Wetland Carbon Cycle

We investigate wetland CO2 and CH4 dynamics at site, regional, and global scales.

Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH4), the second most important greenhouse gas, contributing approximately 20-30% of global emission-related radiative forcing. Wetlands can also be a major sink of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, our understanding of the underlying biogeochemical processes affecting wetland greenhouse gas dynamics remains limited. This knowledge gap leaves the net climatic impact of wetlands and their potential as nature-based solutions underexplored. Therefore, I integrate field measurements, satellite observations, machine learning, causal inference, and biogeochemical models to quantify inland and coastal wetland CH4 and CO2 fluxes from regional to global scales. I also investigate how these fluxes respond to climate dynamics and human activities (e.g., restoration and management), aiming to improve our predictive understanding of wetland ecosystems and their role in nature-based solutions.​

Our study "Boreal–Arctic wetland methane emissions modulated by warming and vegetation activity" published in Nature Climate Change, featured as the cover page.

2025

  1. AFM
    Hysteretic temperature sensitivity in wetland CH4 emission modeling
    S. Chen, K. Yuan, F. Li, Q. Zhu, and Q. Zhuang
    Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2025
  2. ERL
    Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland
    S. Yang, J. Tang, Z. Li, K. Yuan, Q. Wu, K. Chang, S. Hodgkins, R. Wilson, Q. Zhu, R. Grant, and others
    Environmental Research Letters, 2025
  3. ERL
    Advancements and opportunities to improve bottom–up estimates of global wetland methane emissions
    Q. Zhu, D. Jacob, K. Yuan, F. Li, B. Runkle, M. Chen, A. Bloom, B. Poulter, J. East, W. Riley, and others
    Environmental Research Letters, 2025
  4. GMD
    Development of a Model Framework for Terrestrial Carbon Flux Prediction: the Regional Carbon and Climate Analytics Tool (RCCAT) Applied to Non-tidal Wetlands (in discussion)
    A. Brereton, Z. Mekonnen, B. Arora, W. Riley, K. Yuan, Y. Xu, Y. Zhang, Q. Zhu, T. Anthony, and A. Paytan
    Geoscientific Model Development, 2025

2024

  1. ERL
    Critical needs to close monitoring gaps in pan-tropical wetland CH4 emissions
    Q. Zhu, K. Yuan, F. Li, W. Riley, A. Hoyt, R. Jackson, G. McNicol, M. Chen, S. Knox, O. Briner, and others
    Environmental Research Letters, 2024
  2. Nature Climate Change
    Boreal–Arctic wetland methane emissions modulated by warming and vegetation activity
    K. Yuan, F. Li, G. McNicol, M. Chen, A. Hoyt, S. Knox, W. Riley, R. Jackson, and Q. Zhu
    Nature Climate Change, 2024

2023

  1. AGU Advances
    Upscaling wetland methane emissions from the FLUXNET-CH4 eddy covariance network (UpCH4 v1. 0): Model development, network assessment, and budget comparison
    G. McNicol, E. Fluet-Chouinard, Z. Ouyang, S. Knox, Z. Zhang, T. Aalto, S. Bansal, K. Chang, M. Chen, K. Delwiche, S. Feron, M. Goeckede, J. Liu, A. Malhotra, J. Melton, W. Riley, R. Vargas, K. Yuan, Q. Ying, Q. Zhu, P. Alekseychik, M. Aurela, D. Billesbach, D. Campbell, J. Chen, H. Chu, A. Desai, E. Euskirchen, J. Goodrich, T. Griffis, M. Helbig, T. Hirano, H. Iwata, G. Jurasinski, J. King, F. Koebsch, R. Kolka, K. Krauss, A. Lohila, I. Mammarella, M. Nilson, A. Noormets, W. Oechel, M. Peichl, T. Sachs, A. Sakabe, C. Schulze, O. Sonnentag, R. Sullivan, E. Tuittila, M. Ueyama, T. Vesala, E. Ward, C. Wille, G. Wong, D. Zona, L. Windham-Myers, B. Poulter, and R. Jackson
    AGU Advances, 2023

2022

  1. AFM
    Causality guided machine learning model on wetland CH4 emissions across global wetlands
    K. Yuan, Q. Zhu, F. Li, W. Riley, M. Torn, H. Chu, G. McNicol, M. Chen, S. Knox, K. Delwiche, and others
    Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2022