The fluxes and controlling factors of N2O and CH4 emissions from freshwater marsh in Northeast China

Nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions were measured using a static chamber method in two adjacent plots of freshwater marsh predominated by Calamagrostis angustifolia, one is seasonal waterlogged (SW) and the other without surface water accumulation (NW), in Sanjiang Plain wetland (47°35’N, 133°31’E), northeast China, during 2002–2004. The diurnal and seasonal flux variations of both gases were significantly correlated with 5-cm-soil temperature. The NW marsh is a source of N2O and sink of CH4, while the SW marsh is sink of N2O and source of CH4. Remarkably, we observed a N2O emission peak under Eh of −300 to −100 mV, and CH4 emission peak under Eh of +300 to +400 mV, which indicate additional sources of N2O and CH4 for the freeze-thaw induced emission peaks of N2O and CH4 observed between late July and early August. Further study shows that the additional N2O and CH4 were emitted under the frozen soil after thawing.