Abstract
Large uncertainties in estimates of methane (CH4) emissions from tropical inland waters reflect the paucity of information at appropriate temporal and spatial scales. CH4 concentrations, diffusive and ebullitive fluxes, and environmental parameters in contrasting aquatic habitats of Lake Janauacá, an Amazon floodplain lake, measured for two years revealed patterns in temporal and spatial variability related to different aquatic habitats and environmental conditions. CH4 concentrations ranged from below detection to 96 µM, CH4 diffusive fluxes from below detection to 2342 µmol m−2 h−1, and CH4 ebullitive fluxes from 0 to 190 mmol m−2 d−1. Vegetated aquatic habitats had higher surface CH4 concentrations than open water habitats, and no significant differences in diffusive CH4 fluxes, likely due to higher k values measured in open water habitats. CH4 emissions were enhanced after a prolonged low water period, when the exposed sediments were colonized by herbaceous plants that decomposed after water levels rose, possibly fueling CH4 production. Statistical models indicated the importance of variables related to CH4 production (temperature, dissolved organic carbon) and consumption (dissolved nitrogen, oxygenated water column), as well as maximum depth, in controlling surface water CH4 concentrations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almeida R, Pacheco FS, Barros N et al (2017) Extreme floods increase CO2 outgassing from a large Amazonian river. Limnol Oceanogr 62:989–999. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10480
Amaral JHF, Borges AV, Melack JM et al (2018) Influence of plankton metabolism and mixing depth on CO2 dynamics in an Amazon floodplain lake. Sci Total Environ 630:1381–1393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.331
Amaral JHF, Melack JM, Barbosa PM et al (2020) Carbon dioxide fluxes to the atmosphere from waters within flooded forests in the Amazon basin. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005293
Augusto-Silva PB, MacIntyre S, de Moraes Rudorff C et al (2019) Stratification and mixing in large floodplain lakes along the lower Amazon River. J Great Lakes Res 45:61–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2018.11.001
Barbosa PM, Melack JM, Farjalla VF et al (2016) Diffusive methane fluxes from Negro, Solimões and Madeira rivers and fringing lakes in the Amazon basin. Limnol Oceanogr 61:S221–S237. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10358
Barbosa PM, Farjalla VF, Melack JM et al (2018) High rates of methane oxidation in an Amazon floodplain lake. Biogeochemistry 137:351–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0425-2
Barichivich J, Gloor E, Peylin P et al (2018) Recent intensification of Amazon flooding extremes driven by strengthened Walker circulation. Sci Adv. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat8785
Bartlett KB, Crill PM, Sebacher DI et al (1988) Methane flux from the central Amazonian floodplain. J Geophys Res 93:1571. https://doi.org/10.1029/JD093iD02p01571
Bartlett KB, Crill PM, Bonassi J et al (1990) Methane flux from the Amazon River floodplain: emissions during rising water. J Geophys Res 95:16773–16788
Barto’n K (2018) MuMIn: multi-model inference. R package version 1.42.1. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn. Accessed 25 Jan 2020
Bastviken D (2009) Methane. In: Likens G (ed) Encyclopedia of inland waters, vol 1. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 783–805
Bastviken D, Cole JJ, Pace ML, Van de Bogert MC (2008) Fates of methane from different lake habitats: connecting whole-lake budgets and CH4 emissions. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JG000608
Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B et al (2017) lme4: fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. J Stat Softw 67:1–48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01
Bender M, Conrad R (1995) Effect of methane concentrations and soil conditions on the induction of methane oxidation activity. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1517–1527
Bianchi TS, Freer ME, Wetzel RG (1996) Temporal and spatial variability, and the role of disolved organic carbon (DOC) in methane fluxes from the Sabine River Floodplain (Southeast Texas, U.S.A.). Arch Hydrobiol 136:261–287
Bloom AA, Palmer PI, Fraser A, Reay DS (2012) Seasonal variability of tropical wetland CH4 emissions: the role of the methanogen-available carbon pool. Biogeosciences 9:2821–2830. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-2821-2012
Bonnet MP, Pinel S, Garnier J et al (2017) Amazonian floodplain water balance based on modelling and analyses of hydrologic and electrical conductivity data. Hydrol Process 31(9):1702–1718. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11138
Bridgham SD, Cadillo-Quiroz H, Keller JK, Zhuang Q (2013) Methane emissions from wetlands: biogeochemical, microbial, and modeling perspectives from local to global scales. Glob Chang Biol 19:1325–1346. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12131
Caraballo P, Forsberg BR, Almeida F, Leite R (2014) Diel patterns of temperature, conductivity and dissolved oxygen in an Amazon floodplain lake: description of a friagem phenomenon. Acta Limnol Bras 26:318–331
Chanton JP, Martens CS, Kelley CA et al (1992) Mechanisms and isotopic fractionation in emergent macrophytes of an Alaskan tundra lake. J Geophys Res 97:16681–16688
Conrad R, Ji Y, Noll M et al (2014) Response of the methanogenic microbial communities in Amazonian oxbow lake sediments to desiccation stress. Environ Microbiol 16:1682–1694. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.12267
Crill PM, Bartlett KB, Wilson JO et al (1988) Tropospheric methane from an Amazonian floodplain lake. J Geophys Res 93:1564–1570
Delsontro T, Kunz MJ, Kempter T et al (2011) Spatial heterogeneity of methane ebullition in a large tropical reservoir. Environ Sci Technol 45:9866–9873. https://doi.org/10.1021/es2005545
Devol AH, Richey JE, Clark WA et al (1988) Methane emissions to the troposphere from the Amazon floodplain. J Geophys Res 93:1583–1592
Devol AH, Richey JE, Forsberg BR, Martinelli LA (1990) Seasonal dynamics in methane emissions from the Amazon River floodplain to the troposphere. J Geophys Res 95:417–426
Ding W, Cai Z, Tsuruta H (2004) Diel variation in methane emissions from the stands of Carex lasiocarpa and Deyeuxia angustifolia in a cool temperate freshwater marsh. Atmos Environ 38(2):181–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2003.09.066
Duffy PB, Brando P, Asner GP, Field CB (2015) Projections of future meteorological drought and wet periods in the Amazon. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:13172–13177. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421010112
Dumestre JF, Guézennec J, Galy-Lacaux C, Delmas R, Richard S, Labroue L (1999) Influence of light intensity on methanotrophic bacterial activity in Petit Saut Reservoir, French Guiana. Appl Environ Microbiol 65(2):534–539
Dunfield P, Knowles R (1995) Kinetics of inhibition of methane oxidation by nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium in a humisol. Appl Environ Microbiol 61:3129–3135
Engle D, Melack JM (1993) Consequences of riverine flooding for seston and the periphyton of floating meadows in an Amazon floodplain lake. Limnol Oceanogr 38:1500–1520
Engle DL, Melack JM (2000) Methane emissions from an Amazon floodplain lake: enhanced release during episodic mixing and during falling water. Biogeochemistry 51:71–90
Engle DL, Melack JM, Doyle RD, Fisher TR (2008) High rates of net primary productivity and turnover for floating grasses on the Amazon floodplain: implications for aquatic respiration and regional CO2 flux. Glob Change Biol 14:369–381. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01481.x
Garcia BN, Libonati R, Nunes A (2018) Extreme drought events over the Amazon basin: the perspective from the reconstruction of South American hydroclimate. Water 1:12–16
Gelman A, Su Y-S (2018) arm: data analysis using regression and multilevel/hierarchical models. R package version 1.10-1. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=arm. Accessed 20 Jan 2020
Gloor M, Brienen RJW, Galbraith D et al (2013) Intensification of the Amazon hydrological cycle over the last two decades. Geophys Res Lett 40:1729–1733. https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50377
Grueber CE, Nakagawa S, Laws RJ, Jamieson IG (2011) Multimodel inference in ecology and evolution: challenges and solutions. J Evol Biol 24:699–711. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02210.x
Gruner DS, Bracken MES, Berger SA et al (2017) Effects of experimental warming on biodiversity depend on ecosystem type and local species composition. Oikos 126:8–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03688
Hamilton SK, Sippel SJ, Melack JM (1995) Oxygen depletion and carbon dioxide and methane production in waters of the Pantanal wetland of Brazil. Biogeochemistry 30:115–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002727
Hamilton SK, Sippel SJ, Chanton JP, Melack JM (2014) Plant-mediated transport and isotopic composition of methane from shallow tropical wetlands. Inl Waters 4:369–376. https://doi.org/10.5268/IW-4.4.734
Hess LL, Melack JM, Affonso AG et al (2015) Wetlands of the lowland amazon basin: extent, vegetative cover, and dual-season inundated area as mapped with JERS-1 synthetic aperture radar. Wetlands 35(4):745–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-015-0666-y
Junk WJ (1997) The central Amazon floodplain. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03416-3
Junk WJ, Piedade MTF, Schöngart J et al (2011) A classification of major naturally-occurring Amazonian lowland wetlands. Wetlands 31(4):623–640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-011-0190-7
Kannenberg SA, Dunn ST, Ludwig SM et al (2015) Patterns of potential methanogenesis along soil moisture gradients following drying and rewetting in midwestern prairie pothole wetlands. Wetlands 35:633–640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-015-0653-3
Kightley D, Nedwell DB, Cooper M (1995) Capacity for methane oxidation in landfill cover soils measured in laboratory-scale soil microcosms. Appl Environ Microbiol 61:592–601
Kasper D, Amaral JHF, Forsberg BR (2018) The effect of filter type and porosity on total suspended sediment determinations. Anal Methods 10(46):5532–5539. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8AY02134A
Käki T, Ojala A, Kankaala P (2001) Diel variation in methane emissions from stands of Phragmites australis (cav.) trin. ex steud. and Typha latifolia L. in a boreal lake. Aquat Bot 71(4):259–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3770(01)00186-3
Kirschke S, Bousquet P, Ciais P et al (2013) Three decades of global methane sources and sinks. Nat Geosci 6:813–823. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1955
Kosten S, van den Berg S, Mendonça R et al (2018) Extreme drought boosts CO2 and CH4 emissions from reservoir drawdown areas. Inl Waters 0:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2018.1483126
Kruger M, Frenzel P, Conrad R (2001) Microbial processes influencing methane emission from rice fields. Glob Chang Biol 7:49–63. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00395.x
Laanbroek HJ (2010) Methane emission from natural wetlands: interplay between emergent macrophytes and soil microbial processes. A mini-review. Ann Bot 105:141–153. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp201
MacIntyre S, Melack JM (1984) Vertical mixing in Amazon floodplain lakes. Verh Int Verein Limnol 22:1283–1287. https://doi.org/10.1080/03680770.1983.11897486
MacIntyre S, Melack JM (1988) Frequency and depth of vertical mixing in an Amazon floodplain lake (L. Calado, Brazil). Verh Int Verein Limnol 23:80–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/03680770.1987.11897906
MacIntyre S, Melack JM (1995) Vertical and horizontal transport in lakes: linking littoral, benthic, and pelagic habitats. J North Am Benthol Soc 14:599–615
MacIntyre S, Jonsson A, Jansson M et al (2010) Buoyancy flux, turbulence, and the gas transfer coefficient in a stratified lake. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL044164
MacIntyre S, Amaral JHF, Barbosa PM et al (2019) Turbulence and gas transfer velocities in sheltered flooded forests of the Amazon basin. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083948
Marengo JA, Espinoza JC (2016) Extreme seasonal droughts and floods in Amazonia: causes, trends and impacts. Int J Climatol 36:1033–1050. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4420
Melack JM, Forsberg BR (2001) Biogeochemistry of Amazon floodplain lakes and associated wetlands. In: McClain M, Victoria R, Richey J (eds) The bio-geochemistry of the Amazon Basin. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 235–274
Melack JM, Engle D (2009) An organic carbon budget for an Amazon floodplain lake. Verh Int Verein Limnol 30:1179–1182. https://doi.org/10.1080/03680770.2009.11923906
Melack JM, Hess LL, Gastil M et al (2004) Regionalization of methane emissions in the Amazon Basin with microwave remote sensing. Glob Chang Biol 10:530–544. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2003.00763.x
Melton JR, Wania R, Hodson EL et al (2013) Present state of global wetland extent and wetland methane modelling: conclusions from a model inter-comparison project (WETCHIMP). Biogeosciences 10:753–788. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-753-2013
Nakagawa S, Schielzeth H (2013) A general and simple method for obtaining R2 from generalized linear mixed-effects models. Methods Ecol Evol 4:133–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210x.2012.00261.x
Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Friendly M et al (2018) vegan: community ecology package. R package version 2.5-3. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan
Paiva RCD, Buarque DC, Collischonn W et al (2013) Large-scale hydrologic and hydrodynamic modeling of the Amazon River basin. Water Resour Res 49(3):1226–1243. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20067
Pangala SR, Enrich-Prast A, Basso LS et al (2017) Large emissions from floodplain trees close the Amazon methane budget. Nature 552:230–234. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24639
Peixoto RB, Machado-Silva F, Marotta H et al (2015) Spatial versus day-to-day within-lake variability in tropical floodplain lake CH4 emissions—developing optimized approaches to representative flux measurements. PLoS ONE 10:e0123319. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123319
Pinel S, Bonnet MP, Santos Da Silva J et al (2015) Correction of interferometric and vegetation biases in the SRTMGL1 spaceborne DEM with hydrological conditioning towards improved hydrodynamics modeling in the Amazon basin. Remote Sens 7:16108–16130. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215822
Poindexter CM, Baldocchi DD, Matthes JH et al (2016) The contribution of an overlooked transport process to a wetland’s methane emissions. Geophys Res Lett 43:6276–6284. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068782
R Core Development Team (2018) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. https://www.R-project.org. Accessed 25 Jan 2020
Ribaudo C, Bertrin V, Jan G et al (2017) Benthic production, respiration and methane oxidation in Lobelia dortmanna lawns. Hydrobiologia 784:21–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2848-x
Rõõm E-I, Nõges P, Feldmann T et al (2014) Years are not brothers: two-year comparison of greenhouse gas fluxes in large shallow Lake Võrtsjärv. Est J Hydrol 519:1594–1606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.011
Saunois M, Bousquet P, Poulter B et al (2016) The global methane budget: 2000–2012. Earth Syst Sci Data Discuss. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-697-2016
Smith L, Lewis W, Chanton JP (2000) Methane emissions from the Orinoco River floodplain, Venezuela. Biogeochemistry 51:113–140
Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1972) A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Fisheries Research Board of Canada. http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/1507.pdf
Tedford EW, MacIntyre S, Miller SD, Czikowsky J (2014) Similarity scaling of turbulence in a temperate lake during fall cooling. J Geophys Res. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010135
Thottathil SD, Reis PCJ, Prairie YT (2019) Methane oxidation kinetics in northern freshwater lakes. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-019-00552-x
Tundisi JG, Forsberg BR, Devol AH et al (1984) Mixing patterns in Amazon lakes. Hydrobiologia 108:3–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02391627
Utsumi M, Nojiri Y, Nakamura T (1998a) Dynamics of dissolved methane and methane oxidation in dimictic Lake Nojiri during winter. Limnol Oceanogr 43:10–17
Utsumi M, Nojiri Y, Nakamura T et al (1998b) Oxidation of dissolved methane in a eutrophic, shallow lake: Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. Limnol Oceanogr 43:471–480. doi:https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1998.43.3.0471
Valderrama JC (1981) The simultaneous analysis of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in natural waters. Mar Chem 10(2):109–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4203(81)90027-X
Wang C, Xiao S, Li Y et al (2014) Methane formation and consumption processes in Xiangxi Bay of the three gorges reservoir. Sci Rep 4:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04449
Wanninkhof R (2014) Relationship between wind speed and gas exchange over the ocean. Limnol Oceanogr Methods 12:351–362. https://doi.org/10.1029/92JC00188
Wassmann R, Thein UG, Whiticar MJ et al (1992) Methane emissions from the Amazon floodplain: characterization of production and transport. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 6:3–13. https://doi.org/10.1029/91GB01767
Watson A, Stephen KD, Nedwell DB, Arah JRM (1997) Oxidation of methane in peat: kinetics of CH4 and O2 removal and the role of plant roots. Soil Biol Biochem 29:1257–1267. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(97)00016-3
West WE, Coloso JJ, Jones SE (2012) Effects of algal and terrestrial carbon on methane production rates and methanogen community structure in a temperate lake sediment. Freshw Biol 57:949–955. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2012.02755.x
Wetzel RG (1990) Land-water interfaces: metabolic and limnological regulators. Verh Int Verein Limnol 24:6–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/03680770.1989.11898687
Xing Y, Xie P, Yang H et al (2004) Diel variation of methane fluxes in summer in a eutrophic subtropical lake in China. J Freshw Ecol 19:639–644. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2004.9664745
Yamamoto S, Alcauskas JB, Crozier TE (1976) Solubility of methane in distilled water and seawater. J Chem Eng Data 21:78–80. https://doi.org/10.1021/je60068a029
Yun S-I, Choi W-J, Choi J-E, Kim H-Y (2013) High-time resolution analysis of diel variation in methane emission from flooded rice fields. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 44:1620–1628. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2012.756510
Zhang Y, Ding W (2011) Diel methane emissions in stands of Spartina alterniflora and Suaeda salsa from a coastal salt marsh. Aquat Bot 95:262–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2011.08.005
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento—Ministério da Ciência Tecnologia (CNPq/MCTI); CNPq/LBA-Edital.68/2013, processo 458036/2013-7, CNPq-Universal processo.482004/2012-6. Post-graduate scholarships were provided to PMB and JHFA by Coordenação de Aperfeiçomento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and CNPq. PMB and JHFA are thankful to CAPES for the grant ‘‘Programa de Doutorado Sanduíche no Exterior − 88881.134945/2016-0100 and ‘‘88881.135203/2016-0100 respectively. During manuscript preparation support was provided to PMB and JHFA by NASA Grant NNX17AK49G. JMM received support from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Department of Energy (Contract No. DE-0010620), the US National Science Foundation (NSF DEB grant 1753856) and a Fulbright fellowship. VFF is partially supported by a CNPq productivity grant. The authors thank for the logistical support of INPA, João B. Rocha for the field support, and Lúcia Silva for offering a floating house as a research base. We thank Michaela Melo and Jonismar S. da Silva for help in field campaigns, and Nicholas Marino for assistance with statistical analyses.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Breck Bowden
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barbosa, P.M., Melack, J.M., Amaral, J.H.F. et al. Dissolved methane concentrations and fluxes to the atmosphere from a tropical floodplain lake. Biogeochemistry 148, 129–151 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00650-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00650-1