Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season

Against the backdrop of climate warming leading to an increase in extreme weather events, extreme precipitation events have become more frequent, and the impact of changes in precipitation on ecosystems cannot be ignored. There is a scarcity of field in situ observational data on greenhouse gas emis...

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Main Authors: Ziwei Yang, Kelong Chen, Yuqiang Tian, Ying Li, Hairui Zhao, Ni Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Atmosphere
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/5/526
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author Ziwei Yang
Kelong Chen
Yuqiang Tian
Ying Li
Hairui Zhao
Ni Zhang
author_facet Ziwei Yang
Kelong Chen
Yuqiang Tian
Ying Li
Hairui Zhao
Ni Zhang
author_sort Ziwei Yang
collection DOAJ
description Against the backdrop of climate warming leading to an increase in extreme weather events, extreme precipitation events have become more frequent, and the impact of changes in precipitation on ecosystems cannot be ignored. There is a scarcity of field in situ observational data on greenhouse gas emissions during the growing season for alpine wetlands, especially for alpine river source wetlands, which limits our understanding of the ability of alpine wetland ecosystems to convert between carbon sources and carbon sinks and also hinders our comprehension of the primary effects of extreme precipitation events on wetland ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the main greenhouse gas emission fluxes in two consecutive growing seasons (May to September) under the conditions of natural control (CK), 75% increase in precipitation (IP), and 75% decrease in precipitation (DP) through in situ field simulations of extreme precipitation in an alpine source wetland in the Qinghai Lake Basin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The results indicate the following: (1) The extreme precipitation increase (IP) treatment did not significantly increase CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes; it promoted CH<sub>4</sub> flux emissions by 168.2% and N<sub>2</sub>O flux emissions by 178.4% over the two growing seasons. The extreme precipitation decrease treatment had a non-significant impact on CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes; it inhibited CH<sub>4</sub> emission fluxes by 96.8% and promoted N<sub>2</sub>O emission fluxes by 137.8%. (2) During the growing season, CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes were 2.2% lower in the IP treatment than in the DP treatment under the two precipitation patterns; the CH<sub>4</sub> flux under the IP treatment is 84.1% higher than that under the DP treatment, and N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes were 43.8% lower in the IP treatment than in the DP treatment. CH<sub>4</sub> fluxes were the most sensitive to precipitation changes. (3) The extreme changes in precipitation were not the main influencing factor for CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes, while CH<sub>4</sub> fluxes were primarily affected by precipitation changes. (4) During the entire growing season, IP reduced the global warming potential (GWP) by 9.03%, and DP decreased GWP by 8.40%. These results suggest that the primary driver of CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in alpine river source wetlands remains temperature factors; in scenarios where extreme climate events occur frequently, both extreme increases and decreases in precipitation have inhibitory effects on the global warming potential of alpine river source wetlands.
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spelling doaj-art-c1d052d051144d2089c1e72c20ba3f282025-08-20T02:33:30ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332025-04-0116552610.3390/atmos16050526Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing SeasonZiwei Yang0Kelong Chen1Yuqiang Tian2Ying Li3Hairui Zhao4Ni Zhang5School of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, ChinaFaculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, ChinaAgainst the backdrop of climate warming leading to an increase in extreme weather events, extreme precipitation events have become more frequent, and the impact of changes in precipitation on ecosystems cannot be ignored. There is a scarcity of field in situ observational data on greenhouse gas emissions during the growing season for alpine wetlands, especially for alpine river source wetlands, which limits our understanding of the ability of alpine wetland ecosystems to convert between carbon sources and carbon sinks and also hinders our comprehension of the primary effects of extreme precipitation events on wetland ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the main greenhouse gas emission fluxes in two consecutive growing seasons (May to September) under the conditions of natural control (CK), 75% increase in precipitation (IP), and 75% decrease in precipitation (DP) through in situ field simulations of extreme precipitation in an alpine source wetland in the Qinghai Lake Basin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The results indicate the following: (1) The extreme precipitation increase (IP) treatment did not significantly increase CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes; it promoted CH<sub>4</sub> flux emissions by 168.2% and N<sub>2</sub>O flux emissions by 178.4% over the two growing seasons. The extreme precipitation decrease treatment had a non-significant impact on CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes; it inhibited CH<sub>4</sub> emission fluxes by 96.8% and promoted N<sub>2</sub>O emission fluxes by 137.8%. (2) During the growing season, CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes were 2.2% lower in the IP treatment than in the DP treatment under the two precipitation patterns; the CH<sub>4</sub> flux under the IP treatment is 84.1% higher than that under the DP treatment, and N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes were 43.8% lower in the IP treatment than in the DP treatment. CH<sub>4</sub> fluxes were the most sensitive to precipitation changes. (3) The extreme changes in precipitation were not the main influencing factor for CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes, while CH<sub>4</sub> fluxes were primarily affected by precipitation changes. (4) During the entire growing season, IP reduced the global warming potential (GWP) by 9.03%, and DP decreased GWP by 8.40%. These results suggest that the primary driver of CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in alpine river source wetlands remains temperature factors; in scenarios where extreme climate events occur frequently, both extreme increases and decreases in precipitation have inhibitory effects on the global warming potential of alpine river source wetlands.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/5/526global changesgreenhouse gas emissionsextreme precipitation variabilityalpine wetland ecosystems
spellingShingle Ziwei Yang
Kelong Chen
Yuqiang Tian
Ying Li
Hairui Zhao
Ni Zhang
Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season
Atmosphere
global changes
greenhouse gas emissions
extreme precipitation variability
alpine wetland ecosystems
title Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season
title_full Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season
title_fullStr Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season
title_full_unstemmed Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season
title_short Greenhouse Gas Response to Simulated Precipitation Extremes in Alpine River Source Wetlands During the Growing Season
title_sort greenhouse gas response to simulated precipitation extremes in alpine river source wetlands during the growing season
topic global changes
greenhouse gas emissions
extreme precipitation variability
alpine wetland ecosystems
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/5/526
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AT yuqiangtian greenhousegasresponsetosimulatedprecipitationextremesinalpineriversourcewetlandsduringthegrowingseason
AT yingli greenhousegasresponsetosimulatedprecipitationextremesinalpineriversourcewetlandsduringthegrowingseason
AT hairuizhao greenhousegasresponsetosimulatedprecipitationextremesinalpineriversourcewetlandsduringthegrowingseason
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