Journal article
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freshwater Reservoirs: What Does the Atmosphere See?
Ecosystems (New York), Vol.21(5), pp.1058-1071
2018
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101799
PMCID: PMC6309167
PMID: 30607138
Abstract
Freshwater reservoirs are a known source of greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere, but their quantitative significance is still only loosely con- strained. Although part of this uncertainty can be attributed to the difficulties in measuring highly variable fluxes, it is also the result of a lack of a clear accounting methodology, particularly about what constitutes new emissions and potential new sinks. In this paper, we review the main processes involved in the generation of GHG in reservoir systems and propose a simple approach to quantify the reservoir GHG footprint in terms of the net changes in GHG fluxes to the atmosphere induced by damming, that is, ‘what the atmosphere sees.’ The approach takes into account the pre-impoundment GHG balance of the landscape, the temporal evolution of reservoir GHG emission profile as well as the natural emissions that are displaced to or away from the reservoir site resulting from hydrological and other changes. It also clarifies the portion of the reservoir carbon burial that can potentially be considered an offset to GHG emissions.
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Details
- Title
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freshwater Reservoirs: What Does the Atmosphere See?
- Creators
- Yves T Prairie - UNESCO Chair in Global Environmental Change, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, CanadaJukka Alm - Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Uusima, FinlandJake Beaulieu - United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USANathan Barros - Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, BrazilTom Battin - É cole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandJonathan Cole - Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USAPaul del Giorgio - Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, CanadaTonya DelSontro - Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, CanadaFrédéric Guérin - Géos- ciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS, IRD, Université Paul-Sabatier, Toulouse, FranceAtle Harby - SINTEF Energy Research, Trondheim, NorwayJohn Harrison - School of the Environment, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, USASara Mercier-Blais - UNESCO Chair in Global Environmental Change, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, CanadaDominique Serça - Laboratoire d’Aérologie, Ob- servatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, FranceSebastian Sobek - Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SwedenDominic Vachon - Institute F.-A. Forel, Department of Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Publication Details
- Ecosystems (New York), Vol.21(5), pp.1058-1071
- Academic Unit
- Harrison Research Group: Global Change and Watershed Biochemistry ; Environment, School of the (CAS)
- Identifiers
- 99900546620801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article