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Effect of Drought-Induced Salinization on Wetland Methane Emissions, Gross Ecosystem Productivity, and Their Interactions

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Abstract

Salinity gradients across estuaries influence wetland carbon storage, methane (CH4) biogeochemistry, and plant productivity. Estuarine freshwater wetlands may experience increases in salinity during drought; however, the impact of salinization on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is uncertain. We measured ecosystem-scale GHG emissions from a wetland experiencing salinization during the 2011–2017 California drought and used information theory analyses to quantify couplings and causal interactions between CH4 fluxes and two dominant environmental drivers; gross ecosystem photosynthesis and temperature. Machine learning models were then used to estimate salinization-induced changes in CH4 fluxes and plant productivity. We observed dynamic CH4 flux-driver relationships across the salinization disturbance event, where temperature connections strengthened, and productivity connections dampened during salinization. Annual gross ecosystem productivity reduced by 64% during peak salinization, whereas annual CH4 emissions only reduced by 10%, suggesting that other CH4 substrate sources compensated for reductions in recent photosynthate. Our results demonstrate the value of applying information theory and machine learning approaches to ecological analyses and suggest that drought-induced salinization may increase GHG emissions from estuarine freshwater wetlands.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science and its funding of Ameriflux core sites (Ameriflux contract 7079856), and the California Division of Fish and Wildlife, through a contract of the California Department of Water Resources (Award 4600011240). We thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on drafts of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 130 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    Samuel D. Chamberlain, Kyle S. Hemes, Elke Eichelmann, Daphne J. Szutu, Joseph G. Verfaillie & Dennis D. Baldocchi

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  1. Samuel D. Chamberlain
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  2. Kyle S. Hemes
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Correspondence to Samuel D. Chamberlain.

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SDC and DDB conceived and designed the study; SDC, KSH, EE, DJS, JGV, and DDB performed research; SDC and DDB wrote the paper.

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Chamberlain, S.D., Hemes, K.S., Eichelmann, E. et al. Effect of Drought-Induced Salinization on Wetland Methane Emissions, Gross Ecosystem Productivity, and Their Interactions. Ecosystems 23, 675–688 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00430-5

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