Articles | Volume 22, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7819-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7819-2025
Research article
 | 
09 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 09 Dec 2025

CO2 and CH4 fluxes from standing dead trees in a northern conifer forest

Christian Hettwer, Kathleen Savage, Andrew Ouimette, Jay Wason, Roel Ruzol, and Shawn Fraver

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Cited articles

Boddy, L.: Carbon dioxide release from decomposing wood: Effect of water content and temperature, Soil Biol. Biochem., 15, 501–510, https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(83)90042-1, 1983. 
Carmichael, M. J., Helton, A. M., White, J. C., and Smith, W. K.: Standing Dead Trees are a Conduit for the Atmospheric Flux of CH4 and CO2 from Wetlands, Wetlands, 38, 133–143, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0963-8, 2018. 
Carmichael, M. J., Martinez, M., Bräuer, S. L., and Ardón, M.: Microbial Communities in Standing Dead Trees in Ghost Forests are Largely Aerobic, Saprophytic, and Methanotrophic, Curr. Microbiol., 81, 229, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-024-03767-w, 2024. 
Christiansen, J., Outhwaite, J., and Smukler, S.: Comparison of CO2, CH4 and N2O soil-atmosphere exchange measured in static chambers with cavity ring-down spectroscopy and gas chromatography, Agric. For. Meteorol., 211, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.06.004, 2015. 
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We measured fluxes of CO2 and CH4 from snags in a Maine forest. CO2 flux peaked at intermediate soil moisture and high temperatures, while CH4 flux peaked under wet conditions and high temperature. CH4 increased most when both temperature and soil moisture were high. As CH4 emissions rose, CO2 emissions dropped along the moisture gradient, reflecting changes in microbial activity in wetter conditions. Our study adds to growing evidence that snags are active participants in forest carbon cycling.
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