Differential Response of Greenhouse Gas Evasion to Storms in Forested and Wetland Streams

Abstract

AbstractGreenhouse gas evasion from inland waters is a globally significant yet highly uncertain flux, especially in regard to effects of wetlands and hydrologic variability. We sampled five first‐order and two second‐order streams with variable wetland influence during storm events for dissolved CO2, CH4, and N2O. We also calculated gas evasion rates. In first‐order streams, pCO2 and pN2O were significantly higher in the stream with the most wetland influence (mean ± 1 std: 3,965 ± 1,504 and 1.18 ± 0.37 μatm, respectively) than the forested stream (2,927 ± 439 and 0.47 ± 0.08 μatm, respectively). In second‐order streams, pCO2, pCH4, and pN2O were higher in the 14% wetland stream (3,274 ± 825, 501 ± 207, and 1.37 ± 0.43 μatm, respectively) than in the 2% wetland stream (1,858 ± 423, 137 ± 53, and 0.37 ± 0.08 μatm, respectively). In first‐order streams, pCO2 in streams with wetland influence increased during rain events, while pCO2 in streams with little to no wetland influence decreased or remained constant. Generally, pCH4 and pN2O followed the same trend, except in one stream with intermediate wetland influence. Gas transfer velocity increased in all streams during storm events. However, the forested streams had higher gas transfer velocities than the wetland streams due to steeper topography. CO2, CH4, and N2O evasion peaked in one of the intermediate wetland streams at high flow (maximum: 66 g C·m−2·day−1, 177 mg C·m−2·day−1, and 9.7 mg N·m−2·day−1, respectively). These findings suggest that gases are shunted downstream in flatter, wetland streams, while gases are evaded closer to their source in steeper, forested streams.