Ryan A. Sponseller | USGS Science

USGS2023

Global methane emissions from rivers and streams

Methane (CH 4 ) is a potent greenhouse gas and its concentrations have tripled in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. There is evidence that global warming has increased CH 4 emissions from freshwater ecosystems 1 , 2 , providing positive feedback to the global climate. Yet for rivers and streams, the controls and the magnitude of CH 4 emissions remain highly uncertain 3 , 4 . Here we report a spatially explicit global estimate of CH 4 emissions from running waters, accounting for 27.9 (16.7–39.7) Tg CH 4 per year and roughly equal in magnitude to those of other freshwater systems 5 , 6 . Riverine CH 4 emissions are not strongly temperature dependent, with low average activation energy ( E M = 0.14 eV) compared with that of lakes and wetlands ( E M = 0.96 eV) 1 . By contrast, global patterns of emissions are characterized by large fluxes in high- and low-latitude settings as well as in human-dominated environments. These patterns are explained by edaphic and climate features that are linked to anoxia in and near fluvial habitats, including a high supply of organic matter and water saturation in hydrologically connected soils. Our results highlight the importance of land–water connections in regulating CH 4 supply to running waters, which is vulnerable not only to direct human modifications but also to several climate change responses on land.

Nature↗

USGS2023

GRiMeDB: The Global River Database Methane Database of concentrations and fluxes

Despite their small spatial extent, fluvial ecosystems play a significant role in processing and transporting carbon in aquatic networks, which results in substantial emission of methane ( CH 4 ) into the atmosphere. For this reason, considerable effort has been put into identifying patterns and drivers of CH 4 concentrations in streams and rivers and estimating fluxes to the atmosphere across broad spatial scales. However, progress toward these ends has been slow because of pronounced spatial and temporal variability of lotic CH 4 concentrations and fluxes and by limited data availability across diverse habitats and physicochemical conditions. To address these challenges, we present a comprehensive database of CH 4 concentrations and fluxes for fluvial ecosystems along with broadly relevant and concurrent physical and chemical data. The Global River Methane Database (GriMeDB; https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f48cdb77282598052349e969920356ef , Stanley et al., 2023) includes 24 024 records of CH 4 concentration and 8205 flux measurements from 5029 unique sites derived from publications, reports, data repositories, unpublished data sets, and other outlets that became available between 1973 and 2021. Flux observations are reported as diffusive, ebullitive, and total CH 4 fluxes, and GriMeDB also includes 17 655 and 8409 concurrent measurements of concentrations and 4444 and 1521 fluxes for carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) and nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ), respectively. Most observations are date-specific (i.e., not site averages), and many are supported by data for 1 or more of 12 physicochemical variables and 6 site variables. Site variables include codes to characterize marginal channel types (e.g., springs, ditches) and/or the presence of human disturbance (e.g., point source inputs, upstream dams). Overall, observations in GRiMeDB encompass the broad range of the climatic, biological, and physical conditions that occur among world river basins, although some geographic gaps remain (arid regions, tropical regions, high-latitude and high-altitude systems). The global median CH 4 concentration (0.20 µmol L −1 ) and diffusive flux (0.44 mmol m -2 d -1 ) in GRiMeDB are lower than estimates from prior site-averaged compilations, although ranges (0 to 456 µmol L −1 and − 136 to 4057 mmol m -2 d -1 ) and standard deviations (10.69 and 86.4) are greater for this larger and more temporally resolved database. Available flux data are dominated by diffusive measurements despite the recognized importance of ebullitive and plant-mediated CH 4 fluxes. Nonetheless, GriMeDB provides a comprehensive and cohesive resource for examining relationships between CH 4 and environmental drivers, estimating the contribution of fluvial ecosystems to CH 4 emissions, and contextualizing site-based investigations.

Earth System Science Data↗