Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3313
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3313
27 Nov 2024
 | 27 Nov 2024
Status: this preprint is open for discussion.

Aquatic and Soil CO2 Emissions from forested wetlands of Congo's Cuvette Centrale

Antoine de Clippele, Astrid C. H. Jaeger, Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Clement Botefa, Glenn Bush, Jessica Carilli, Travis W. Drake, Christian Ekamba, Gode Lompoko, Nivens Bey Mukwiele, Kristof Van Oost, Roland A. Werner, Joseph Zambo, Johan Six, and Matti Barthel

Abstract. Within tropical forest ecosystems, wetlands such as swamp forests are an important interface between the terrestrial and aquatic landscape. Despite this assumed importance, there is a paucity of carbon flux data from wetlands in tropical Africa. Therefore, the magnitude and source of CO2 fluxes, carbon isotopic ratios, and environmental conditions were measured for three years between 2019 to 2022 in a seasonally flooded forest and a perennially flooded forest in the Cuvette Centrale of the Congo Basin. The mean surface fluxes for the seasonally flooded site and the perennially flooded site were 2.36 ± 0.51 µmol m-2 s-1 and 4.38 ± 0.64 µmol m-2 s-1 respectively. The time series data revealed no discernible seasonal pattern in CO2 fluxes. As for the environmental drivers, the fluxes at the seasonally flooded site exhibited a positive correlation with soil temperature and soil moisture. Additionally, the water table depth appeared to be a significant factor, demonstrating a quadratic relationship with the soil fluxes at the seasonally flooded site. δ13C values showed a progressive increase across the carbon pools, from above-ground biomass, then leaf litter, to soil organic carbon (SOC). However, there was no significant difference in δ13C enrichment between SOC and soil respired CO2.

An in-situ derived gas transfer velocity (k600 = 2.95 cm h-1) was used to calculate the aquatic CO2 fluxes at the perennially flooded site. Despite the low k600, relatively high CO2 surface fluxes were found due to very high dissolved pCO2 values measured in the flooding waters. Overall, these results offer a quantification of the CO2 fluxes from forested wetlands and provide an insight of the temporal variability of these fluxes as well as their sensitivity to environmental drivers.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
Antoine de Clippele, Astrid C. H. Jaeger, Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Clement Botefa, Glenn Bush, Jessica Carilli, Travis W. Drake, Christian Ekamba, Gode Lompoko, Nivens Bey Mukwiele, Kristof Van Oost, Roland A. Werner, Joseph Zambo, Johan Six, and Matti Barthel

Status: open (until 14 Jan 2025)

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Antoine de Clippele, Astrid C. H. Jaeger, Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Clement Botefa, Glenn Bush, Jessica Carilli, Travis W. Drake, Christian Ekamba, Gode Lompoko, Nivens Bey Mukwiele, Kristof Van Oost, Roland A. Werner, Joseph Zambo, Johan Six, and Matti Barthel
Antoine de Clippele, Astrid C. H. Jaeger, Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Clement Botefa, Glenn Bush, Jessica Carilli, Travis W. Drake, Christian Ekamba, Gode Lompoko, Nivens Bey Mukwiele, Kristof Van Oost, Roland A. Werner, Joseph Zambo, Johan Six, and Matti Barthel

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Short summary
Tropical forest soils as a large terrestrial source of carbon dioxide (CO2) contribute to the GHG budgets. Despite this, carbon flux data from forested wetlands is scarce in tropical Africa. The study presents three years of semi-continuous measurements of surface CO2 fluxes within the Congo Basin. Although no seasonal patterns were evident, our results showed a positive effect of soil temperature and soil moisture, while a quadratic relationship was observed with the water table level.