Metabolic and Environmental Control on Methane Emission from Soils: Mechanistic Studies of Mesotrophic Fen in West Siberia

The biological mechanisms regulating methane emission fromnatural wetlands are the focus of this article. A novel techniqueprovides estimates of the distribution of CH₄ sources withinan undisturbed soil profile by recording the transient gasdynamics after soil enclosure by deep (50 cm) chamber. Thecombined use of conventional surface and soil chambers across a200-m fen transect allowed us to relate the observed methaneemission to its instant generation and uptake. Surprisingly, themethane generation was relatively constant (9–12 mg CH₄-C hr^-1 m^-2) and highly variable net emission (0.2–20 mg CH₄-C hr^-1 m^-2) was closely correlated (r = –0.809)with methane uptake. In laboratory incubations, CH₄ uptakefollowed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Added chloride and nitrateirrespective of the cation's nature suppressed uptake as a strongnoncompetitive inhibitors (K _i 0.5 mM). The methaneformation turned out to be unstable and under anaerobicincubation, the formation of CH₄, CO₂ andH₂displayed sustained weekly oscillations. We conclude that effectsof environmental factors alone are not sufficient topredict the variation in emission, which depends also on metabolic control of respective soil organisms. The multitude ofsuch controls is dependent on diversity of respective soilorganisms and could be grouped into a limited number ofcategories considerably simplifying large-scale simulations.     

Nutrient fluxes in a eutrophic coastal Louisiana freshwater lake

Nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in a eutrophic Louisiana freshwater lake system (Lac des Allemands) was studied. Nutrients from runoff entering the lake, as well as sediment-interstitial and lake water nitrogen and phosphorus fractions, were measured seasonally. Sedimentation rates in the lake were determined using¹³⁷Cs dating.Phosphorus levels in the lake were found to be largely dependent on concentrations in the incoming bayou water from upland drainage. Lake water concentrations appear to respond to fluctuations in incoming waters. Laboratory equilibrium studies showed bottom sediments in the lake are a major sink for the incoming dissolved orthophosphate phosphorus. Total nitrogen concentrations in the lake water generally exceeded incoming runoff concentrations, suggesting fixation by the large blue-green algae population in the lake as being the major source of nitrogen to the system.Sedimentation ranged from 0.44 cm/year to 0.81 cm/year, depending on the proximity to the inlet bayous. Even though the lake is eutrophic the sediment served as a buffer by removing large amounts of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus through sedimentation processes. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus were accumulating in the sediment at rates of 60, 7.1, and 1.1 g/m²/year, respectively.The water quality of the lake is likely to continue to decline unless measures are taken to reduce municipal, industrial, and agricultural inputs of phosphorus into the lake.     

基于土地利用变化的陕西省植被碳汇提质增效优先区识别

在“双碳”目标背景下,陆地植被生态系统碳汇是实现碳中和目标的重要方式。为有效识别植被碳汇服务功能提质增效的优先区,利用InVEST模型定量评估陕西省植被碳储量时空演变特征及分布格局,分析土地利用/覆被类型变化对碳储量变化的影响,研究林草生态建设碳汇增长空间差异,确定林草生态建设提质增效对象区域。结果表明：（1）陕西省土地利用类型主要以耕地、林地、草地为主,土地利用类型转移变化也主要发生在三者之间;（2）1980― 2020年陕西省生态系统碳储量总体增加91.88×10⁶ t,增幅3.16%,呈现出“总体上南高北低、局部地区明显过高或过低”的地带性分布特征;（3）退耕还林（草）工程对碳汇能力提升效果明显,存在全局空间相关性,表现为一定的空间趋同集聚现象;（4）陕北地区为生态保护修复工程极优先区和优先区,陕南地区为中等优先区,关中地区为一般优先区。研究基于不同区县生态系统碳汇年均增长率的差异,确定生态治理优先区域,可为实现生态修复工程主导模式的分区管理以及碳汇能力提质增效提供参考。