The renewed growth in atmospheric methane (CH4) since 2007 after a decade of stabilization has drawn much attention to its causes and future trends. Wetlands are the single largest source of atmospheric CH4. Understanding wetland ecosystems and carbon dynamics is critical to the estimation of global CH4 and carbon budgets. After approximately 7 years of CH4 related research following the renewed growth in atmospheric CH4, Environmental Research Letters launched a special issue of research letters on wetland ecosystems and carbon dynamics in 2014. This special issue highlights recent developments in terrestrial ecosystem models and field measurements of carbon fluxes across different types of wetland ecosystems. The 14 research letters emphasize the importance of wetland ecosystems in the global CO2 and CH4 budget.
Department of Geography and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 USA;Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada;Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences and Department of Agronomy; Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051, USA;Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden & Arctic Research Center, Aarhus University, Denmark;Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Recommended Citation:
Lei Meng,Nigel Roulet,Qianlai Zhuang,et al. Focus on the impact of climate change on wetland ecosystems and carbon dynamics[J]. Environmental Research Letters,2016-01-01,11(10)