title: Freshwater methane emissions offset the continental carbon sink.
abstract: Inland waters (lakes, reservoirs, streams, and rivers) are often substantial methane (CH(4)) sources in the terrestrial landscape. They are, however, not yet well integrated in global greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets. Data from 474 freshwater ecosystems and the most recent global water area estimates indicate that freshwaters emit at least 103 teragrams of CH(4) year(-1), corresponding to 0.65 petagrams of C as carbon dioxide (CO(2)) equivalents year(-1), offsetting 25% of the estimated land carbon sink. Thus, the continental GHG sink may be considerably overestimated, and freshwaters need to be recognized as important in the global carbon cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thematic Studies-Water and Environmental Studies, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden. david.bastviken@liu.se
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bastviken
authors.forename: Lars J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Tranvik
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Downing
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Crill
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Enrich-Prast
mesh_terms: D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D017753:Ecosystem; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D063245:Plant Development; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008697:Methane