Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, considerably influencing our planet's climate. In general, wetland methane flux follows three distinct pathways: diffusion through the soil and water column, ebullition, and plant- mediated transport. While it is understood that different wetland types and climate regimes can affect overall ecosystem methane flux, the relative contribution of different partitions of flux in wetlands and what drives these contributions, remains relatively unknown. Notably, Earth System Models often represent these underlying processes as constants or generalizations for entire ecosystems, missing the fine scale dynamics often present in wetlands. This dissertation improves the understanding of methane flux pathways in coastal Louisiana wetlands, where we see that while ebullition contributes the most methane flux in freshwater and swamp ecosystems, in a saltmarsh, methane flux from plants was paramount. Additionally under-represented flux surfaces such as tree stems and cypress knees showed flux levels meriting their inclusion as methane sources in forested wetland ecosystems. Additionally, flux in these wetlands varied seasonally, whether in magnitude or in the relative contribution of different pathways to net flux. This research helps answer: how wetland contributions of methane flux pathways to net flux differ between ecohydrological patches, what differences are there between individual plant species and their ability to transport methane, and what the contribution of woody partitions is to ecosystem level flux in a forested wetland. All of which can be used to more properly inform and represent these dynamics in model recreations of these ecosystems and our global methane budget.

Date

13-1-2026

Committee Chair

Robert Slater

DOI

https://proquest.com/docview/3292466482

First Committee Member

Mary Farmer-Kaiser

Second Committee Member

Mitzi Trahan

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