Non-flooded riparian Amazon trees are a regionally significant methane source

Abstract

Inundation-adapted trees were recently established as the dominant egress pathway for soil-produced methane (CH 4 ) in forested wetlands. This raises the possibility that CH 4 produced deep within the soil column can vent to the atmosphere via tree roots even when the water table (WT) is below the surface. If correct, this would challenge modelling efforts where inundation often defines the spatial extent of ecosystem CH 4 production and emission. Here, we examine CH 4 exchange on tree, soil and aquatic surfaces in forest experiencing a dynamic WT at three floodplain locations spanning the Amazon basin at four hydrologically distinct times from April 2017 to January 2018. Tree stem emissions were orders of magnitude larger than from soil or aquatic surface emissions and exhibited a strong relationship to WT depth below the surface (less than 0). We estimate that Amazon riparian floodplain margins with a WT < 0 contribute 2.2–3.6 Tg CH 4  yr −1 to the atmosphere in addition to inundated tree emissions of approximately 12.7–21.1 Tg CH 4  yr −1 . Applying our approach to all tropical wetland broad-leaf trees yields an estimated non-flooded floodplain tree flux of 6.4 Tg CH 4  yr −1 which, at 17% of the flooded tropical tree flux of approximately 37.1 Tg CH 4  yr −1 , demonstrates the importance of these ecosystems in extending the effective CH 4 emitting area beyond flooded lands. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)'.