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An inter-regional assessment of concentrations and δ13C values of methane and dissolved inorganic carbon in small European lakes

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Abstract

Methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide emissions from lakes are relevant for assessing the greenhouse gas output of wetlands. However, only few standardized datasets describe concentrations of these gases in lakes across different geographical regions. We studied concentrations and stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of CH4 and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in 32 small lakes from Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland in late summer. Higher concentrations and δ13C values of DIC were observed in calcareous lakes than in lakes on non-calcareous areas. In stratified lakes, δ13C values of DIC were generally lower in the hypolimnion due to the degradation of organic matter (OM). Unexpectedly, increased δ13C values of DIC were registered above the sediment in several lakes. This may reflect carbonate dissolution in calcareous lakes or methanogenesis in deepwater layers or in the sediments. Surface water CH4 concentrations were generally higher in western and central European lakes than in Fennoscandian lakes, possibly due to higher CH4 production in the littoral sediments and lateral transport, whereas CH4 concentrations in the hypolimnion did not differ significantly between the regions. The δ13C values of CH4 in the sediment suggest that δ13C values of biogenic CH4 are not necessarily linked to δ13C values of sedimentary OM but may be strongly influenced by OM quality and methanogenic pathway. Our study suggests that CH4 and DIC cycling in small lakes differ between geographical regions and that this should be taken into account when regional studies on greenhouse gas emissions are upscaled to inter-regional scales.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Willi Tanner, Jussi Jyväsjärvi, and Olli Nousiainen for assistance in the field, Henrik Reyer, Jaakko Vainionpää, and Peter Nyfeler for assistance in the laboratory, Roger Jones and Lammi Biological Station for facilitating the field work in Finland, and Winfried Lampert and Jonathan Grey for facilitating the field work in Germany. We also thank two anonymous referees for comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement no. 239858 (RECONMET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013, Bern, Switzerland

    Päivi Rinta, Maarten van Hardenbroek, Jos Schilder, Tabea Stötter & Oliver Heiri

  2. Department of Thematic Studies – Environmental Change, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    David Bastviken

  3. Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Maarten van Hardenbroek

  4. Department of Biology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Paula Kankaala

  5. Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Markus Leuenberger

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  1. Päivi Rinta
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Rinta, P., Bastviken, D., van Hardenbroek, M. et al. An inter-regional assessment of concentrations and δ13C values of methane and dissolved inorganic carbon in small European lakes. Aquat Sci 77, 667–680 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-015-0410-y

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