Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes at high spatiotemporal resolution from a small temperate lake.

Lakes are hotspots for CH4 and CO2 effluxes, but their magnitude and underlying drivers are still uncertain due to high spatiotemporal variation within and between lakes. We measured CH4 and CO2 fluxes at high temporal (hourly) and spatial resolution (approx. 13 m) using 24 automatic floating chambers equipped with continuously recording sensors that enabled the determination of diffusive and ebullitive gas fluxes. Additionally, we measured potential drivers such as weather patterns, water temperature, and O2 above the sediment. During five days in autumn 2021, we conducted measurements at 88 sites in a small, shallow eutrophic Danish Lake. CH4 ebullition was intense (mean 54.8 µmol m-2 h-1) and showed pronounced spatiotemporal variation. Ebullition rates were highest in deeper, hypoxic water (5-7 m). Diffusive CH4 fluxes were 4-fold lower (mean 15.0 µmol m-2 h-1) and spatially less variable than ebullitive fluxes, and significantly lower above hard sediments and submerged macrophyte stands. CO2 concentration in surface waters was permanently supersaturated at the mid-lake station, and diffusive fluxes (mean 919 µmol m-2 h-1) tended to be higher from deeper waters and increased with wind speed. To obtain mean whole-lake fluxes within an uncertainty of 20 %, we estimated that 72 sites for CH4 ebullition, 39 sites for diffusive CH4 fluxes and 27 sites for diffusive CO2 fluxes would be required. Thus, accurate whole-lake quantification of the dominant ebullitive CH4 flux requires simultaneous operation of many automated floating chambers. High spatiotemporal variability challenges the identification of essential drivers and current methods for upscaling lake CH4 and CO2 fluxes. We successfully overcame this challenge by using automatic floating chambers, which offer continuous CH4 and CO2 flux measurements at high temporal resolution and, thus, are an improvement over existing approaches.

Responses of key root traits in the genus Oryza to soil flooding mimicked by stagnant, deoxygenated nutrient solution.

Excess water can induce flooding stress resulting in yield loss, even in wetland crops such as rice (Oryza). However, traits from species of wild Oryza have already been used to improve tolerance to abiotic stress in cultivated rice. This study aimed to establish root responses to sudden soil flooding among eight wild relatives of rice with different habitat preferences benchmarked against three genotypes of O. sativa. Plants were raised hydroponically, mimicking drained or flooded soils, to assess the plasticity of adventitious roots. Traits included were apparent permeance (PA) to O2 of the outer part of the roots, radial water loss, tissue porosity, apoplastic barriers in the exodermis, and root anatomical traits. These were analysed using a plasticity index and hierarchical clustering based on principal component analysis. For example, O. brachyantha, a wetland species, possessed very low tissue porosity compared with other wetland species, whereas dryland species O. latifolia and O. granulata exhibited significantly lower plasticity compared with wetland species and clustered in their own group. Most species clustered according to growing conditions based on PA, radial water loss, root porosity, and key anatomical traits, indicating strong anatomical and physiological responses to sudden soil flooding.

Large pools and fluxes of carbon, calcium and phosphorus in dense charophyte stands in ponds.

Bicarbonate and calcium set bounds on photosynthesis and degradation processes in calcareous freshwaters. Charophytic algae use bicarbonate in photosynthesis, and direct variable proportions to assimilate organic carbon and to precipitate calcium carbonate on their surfaces. To evaluate pools of organic carbon (Corg), carbonate carbon (Ccarbonate), and phosphorus (P) in dense charophyte vegetation, we studied apical and basal tissue and carbonate surface precipitates, as well as underlying sediments in ten calcareous ponds. We also quantified the release of calcium, bicarbonate and phosphate from charophyte shoots in dark experiments. We found that the Corg:Ccarbonate quotient in charophyte stands averaged 1.19 during spring and summer. The Corg:Ccarbonate quotient in the sediments formed by dead charophytes averaged 0.97 in accordance with some respiratory CO2 release without carbonate dissolution to bicarbonate. The molar quotient of carbon to calcium was close to 2.0 in sediment and pond water. In dark incubations, shoots subjected to calcium carbonate dissolution released bicarbonate and calcium with a molar quotient of 2:1; lowered pH (7.0-8.0) increased the release. Thus, the carbonate surface crust on living charophytes was not inert, as hitherto anticipated. Phosphate dark release occurred from basal shoots only, was unrelated to pH, and may have derived from organic decomposition, rather than from carbonate dissolution. Extensive phosphorus pools were associated with the charophyte stands (200-600 mg m-2) and had about 2/3 incorporated in alga tissue and 1/3 in carbonate crust. Overall, the biogeochemistry of carbon, calcium and phosphorus are closely linked in calcareous charophyte ponds. Carbonate dissolution from charophyte crusts at night and continuously from sediment might balance extensive carbonate precipitation during daytime photosynthesis. The substantial P-pool in charophyte stands may not derive from P-deprived water, but from P-rich sediment. Charophyte photosynthesis may still contribute to nutrient-poor conditions by forming carbonate-rich sediment of high P-binding capacity.