Magnitudes and Drivers of Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Floodplain Ponds During Drawdown and Inundation by the Three Gorges Reservoir

Abstract

AbstractHydropower reservoirs are well‐known emitters of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This is due in part to seasonal water level fluctuations that transfer terrestrial C and N from floodplains to reservoirs. Partial pressures and fluxes of the greenhouse gases CH4, CO2, and N2O are also a function of in situ biological C and N cycling and overall ecosystem metabolism, which varies on a diel basis within inland waters. Thus, greenhouse gas emissions in hydropower reservoirs likely vary over seasonal and diel time scales with local hydrology and ecosystem metabolism. China's Three Gorges Reservoir is among the largest and newest in the world, with a floodplain that encompasses approximately one third of the reservoir area. We measured diel partial pressures and fluxes of greenhouse gases in ponds on the Three Gorges Floodplain. We repeated these measurements on the submerged floodplain following inundation by the Three Gorges Reservoir. During reservoir drawdown, CH4 ebullition comprised 60–68% of emissions from floodplain ponds to the atmosphere. Using linear mixed effects modeling, we show that partial pressures of CH4 and CO2 and diffusive CO2 fluxes in floodplain ponds varied on a diel basis with in situ respiration. Floodplain inundation by the Three Gorges Reservoir significantly moderated areal CH4 diffusion and ebullition. Diel pCO2, pCH4, pN2O, and diffusive fluxes of CO2 on the submerged floodplain were also driven by in situ respiration. The drawdown/inundation cycle of the Three Gorges Reservoir therefore changes the magnitudes of aquatic greenhouse gas fluxes on its floodplain.