Measuring carbon dioxide and methane fluxes

Wetlands play a key role in the coastal carbon cycle, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and releasing carbon dioxide and methane during respiration. The amount of methane emission is critical to determining how a wetland interacts with the global climate system. Here Rebecca Sanders-DeMott and Adrian Mann measure carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a clear chamber in a Phragmites wetland in Mashpee, Massachusetts.