CH4 concentrations and fluxes in a subtropical metropolitan river network: Watershed urbanization impacts and environmental controls

Urbanization and greenhouse gas emissions are of great global concern, especially in developing countries such as China. However, little is known about the relationship between the two. In this study, we examined the influences of the urbanization of Chongqing Municipality, which covers an area of 5494km2, in China, on the CH4 emissions of in its metropolitan river network. The results from 84 sampling locations showed an overall mean CH4 concentration of 0.69±1.37μmol·L−1 and a CH4 flux from the river network of 1.40±2.53mmolCH4m−2d−1. The CH4 concentrations and fluxes presented a clear seasonal pattern, with the highest value in the spring and the lowest in the summer. Such seasonal variations were probably co-regulated by the dilution effect, temperature and supply of fresh organic matter by algal blooms. Another important result was that the CH4 concentrations and fluxes increased with the degree of urbanization or the proportion of urban land use, being approximately 3–13 times higher in urban and suburban areas than in rural ones. The total nitrogen, dissolved oxygen (O%) and possible sewage discharge, which could affect the in situ CH4 production and exogenous CH4 input respectively, were important factors that influenced the spatial patterns of CH4 in human-dominated river networks, while the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) could be good predictors of the CH4 emissions in urban watersheds. Hydrologic drivers, including bottom sediment type, flow velocity and river width, were strongly correlated with the CH4 concentrations and could also affect the spatial variance and predict the CH4 hotspots in such metropolitan river networks. With increasing urbanization, we should pay more attention to the increasing greenhouse gas emissions associated with urbanization. [Display omitted] •Basin urbanization significantly enhances the CH4 emissions from regional river network.•Water quality act as potential predictor for CH4 concentrations in metropolitan river network.•Bottom sediment type and flow velocity influence the spatial variance of riverine CH4.•Algal blooms, temperature and rainfall account for the seasonality of CH4 concentrations.