Trace Gas Emissions from Extensive Aquaculture Systems in the Red River Delta, Vietnam
Abstract
The Red River Delta of Vietnam is an area undergoing rapid land use change. Aquaculture development is among the most significant of these transformations, with important economic, social and environmental effects. We explored the potential for managed mangrove' and `converted paddy' aquaculture systems in the Delta to produce and/or consume greenhouse gasses. We measured dissolved concentrations of the radiatively-important trace gasses methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as associated parameters. All ponds were super-saturated with CH4, with concentrations ranging from 132-1203 nM, (mean 561 nM) in managed mangrove, and 28-521 nM (mean 110 nM) in converted paddy. Surprisingly, none of the ponds was measurably supersaturated with N2O. Methane fluxes were calculated for all ponds using five well-accepted models of gas flux based on wind speed. Mean flux values ranged from 1.04 to 17.09 mg CH4 m-2 d-1 for managed mangrove, falling somewhere between fluxes reported for natural systems and those receiving sewage inputs. Further measurements should be made in more intensive systems to better understand the potential for trace gas production-particularly N2O-in aquaculture systems.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002AGUFM.B21A0706B
- Keywords:
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- 0400 BIOGEOSCIENCES