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| Titel |
Invading Phragmites australis stimulates methane emissions from North American tidal marshes |
| VerfasserIn |
Peter Mueller, Justin E. Meschter, Rachel N. Hager, Thomas J. Mozdzer, Kai Jensen, J. Adam Langley, Andrew Baldwin, J. Patrick Megonigal |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2015
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 17 (2015) |
| Datensatznummer |
250104182
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2015-3606.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Most studies concerned with invasive plant species focus on effects on biodiversity, while only few have investigated how the greenhouse gas balance of an ecosystem or, in particular, how methane emissions are affected by invasion driven shifts in plant species composition. In this study, conducted in brackish marsh sites of the Chesapeake Bay, United States, we investigated the effect of the none-native grass Phragmites australis invading native shortgrass communities on methane emissions. In situ gas flux measurements using static chambers were used to quantify methane emissions along transects of progressive invasion by Phragmites. Methane emissions were several fold higher in Phragmites stands than in adjacent native communities and increased with progressive invasion of Phragmites. Results of a mesocosm experiment support our field observations and show consistently higher methane emissions from mesocoms planted with Phragmites even at different hydrological conditions. Because tidal marshes, as blue carbon ecosystems, sequester soil carbon rapidly and emit methane slowly compared to other wetland ecosystems, they are increasingly recognized as having a high carbon value. Our results indicate that the replacement of native marsh communities by Phragmites may considerably change the green house gas balance of these ecosystems and thus lower their carbon sequestration value. |
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