, Y., Rollo, M., Lindsey, S., Ledgard, S. F., Li, J., Ding, W., Qin,
S., Zhang, N., Bolan, N., Kirkham, M. B., Bai, Z., Ma, L., Zhang, X., Wang,
H., Liu, H., and Rys, G.: Potential Hotspot Areas of Nitrous Oxide Emissions
From Grazed Pastoral Dairy Farm Systems, in: Advances in Agronomy, vol. 145,
205–268, Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2017.
MeteoSwiss: Climate normals Fribourg/Posieux, available at:
https://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/product/output/climate-data/climate-diagrams-normal-values-station-processing/GRA/climsheet_GRA_np8110_e.pdf (last access: 31 January 2018),
2018.
Mishurov, M. and Kiely, G.: Gap-filling techniques for the annual sums of
nitrous oxide fluxes, Agric. For. Meteorol., 151, 1763–1767,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2011.07.014, 2011.
Misselbrook, T., Del Prado, A., and Chadwick, D.: Opportunities for reducing
environmental emissions from forage-based dairy farms, Agric. Food Sci.,
22, 93–107, https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.6702, 2013.
Misselbrook, T., Fleming, H., Camp, V., Umstatter, C., Duthie, C.-A.,
Nicoll, L., and Waterhouse, T.: Automated monitoring of urination events from
grazing cattle, Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 230, 191–198,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.06.006, 2016.
Orr, R. J., Griffith, B. A., Champion, R. A., and Cook, J. E.: Defaecation
and urination behaviour in beef cattle grazing semi-natural grassland, Appl.
Anim. Behav. Sci., 139, 18–25, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.03.013,
2012.
Oudshoorn, F. W., Kristensen, T., and Nadimi, E. S.: Dairy cow defecation and
urination frequency and spatial distribution in relation to time-limited
grazing, Livest. Sci., 113, 62–73, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2007.02.021,
2008.
Papale, D.: Data Gap Filling, in: Eddy Covariance, edited by: Aubinet, M. and
Vesala, T., 159–172, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, 2012.
Pedersen, A. R., Petersen, S. O., and Schelde, K.: A comprehensive approach
to soil-atmosphere trace-gas flux estimation with static chambers, Eur. J.
Soil Sci., 61, 888–902, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2010.01291.x, 2010.
Portmann, R. W., Daniel, J. S., and Ravishankara, A. R.: Stratospheric ozone
depletion due to nitrous oxide: influences of other gases, Philos. Trans. R.
Soc. B Biol. Sci., 367, 1256–1264, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0377, 2012.
R Core Team: R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R
Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, available ay:
https://www.R-project.org/ (last access: 20 April 2018), 2016.
Reay, D. S., Davidson, E. A., Smith, K. A., Smith, P., Melillo, J. M.,
Dentener, F., and Crutzen, P. J.: Global agriculture and nitrous oxide
emissions, Nat. Clim. Change, 2, 410–416, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1458,
2012.
Saggar, S., Giltrap, D. L., Davison, R., Gibson, R., de Klein, C. A., Rollo,
M., Ettema, P., and Rys, G.: Estimating direct N2O emissions from sheep,
beef, and deer grazed pastures in New Zealand hill country: accounting for
the effect of land slope on the N2O emission factors from urine and dung,
Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 205, 70–78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.03.005, 2015.
Schindlbacher, A., Zechmeister-Boltenstern, S., and Butterbach-Bahl, K.:
Effects of soil moisture and temperature on NO, NO2, and
N2O emissions from European forest soils, J. Geophys. Res., 109,
17302, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004590, 2004.
Schmid, H. P.: Footprint modeling for vegetation atmosphere exchange
studies: a review and perspective, Agric. For. Meteorol., 113,
159–183, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1923(02)00107-7, 2002.
Selbie, D. R., Buckthought, L. E., and Shepherd, M. A.: The Challenge of the
Urine Patch for Managing Nitrogen in Grazed Pasture Systems, in: Advances in
Agronomy, vol. 129, 229–292, Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2015.
Villettaz Robichaud, M., de Passillé, A. M., Pellerin, D., and Rushen,
J.: When and where do dairy cows defecate and urinate?, J. Dairy Sci.,
94, 4889–4896, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2010-4028, 2011.
Voglmeier, K., Jocher, M., Häni, C., and Ammann, C.: Ammonia emission
measurements of an intensively grazed pasture, Biogeosciences, 15, 4593–4608,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4593-2018, 2018.
Voglmeier, K., Jocher, M., and Ammann, C.: Grazing related nitrous oxide
emissions: from patch scale to field scale – Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2601821, 2019.
Wilson, J. D., Flesch, T. K., and Crenna, B. P.: Estimating Surface-Air Gas
Fluxes by Inverse Dispersion Using a Backward Lagrangian Stochastic
Trajectory Model, in: Geophysical Monograph Series, edited by: Lin, J., Brunner, D., Gerbig, C., Stohl, A., Luhar, A., and Webley, P., 149–162,
American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C., 2013.
Yan, T., Frost, J. P., Agnew, R. E., Binnie, R. C., and Mayne, C. S.:
Relationships among manure nitrogen output and dietary and animal factors in
lactating dairy cows, J. Dairy Sci., 89, 3981–3991, 2006.
Zhao, X. and Huang, Y.: A Comparison of Three Gap Filling Techniques for
Eddy Covariance Net Carbon Fluxes in Short Vegetation Ecosystems, Adv.
Meteorol., 2015, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/260580, 2015.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint