Salinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from inland waters

Salinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from inland waters | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Salinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from inland waters Cynthia Soued, Kerri Finlay, Lauren Bortolotti, Sydney Jensen, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1762660/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Inland waters are the largest natural source of methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, but models and estimates of aquatic CH4 cycling and emissions were developed in soft-water ecosystems and may not apply to globally abundant salt-rich inland waters. Here we show that elevated salinity constrains microbial CH4 cycling restricting aquatic emissions at large scales. Our survey of the Canadian Prairie ecozone demonstrates that salinity interacts with organic matter availability to shape CH4 patterns across aquatic networks (rivers, lakes, wetlands, and agricultural ponds). Current empirical models, biased toward solute-poor surface waters, overestimated CH4 concentrations and emissions measured in hardwater systems by up to several orders of magnitude, with discrepancies strongly linked to salinity. Models were particularly inaccurate for bubble-mediated emissions from small lentic systems, one of the largest sources of aquatic CH4 globally. Elevated salinity reduced aquatic CH4 emissions by an estimated 81 % in the Canadian Prairies, and could result in a 7.8 % overestimation of global lentic emissions. Widespread salinization of inland waters under future land use and climate regimes could further restrict methane emissions. Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Souedetalsalinitych4SIv4.pdf Supplementary material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-1762660","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":117169334,"identity":"b608e1db-c83b-4b1e-9556-4013870363b2","order_by":0,"name":"Cynthia 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