Salinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from small inland waters

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dc.contributor.authorSoued, Cynthia
dc.contributor.authorBogard, Matthew J.
dc.contributor.authorFinlay, Kerri
dc.contributor.authorBortolotti, Lauren E.
dc.contributor.authorLeavitt, Peter R.
dc.contributor.authorBadiou, Pascal
dc.contributor.authorKnox, Sara H.
dc.contributor.authorJensen, Sydney
dc.contributor.authorMueller, Peka
dc.contributor.authorLee, Sung Ching
dc.contributor.authorNg, Darian
dc.contributor.authorWissel, Björn
dc.contributor.authorChan, Chun Ngai
dc.contributor.authorPage, Bryan
dc.contributor.authorKowal, Paige
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-29T21:59:06Z
dc.date.available2025-08-29T21:59:06Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionOpen access article. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) applies
dc.description.abstractInland waters are one of the largest natural sources of methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, but emissions models and estimates were developed for solute-poor ecosystems and may not apply to salt-rich inland waters. Here we combine field surveys and eddy covariance measurements to show that salinity constrains microbial CH4 cycling through complex mechanisms, restricting aquatic emissions from one of the largest global hardwater regions (the Canadian Prairies). Existing models overestimated CH4 emissions from ponds and wetlands by up to several orders of magnitude, with discrepancies linked to salinity. While not significant for rivers and larger lakes, salinity interacted with organic matter availability to shape CH4 patterns in small lentic habitats. We estimate that excluding salinity leads to overestimation of emissions from small Canadian Prairie waterbodies by at least 81% ( ~ 1 Tg yr−1 CO2 equivalent), a quantity comparable to other major national emissions sources. Our findings are consistent with patterns in other hardwater landscapes, likely leading to an overestimation of global lentic CH4 emissions. Widespread salinization of inland waters may impact CH4 cycling and should be considered in future projections of aquatic emissions.
dc.description.peer-reviewYes
dc.identifier.citationSoued, C., Bogard, M. J., Finlay, K., Bortolotti, L. E., Leavitt, P. R., Badiou, P., Know, S. H., Jensen, S., Mueller, P., Lee, S. C., Ng, D., Wissel, B., Chan, C. N., Page, B., & Kowal, P. (2024). Salinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from small inland waters. Nature Communications, 15, Article 717. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44715-3
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/7119
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciences
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Science
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Lethbridge
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Regina
dc.publisher.institutionDuck's Unlimited Canada
dc.publisher.institutionThe University of British Columbia
dc.publisher.institutionUniversité Claude Bernard Lyon
dc.publisher.institutionMcGill University
dc.publisher.institutionMax Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
dc.publisher.urlhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44715-3
dc.subjectCarbon cycle
dc.subjectEcosystem ecology
dc.subjectGeochemistry
dc.subjectLimnology
dc.subjectMethane emissions
dc.subjectSalinity
dc.subjectInland waters
dc.subject.lcshSalinity--Canada
dc.subject.lcshFresh water--Canada
dc.subject.lcshMethane--Environmental aspects--Canada
dc.titleSalinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from small inland waters
dc.typeArticle
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