We investigated the impact of converting a natural tropical freshwater wetland in Uganda into a rice paddy wetland on climate change mitigation, by comparing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) fluxes from the natural section (under different vegetation communities dominated by Cyperus papyrus, Typha latifolia and Phragmites mauritianus) and from a rice paddy section, during the dry and wet seasons. CO₂ fluxes (mg C m^− 2 h^− 1) from the rice paddy section during the dry and wet seasons were 1045.4 ± 46.6 (mean ± SE) and 804.4 ± 50.2 respectively, significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those obtained from all the three vegetation communities of the natural section. However, CH₄ fluxes (mg C m^− 2 h^− 1) from the rice paddy section during the dry and wet seasons were 2.1 ± 0.4 and 5.1 ± 0.5 respectively, significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those observed from all the vegetation communities of the natural section. Considering total carbon emission, it was observed that whereas conversion of natural tropical freshwater wetlands into rice paddies may limit CH₄ emission, it compromises climate change mitigation efforts by increasing total carbon emission, that could make rice paddy wetlands net carbon sources. Fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ from the wetland were mainly influenced by water level. Further, we estimated that rice paddy wetlands currently emit only 0.72 and 0.14 % of the total annual CO₂ and CH₄ respectively, emitted from Uganda’s wetland soils due to their low spatial coverage. However, we predict that future emission of both gases from Uganda’s wetlands will mainly originate from rice paddy wetlands due to their rapid expansion rate.

通过比较自然部分（以莎草属为主的不同植被群落下）的二氧化碳（CO ₂）和甲烷（CH ₄）通量，我们研究了将乌干达的天然热带淡水湿地转变为稻田湿地对减缓气候变化的影响。纸莎草，香蒲和芦苇）以及干季和湿季的稻田部分。CO ₂通量（mg C m ^-2  h ^-1）在旱季和雨季的稻谷部分分别为1045.4±46.6（平均值±SE）和804.4±50.2，明显高于（p <0.05）从自然部分的所有三个植被群落获得的结果。然而，在旱季和雨季，稻田中的CH ₄通量（mg C m ^-2  h ^-1）分别为2.1±0.4和5.1±0.5，比所有植被中观察到的显着降低（p <0.05）。自然部分的社区。考虑到总碳排放量，观察到将天然热带淡水湿地转化为稻田可能会限制CH _4的排放。排放，它通过增加总碳排放量而损害了减缓气候变化的努力，这可能使稻田湿地成为净碳源。来自湿地的CO ₂和CH _4的通量主要受水位的影响。此外，我们估计，由于乌干达湿地土壤的空间覆盖率低，目前稻田湿地目前仅分别排放出年度总CO ₂和CH _4的0.72％和0.14％。然而，我们预测乌干达湿地未来的两种气体的排放量将因其快速增长而主要来自稻田湿地。