The Effect of Beaver Pond Drainage on CO2 and CH4 Fluxes

Inhalt "The Effect of Beaver Pond Drainage on CO2 and CH4 Fluxes":

This study was undertaken in Mer Bleue Bog, Ontario,
Canada to determine the response of a beaver pond to
drainage (25 cm) as a sink or source of carbon.
Plant distribution changed in response to a new
water table gradient. Each vegetation community and
the remaining beaver pond were sampled for fluxes of
CO2 and CH4.

A flow-through chamber system was used to measure
CO2 flux from vegetated sites. Variations in CO2
flux amongst the sites along the gradient could not
be related to differences in plant species
composition, peat temperature, or water table.

A closed chamber was used to measure CH4 on
vegetated sites. The water table explained 83% of
the seasonal average CH4 flux variability and the
vegetation added another 11%.

The seasonal measurements were integrated into an
areal estimate of CO2 and CH4 flux for the beaver
pond area prior to and after drainage. The beaver
pond area sequestered 96 g m-2 before drainage, and
the same area more than doubled the uptake to 231 g
m-2 after being drained.