New Study: Methane is present in surface waters of Mondsee and Attersee – why is it there and why should we care?
A new study from the research group of Barbara Bayer at DOME | CeMESS discovered that the two Austrian lakes Mondsee and Attersee are a source of methane throughout the year. The study was recently published in Limnology and Oceanography Letters and was carried out within the framework of the ERC project METHANIAQ.
Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas responsible for over 25% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution. Methane production in aquatic ecosystems has traditionally been thought to be carried out by microbes in anoxic sediments. „However, there is increasing evidence that methane is also microbially produced in oxic surface waters – commonly referred to as ‚the methane paradox‘ – which can contribute to methane emissions to the atmosphere“, says Barbara Bayer.
In their study, the group investigated seasonal methane dynamics in the two Austrian peri-Alpine lakes Mondsee and Attersee. „We show for the first time that methane concentrations are consistently elevated in surface waters of both lakes, suggesting that they are a source of methane to the atmosphere throughout the year“, Bayer adds. These findings are in contrast to previous studies which reported clear seasonal differences with methane often disappearing in winter in other lakes. The study emphasizes the need for more in-depth studies on methane dynamics to predict methane emissions from lakes at higher elevation, where climatic changes occur at even faster rates compared to the global average.
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