Are Phragmites-dominated wetlands a net source or net sink of greenhouse gases?

Abstract

Phragmites australis wetlands act as a sink for greenhouse gases by photosynthetic assimilation of carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere and sequestration of the organic matter produced in the wetland soil. The wetlands also act as a source for greenhouse gases by emission of sediment-produced methane (CH 4) to the atmosphere. In P. australis wetlands, the dominant mechanism of CH 4 release to the atmosphere is internal gas transport in the plants, primarily by pressurized convective gas flow. The time periods of carbon fixation and CH 4 release therefore vary seasonally and diurnally. The balance between net CO 2-assimilation and CH 4 emission determines if a wetland can be regarded as a net sink or a net source of greenhouse gases, and hence, the function of the wetland in relation to global climate change. On an annual basis up to 15% of the net carbon fixed by the wetlands may be released to the atmosphere as CH 4. Because of the different infrared absorption characteristics and atmospheric longevity of CH 4 and CO 2, the warming effect of CH 4 in the atmosphere is about 21 times higher on a mass basis than CO 2 over a 100-year timescale. Thus, the immediate carbon balance, coupled with the different physical characteristics of the two gases, would suggest that although some wetlands function as a net sink for CO 2, the wetlands still increase the greenhouse effect because of their release of CH 4. However, the short adjustment time for CH 4 in the atmosphere means that, over a longer time scale, the radiative forcing of CH 4 is less relative to CO 2 and the wetlands effectively become a sink for greenhouse gases. Wetlands may therefore be regarded as a source for greenhouse gases and so increase radiative forcing if evaluated on a short time scale (decades), but as a sink for greenhouse gases and thus attenuating radiative forcing if evaluated over longer time scales (>100 years).