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H2020Individual fellowship2019–2021

TRIAGE · TRophic state Interactions with drivers of Aquatic greenhouse Gas Emissions

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2019-03-01 → 2021-02-28
EU contribution
€187,420
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF

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Results in brief

TRophic state Interactions with drivers of Aquatic greenhouse Gas Emissions

Lakes are known for being oversaturated (in respect to the atmosphere) with two important greenhouse gases (GHG) – carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) - and thus emit substantial quantities of both. Lakes can also act as either sources or sinks of nitrous oxide (N2O), a much more potent GHG in terms of atmospheric radiative forcing. Over a 100-yr timescale, CH4 has a global warming potential (GWP) 34 times that of CO2, while N2O has a GWP of 265 times that of CO2. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports that inland water CO2 emissions are similar to CO2 from land use change and 1/8 the CO2 from fossil fuel use, while aquatic CH4 emissions are close to fossil fuel CH4 emissions. Despite the increasing awareness that lakes are important GHG sources and play an important role in the carbon and climate cycle, aquatic GHG dynamics are still poorly understood. Human activities like agricultural and urban runoff have drastically increased nutrient loading to freshwaters, namely of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). Such nutrient loading influences the trophic state of a system and can result in eutrophication, which degrades water quality and reduces overall ecosystem health. Eutrophication manifests itself by enhancing primary production, often causing toxic blooms, and depleting oxygen (O2) from bottom waters during the decomposition of the newly produced organic matter (OM). Human population pressures are expected to enhance eutrophication globally and the Horizon 2020 program (H2020) highlights the importance of minimizing the impact land use change will have on the environment, particularly on aquatic and marine resources. Also, the impact eutrophication has on OM and O2 will influence aquatic GHG emissions as they are key biogeochemical variables related to GHG production. Currently, little is known about the relationship between trophic state and GHG emissions, which hampers our ability to predict how aquatic GHG balances will be impacted by future environmental changes or how to mitigate them. Therefore, the overall goals of this project were 1) to quantify how the aquatic GHG emission balance varies with trophic state and 2) to develop a model describing the main drivers of this variability to aid in predicting the response of aquatic systems to environmental change.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Inland waters are an integral component of the carbon cycle as they process, store, transport, and emit significant amounts of carbon. Freshwaters emit carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), both important greenhouse gases (GHG). Lakes subject to a high nutrient load in a process called eutrophication are typically characterized by enhanced primary production and depleted oxygen, variables directly related to GHG production. Therefore, with increasing nutrient load (i.e., trophic state), lakes have the potential to substantially impact GHG emission, but the relationship is poorly constrained. Climate change-induced variations in variables such as temperature and precipitation could alter nutrient loading, primary production and oxygen, which in turn could change the GHG balance of a system. Evidence suggests that lake eutrophication and climate change impacts interact and alter the lake GHG budget in non-linear ways. Moreover, eutrophication may shift the balance toward higher emissions of CH4, a more potent GHG. To date, very few studies have used a systematic approach to understanding the interaction between GHG emissions and eutrophication, which is essential for efficient management of inland waters, particularly in the face of global change. The overall goal of the project is determine how the GHG balance of aquatic systems shift along a trophic gradient and what some of the drivers of these shifts may be. The project will consist of a multi-lake survey throughout central Europe across a large trophic gradient, followed by modeling of the full GHG balance of those lakes and testing of the strength of relevant drivers. Constraining the variables that dictate the GHG balance will help to inform better management practices for mitigating climatic impacts on aquatic systems as well as allow for the development of models capable of predicting the response of aquatic systems to global environmental changes.

Original text from CORDIS.

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Data: CORDIS, © European Union