Oeschger Centre

Methane in Lakes and Wetlands: Microbiological Production, Ecosystem Uptake, Climatological Significance

One-day symposium, 12 September 2011, University of Bern

Lakes and wetlands – a relevant methane source

Lakes and other wetlands are an important source of methane, the third most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. However, the absolute contribution of methane from these ecosystems to the atmosphere and the role of abiotic and biotic factors in determining overall methane fluxes are still under debate. As a consequence it is presently difficult to assess how methane from wetlands will respond to future climatic change.

Different aspects of methane in lakes and wetlands

Within a one-day symposium on 12 September 2011, invited contributions addressed aspects as different as the microbial production of methane in lakes and other wetlands, the uptake of methane within lake and stream food webs, the biotic and abiotic controls of methane fluxes in these ecosystems and the role of methane from lakes and wetlands as drivers of past and future climate change.

Invited speakers

Prof. Dr. David Bastviken (University of Linköping), Dr. Paul Bodelier (Netherlands Institute of Ecology), Dr. Jonathan Grey (Queen Mary University of London), Prof. Dr. Roger Jones (University of Jyväskylä), Dr. Paula Kankaala (University of Eastern Finland Joensuu), Dr. Pirkko Kortelainen (Finnish Environment Institute), Dr. Tonya del Sontro, Dr. Carsten Schubert, (both EAWAG), Prof. Dr. Moritz Lehmann, Dr. Helge Niemann (both University of Basel), Prof. Dr. Josef Zeyer (ETH Zürich), Prof. Dr. Markus Leuenberger, Jos Schilder, Dr. Jochen Schmitt, Dr. Renato Spahni, Dr. Maarten van Hardenbroek (all Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research)