The aim of the study was to document methane (CH₄) dynamics from fen ecosystems in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northern Alberta to create a reference database for evaluation of peatland restoration and reclamation projects in the region. The study included three types of fens commonly occurring in this region: poor fen (open and treed), moderately-rich treed fen, and open saline fen (SF). We quantified CH₄ fluxes, pore water concentration (PW[CH₄]), and production potential together with ecohydrological variables that may influence CH₄ dynamics over four growing seasons. Mean (standard deviation) fluxes for open and treed poor fen [99.8 (269.7) and 68.3 (118.8) mg CH₄ m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively] were higher than for treed rich [32.8 (63.7) mg CH₄ m⁻² day⁻¹] and open SFs [34.6 (91.3) mg CH₄ m⁻² day⁻¹]. The total growing season CH₄ emissions from these fens ranged between 3.7 and 11.3 g CH₄ m⁻². Methane production potential varied from 0.1 (0.1) µmol CH₄ g peat⁻¹ day⁻¹ at the SF to 4.6 (0.8) µmol CH₄ g peat⁻¹ day⁻¹ at the treed rich fen. The variability of CH₄ fluxes and pore water concentration between study sites and years was mostly controlled water table (WT) and soil temperature indicating that these variables should be used to assess the expected CH₄ flux in peatland reclamation projects. Large inter-annual variability in CH₄ flux illustrates the importance of multi-year records for data used in functional evaluation of restoration outcomes.

中文翻译：

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亚伯达省北部地区的甲烷排放量：恢复结果功能评估的参考数据

该研究的目的是记录艾伯塔省北部阿萨巴斯卡油砂地区（AOSR）的芬生态系统中的甲烷（CH ₄）动态，以创建评估该地区泥炭地恢复和垦殖项目的参考数据库。该研究包括该地区常见的三种fen类：贫（开放和树木化），中度富集的树木fen和开放盐芬（SF）。我们对CH ₄通量，孔隙水浓度（PW [CH ₄ ]）和生产潜力以及可能影响四个生长季节CH ₄动态的生态水文学变量进行了量化。开阔和树木状贫芬的平均通量（标准偏差）[99.8（269.7）和68.3（118.8）mg CH ₄ m ^-2第^-1天]分别高于树木丰富的[32.8（63.7）mg CH ₄ m ^-2 天^-1 ]和开放SFs [34.6（91.3）mg CH ₄ m ^-2 天^-1 ]。这些的生长期CH ₄排放总量在3.7至11.3 g CH ₄ m ^-2之间。甲烷的生产潜力从SF的0.1（0.1）µmol CH ₄ g泥炭^-1 天^-1到富树的4.6（0.8）µmol CH ₄ g泥炭^-1 天^-1。CH ₄的变异性研究地点与年份之间的通量和孔隙水浓度主要是受控的地下水位（WT）和土壤温度，表明这些变量应用于评估泥炭地开垦项目中的预期CH ₄通量。CH ₄通量的较大年度间变化说明了多年记录对于恢复结果功能评估中使用的数据的重要性。