How important are N₂O and CH₄ emissions in different ecosystems? How difficult is to measure and to model their emission? How do non-CO₂ greenhouse gases contribute to the total global warming potential (GWP) of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems?

The overall goal of this special issue is to gather contributions discussing the challenges and opportunities in measuring and modeling CH₄ and N₂O fluxes using the new available instrumentation. We encourage contributions that discuss the role of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases to global biogeochemical cycles and planetary radiative forcing. This is a unique chance to cross-compare the contribution of these non-CO₂ gases to the carbon budget of the biosphere and to quantify the full global warming potential (GWP) of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. This special issue is linked to the goals of GHG-Europe and of the WP2 of the ABBA (COST Action ES0804), and to the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) aiming at harmonizing and integrating trace gas flux measurements around the globe.