Methane dynamics of a northern boreal beaver pond

Dove, Alice; Roulet, Nigel T.; Crill, Patrick; Chanton, Jeff; Bourbonniere, Richard A.

doi:10.1080/11956860.1999.11682548

Cited by 44 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Alterations of the pressure at the bottom related with fluctuations of water level, atmospheric pressure (Mattson and Likens 1987;Dove et al 1999), and tidal effect (Martens and Klump 1980) can determine changes in gas ebullition. Zimov et al (1997) indicated that in thermokarst lakes, methane fluxes were highest when deep sediments had their annual thermal maximum.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane bubbles in Lake Kinneret: Quantification and temporal and spatial heterogeneity

Ostrovsky

2003

Limnology & Oceanography

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The amount of methane bubbles rising from the bottom of Lake Kinneret was quantified by using a dual-beam echo sounder. Both echo-counting (EC) and echo integration (EI) techniques were implemented. Bubbles can confound the identification of fish targets because their acoustic sizes strongly overlap. Analysis of vertical changes in densities in the anoxic hypolimnion (with no fish) indicated that multiple targets were most abundant near the bottom, which caused an essential bias of bubble density estimates by EC. EI was a reliable tool for assessment of bubble density near the bottom. In the upper part of the water column, both techniques provided similar estimates of density of targets (mainly bubbles) because they were measured between dense fish schools during the daytime. The mean acoustic size of rising bubbles decreased in the hypolimnion but increased in the epilimnion, suggesting change in the relative importance of factors controlling gas volume. In summer and fall 2001, the bubbles became predominant echo-reflecting objects in the epilimnion. Temporal and spatial changes in bubble densities were highly heterogeneous, suggesting strong variability in factors affecting the gas ebullition. This variability should be taken into consideration when attempting to quantify the methane ebullition and assessing fish abundance in aquatic systems.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane bubbles in Lake Kinneret: Quantification and temporal and spatial heterogeneity

Ostrovsky

2003

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…, Dove et al. ). Larger CH 4 effluxes occur when warming of the pond sediments generates episodic ebullition through heat flux (Grant & Roulet ).…”

Section: Short‐term Carbon Emissions From Beaver Pondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beaver ponds show considerable variation in their fluxes, and the variability appears to have both temporal and spatial components (Moosavi & Crill , Dove et al. , Weyhenmeyer ). However, there is not a single study of beaver pond GHG emissions from Eurasia and there is only one study based on the continuous flux gradient technique (Roulet et al.…”

Section: Short‐term Carbon Emissions From Beaver Pondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beavers affect carbon biogeochemistry: both short‐term and long‐term processes are involved

et al. 2018

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With the recent population increase in beavers (Castor spp.), a considerable amount of new riparian habitat has been created in the Holarctic. We evaluated how beaver‐induced floods affect carbon (C) dynamics in the beaver ponds and in the water‐atmosphere and riparian zone interfaces. Beaver disturbance affects soil organic C storage by decreasing or increasing it, resulting in a redistribution of C. Upon flooding, the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) increases in the water. This C can be released into the atmosphere, it can settle down to the bottom sediments, it can be sequestered by vegetation, or it can be transported downstream. The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions vary between 0.14 and 11.2 g CO2 m−2 day−1, averaging 4.9 CO2 g m−2 day−1. The methane (CH4) emissions vary too, from 27 mg m−2 day−1 to 919 mg m−2 day−1, averaging 222 mg CH4 m−2 day−1. Globally, C emission from beaver ponds in the form of CH4 and CO2 may be 3.33–4.62 Tg (teragram, 1012 g) year−1. The yearly short‐term sedimentation rates in beaver ponds vary between 0.4 and 47 cm year−1, and individual ponds contain 9–6355 m3 of sediment. The approximate global estimate for yearly C sedimentation is 3.8 Tg C; beaver ponds globally contain 380 Tg sedimented C. After being formed, beaver pond deposits can remain for millennia. Both C sequestration and CO2 and CH4 emissions in ponds of various ages should be taken into account when considering the net effect of beavers on the C dynamics. With present estimates, beaver ponds globally range from a sink (−0.47 Tg year−1) to a source (0.82 Tg year−1) of C. More research is needed with continuous flux measurements and from ponds of different ages. Likewise, there is a need for more studies in Eurasia to understand the effect of beaver on C biogeochemistry.

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“…Among factors affecting the intensity of methane ebullition from the sediment is reduction of hydrostatic pressure due to decreasing water level, air pressure (Mattson and Likens 1987;Jakobsen et al 1997;Dove et al 1999), and tides (Martens and Klump 1980).…”

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confidence: 99%

Quantifying gas ebullition with echosounder: the role of methane transport by bubbles in a medium‐sized lake

Ostrovsky

Mcginnis

Lapidus

et al. 2008

Limnology & Ocean Methods

159

165

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In lakes and reservoirs with variable water level, gas ebullition can play a substantial role in methane transport in the water column and to the atmosphere. However, measuring methane ebullition from sediment is difficult as releases are highly heterogeneous and intermittent on macro- and micro-scales. In contrast to conventional gas traps and optical methods, hydroacoustic technology allows rapid scanning over large volumes of the water column synoptically to quantify gas bubble abundance. A 120-kHz dual beam downward-looking echosounder was used to measure the size distributions of bubbles that do not resonate at the sonar frequency. Data obtained with this sonar permit accurate calculation and evaluation of ebullition flux from the bottom. A robust relationship was established between gas volumes and backscattering cross-section of individual bubbles in experimental conditions, and rise velocities of bubbles were precisely measured. The volume backscattering coefficient was shown to be a good gauge of the total volume of bubbles per cubic meter of water, allowing the use of a single-beam sonar for measuring volumetric bubble concentrations. Data obtained from hydroacoustic surveys on Lake Kinneret, where gaseous methane is emitted from randomly dispersed sediment sources, indicated that ~90% of bubbles escaping from soft sediments ranged from 1.3 mm to 4.5 mm and ~50% ranged from 2.0 mm to 3.2 mm in equivalent radius. In summer-fall 2001, the gaseous methane fluxes from hypolimnetic sediments was ~10 mmol m-2 d-1, accounting for one-third of the observed methane accumulation in the hypolimnion. This relatively high ebullition rate could be attributed to the gradual decreasing of the mean water level in preceding years

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Methane dynamics of a northern boreal beaver pond

Cited by 44 publications

References 42 publications

Methane bubbles in Lake Kinneret: Quantification and temporal and spatial heterogeneity

Methane bubbles in Lake Kinneret: Quantification and temporal and spatial heterogeneity

Beavers affect carbon biogeochemistry: both short‐term and long‐term processes are involved

Quantifying gas ebullition with echosounder: the role of methane transport by bubbles in a medium‐sized lake

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