Humberto Marotta

Methane Emissions from Pantanal, South America, during the Low Water Season : Toward More Comprehensive Sampling

Freshwater environments contribute 75% of the natural global methane (CH(4)) emissions. While there are indications that tropical lakes and reservoirs emit 58-400% more CH(4) per unit area than similar environments in boreal and temperate biomes, direct measurements of tropical lake emissions are scarce. We measured CH(4) emissions from 16 natural shallow lakes in the Pantanal region of South America, one of the worlds largest tropical wetland areas, during the low water period using floating flux chambers. Measured fluxes ranged from 3.9 to 74.2 mmol m(-2) d(-1) with the average from all studied lakes being 8.8 mmol m(-2) d(-1) (131.8 mg CH(4) m(-2) d(-1)), of which ebullition accounted for 91% of the flux (28-98% on individual lakes). Diel cycling of emission rates was observed and therefore 24-h long measurements are recommended rather than short-term measurements not accounting for the full diel cycle. Methane emission variability within a lake may be equal to or more important than between lake variability in floodplain areas as this study identified diverse habitats within lakes having widely different flux rates. Future measurements with static floating chambers should be based on many individual chambers distributed in the various subenvironments of a lake that may differ in emissions in order to account for the within lake variability.

Elevated rates of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus accumulation in a highly impacted mangrove wetland

The effect of nutrient enrichment on mangrove sediment accretion and carbon accumulation rates is poorly understood. Here we quantify sediment accretion through radionuclide tracers to determine organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) accumulation rates during the previous 60 years in both a nutrient-enriched and a pristine mangrove forest within the same geomorphological region of southeastern Brazil. The forest receiving high nutrient loads has accumulated OC, TN, and TP at rates that are fourfold, twofold, and eightfold respectively, higher than those from the undisturbed mangrove. Organic carbon and TN stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) reflect an increased presence of organic matter (OM) originating with either phytoplankton, benthic algae, or another allochthonous source within the more rapidly accumulated sediments of the impacted mangrove. This suggests that the accumulation rate of OM in eutrophic mangrove systems may be enhanced through the addition of autochthonous and allochthonous nonmangrove material.

Changes in thermal and oxygen stratification pattern coupled to CO2 outgassing persistence in two oligotrophic shallow lakes of the Atlantic Tropical Forest, Southeast Brazil

Diel variations of temperature, O2 and CO2 profiles were measured in two oligotrophic shallow lakes situated next to a large preserved area of the Atlantic Tropical Forest (Brazil) in three sampling periods between the rainy season (spring and summer) and the dry winter of 2005. Our hypothesis was that lakes with high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations by terrestrial inputs might show the persistence of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere over the course of the year, despite changes in the water stratification pattern. In both lakes, temperature, O2 and CO2 showed a significant stratification in the beginning and end of the rainy season, and destratification in the dry winter. The beginning of the rainy season showed DOC concentrations and CO2 saturation that were significantly higher, but a persistence of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere was observed in all sampling periods. In conclusion, tropical shallow oligotrophic lakes might show events of thermal, O2 or CO2 stratification and destratification coupled to persistence of CO2 outgassing, possibly subsiding by terrestrial influence.

Experimental evidence of nitrogen control on pCO2 in phosphorus-enriched humic and clear coastal lagoon waters

Natural and human-induced controls on carbon dioxide (CO2) in tropical waters may be very dynamic (over time and among or within ecosystems) considering the potential role of warmer temperatures intensifying metabolic responses and playing a direct role on the balance between photosynthesis and respiration. The high magnitude of biological processes at low latitudes following eutrophication by nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs into coastal lagoons waters may be a relevant component of the carbon cycle, showing controls on partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) that are still poorly understood. Here we assessed the strength of N control on pCO2 in P-enriched humic and clear coastal lagoons waters, using four experimental treatments in microcosms: control (no additional nutrients) and three levels of N additions coupled to P enrichments. In humic coastal lagoons waters, a persistent CO2 supersaturation was reported in controls and all nutrient-enriched treatments, ranging from 24- to 4-fold the atmospheric equilibrium value. However, both humic and clear coastal lagoons waters only showed significant decreases in pCO2 in relation to the controlled microcosms in the two treatments with higher N addition levels. Additionally, clear coastal lagoons water microcosms showed a shift from CO2 sources to CO2 sinks, in relation to the atmosphere. Only in the two more N-enriched treatments did pCO2 substantially decrease, from 650 µatm in controls and less N-enriched treatments to 10 µatm in more N-enriched microcosms. Humic substrates and N inputs can modulate pCO2 even in P-enriched coastal lagoons waters, thereby being important drivers on CO2 outgassing from inland waters.

Long-Term CO2 Variability in Two Shallow Tropical Lakes Experiencing Episodic Eutrophication and Acidification Events

Here we report the long-term (13-year) dynamics of surface pCO2 and its response to episodic eutrophication and acidification events in two contrasting tropical coastal lakes, one clear-water and the other humic. A short-term nutrient addition experiment was also conducted in mesocosms in the humic lake where in situ eutrophication was moderate. Our objective was to elucidate the response of pCO2 to interannual changes in key limnological conditions, such as nutrient concentrations and pH. The humic waters showed a median pCO2 almost ninefold higher across the 13-year study than the clear waters, supporting pCO2 values about tenfold above atmospheric equilibrium. Eutrophication of the clear-water lake resulted in a decrease in pCO2 to median values below atmospheric equilibrium, producing a strong sink for atmospheric CO2. In contrast, pCO2 increased by over tenfold in both lakes during the acidification phase, resulting in very large CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Experimental nutrient additions in the humic lake showed a strong persistence of high pCO2. The extreme variability in pCO2 observed here might be a characteristic of tropical lakes and may have important consequences for regional carbon budgets.

Large emissions from floodplain trees close the Amazon methane budget

Wetlands are the largest global source of atmospheric methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. However, methane emission inventories from the Amazon floodplain, the largest natural geographic source of CH4 in the tropics, consistently underestimate the atmospheric burden of CH4 determined via remote sensing and inversion modelling, pointing to a major gap in our understanding of the contribution of these ecosystems to CH4 emissions. Here we report CH4 fluxes from the stems of 2,357 individual Amazonian floodplain trees from 13 locations across the central Amazon basin. We find that escape of soil gas through wetland trees is the dominant source of regional CH4 emissions. Methane fluxes from Amazon tree stems were up to 200 times larger than emissions reported for temperate wet forests and tropical peat swamp forests, representing the largest non-ebullitive wetland fluxes observed. Emissions from trees had an average stable carbon isotope value (δ13C) of −66.2 ± 6.4 per mil, consistent with a soil biogenic origin. We estimate that floodplain trees emit 15.1 ± 1.8 to 21.2 ± 2.5 teragrams of CH4 a year, in addition to the 20.5 ± 5.3 teragrams a year emitted regionally from other sources. Furthermore, we provide a ‘top-down’ regional estimate of CH4 emissions of 42.7 ± 5.6 teragrams of CH4 a year for the Amazon basin, based on regular vertical lower-troposphere CH4 profiles covering the period 2010–2013. We find close agreement between our ‘top-down’ and combined ‘bottom-up’ estimates, indicating that large CH4 emissions from trees adapted to permanent or seasonal inundation can account for the emission source that is required to close the Amazon CH4 budget. Our findings demonstrate the importance of tree stem surfaces in mediating approximately half of all wetland CH4 emissions in the Amazon floodplain, a region that represents up to one-third of the global wetland CH4 source when trees are combined with other emission sources.

Structure and function of methanogenic microbial communities in sediments of Amazonian lakes with different water types

Tropical lake sediments are a significant source for the greenhouse gas methane. We studied function (pathway, rate) and structure (abundance, taxonomic composition) of the microbial communities (Bacteria, Archaea) leading to methane formation together with the main physicochemical characteristics in the sediments of four clear water, six white water and three black water lakes of the Amazon River system. Concentrations of sulfate and ferric iron, pH and δ13 C of organic carbon were usually higher, while concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and rates of CH4 production were generally lower in white water versus clear water or black water sediments. Copy numbers of bacterial and especially archaeal ribosomal RNA genes also tended to be relatively lower in white water sediments. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis contributed 58 ± 16% to total CH4 production in all systems. Network analysis identified six communities, of which four were comprised mostly of bacteria found in all sediment types, while two were mostly in clear water sediment. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and pyrosequencing showed that the compositions of the communities differed between the different sediment systems, statistically related to the particular physicochemical conditions and to CH4 production rates. Among the archaea, clear water, white water, and black water sediments contained relatively more Methanomicrobiales, Methanosarcinaceae and Methanocellales, respectively, while Methanosaetaceae were common in all systems. Proteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria (Myxococcales, Syntrophobacterales, sulfate reducers) in particular, Acidobacteria and Firmicutes were the most abundant bacterial phyla in all sediment systems. Among the other important bacterial phyla, clear water sediments contained relatively more Alphaproteobacteria and Planctomycetes, whereas white water sediments contained relatively more Betaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Chloroflexi than the respective other sediment systems. The data showed communities of bacteria common to all sediment types, but also revealed microbial groups that were significantly different between the sediment types, which also differed in physicochemical conditions. Our study showed that function of the microbial communities may be understood on the basis of their structures, which in turn are determined by environmental heterogeneity.

Floating Aquatic Macrophytes Can Substantially Offset Open Water CO2 Emissions from Tropical Floodplain Lake Ecosystems

Tropical floodplain lake ecosystems are recognized as important sources of carbon (C) from the water to the atmosphere. They receive large amounts of organic matter and nutrients from the watershed, leading to intense net heterotrophy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from open waters. However, the role of extensive stands of floating macrophytes colonizing floodplains areas is still neglected in assessments of net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE). We assessed rates of air-lake CO2 flux using static chambers in both open waters and waters covered by the widespread floating aquatic macrophyte (water hyacinth; Eichornia sp.) in two tropical floodplain lakes in Pantanal, Brazil during different hydrological seasons. In both lakes, areas colonized by floating macrophytes were a net CO2 sink during all seasons. In contrast, open waters emitted CO2, with higher emissions during the rising and high water periods. Our results indicate that the lake NEE can be substantially overestimated (fivefold or more in the studied lakes) if the carbon fixation by macrophytes is not considered. The contribution of these plants can lead to neutral or negative NEE (that is, net uptake of CO2) on a yearly basis. This highlights the importance of floating aquatic macrophytes for the C balance in shallow lakes and extensive floodplain areas.

Inter- and intra-annual variations of pCO2 and pO2 in a freshwater subtropical coastal lake

Abstract Inland waters emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, but tropical and subtropical lakes are underrepresented in current assessments. Here we present results of a 6-year study of the dynamics of surface partial pressures of carbon dioxide and oxygen (pCO2 and pO2) in a subtropical lake, Lake Peri, Brazil, to determine how temperature, rainfall, and wind moderate surface concentrations. Both pCO2 and pO2 tended to increase during the transitions between seasons when rainfall increased, with pCO2 averaging 2.5–3-fold higher than atmospheric values. Occasionally during autumn/winter, pCO2 similarly increased and pO2 decreased. We infer that the increases in both gases during the transition periods resulted from increasing inputs of allochthonous material into the lake. Those in winter resulted from near-bottom intrusions that intermittently reach the depth of measurement. In autumn/winter, pCO2 was 3-fold higher (average 1700 μatm) compared to spring/summer (550 μatm), whereas changes in pO2 did not have a clear seasonal pattern. Overall median net CO2 evasion was 11 mg C m−2 d−1. Variability in the extent of rainfall and the associated high intra- and inter-annual variability in CO2 and CO2 emissions are in part controlled by atmospheric processes related to the South American Monsoon System and to El Niño Southern Oscillation cycles.

Monitoramento limnológico: um instrumento para a conservação dos recursos hídricos no planejamento e na gestão urbano-ambientais

Urbanization is often related to the degradation of water quality. The global freshwater shortage must be a central concern in our society. This article discusses the role of water quality evaluation from limnological assessment to subsidize environmental-urban planning and management. A Pressure-State-Response model was used to describe the importance of limnological assessment to water resource conservation.