Methane emissions offset atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake in coastal macroalgae, mixed vegetation and sediment ecosystems

Florian Roth (), Elias Broman, Xiaole Sun, Stefano Bonaglia, Francisco Nascimento, John Prytherch, Volker Brüchert, Maysoon Lundevall Zara, Märta Brunberg, Marc C. Geibel, Christoph Humborg and Alf Norkko
Additional contact information
Florian Roth: Stockholm University
Elias Broman: Stockholm University
Xiaole Sun: Stockholm University
Stefano Bonaglia: University of Gothenburg
Francisco Nascimento: Stockholm University
John Prytherch: Stockholm University
Volker Brüchert: Stockholm University
Maysoon Lundevall Zara: Stockholm University
Märta Brunberg: University of Helsinki
Marc C. Geibel: Stockholm University
Christoph Humborg: Stockholm University
Alf Norkko: Stockholm University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Coastal ecosystems can efficiently remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and are thus promoted for nature-based climate change mitigation. Natural methane (CH4) emissions from these ecosystems may counterbalance atmospheric CO2 uptake. Still, knowledge of mechanisms sustaining such CH4 emissions and their contribution to net radiative forcing remains scarce for globally prevalent macroalgae, mixed vegetation, and surrounding depositional sediment habitats. Here we show that these habitats emit CH4 in the range of 0.1 – 2.9 mg CH4 m−2 d−1 to the atmosphere, revealing in situ CH4 emissions from macroalgae that were sustained by divergent methanogenic archaea in anoxic microsites. Over an annual cycle, CO2-equivalent CH4 emissions offset 28 and 35% of the carbon sink capacity attributed to atmospheric CO2 uptake in the macroalgae and mixed vegetation habitats, respectively, and augment net CO2 release of unvegetated sediments by 57%. Accounting for CH4 alongside CO2 sea-air fluxes and identifying the mechanisms controlling these emissions is crucial to constrain the potential of coastal ecosystems as net atmospheric carbon sinks and develop informed climate mitigation strategies.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35673-9

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