Air-water gas exchange by waving vegetation stems

Abstract

Exchange between wetland surface water and the atmosphere is driven by a variety of motions, ranging from rainfall impact to thermal convection and animal locomotion. Here we examine the effect of wind-driven vegetation movement. Wind causes the stems of emergent vegetation to wave back and forth, stirring the water column and facilitating air-water exchange. To understand the magnitude of this effect, a gas transfer velocity (k600 value) was measured via laboratory experiments. Vegetation waving was studied in isolation by mechanically forcing a model canopy to oscillate at a range of frequencies and amplitudes matching those found in the field. The results show that stirring due to vegetation waving produces k600 values from 0.55 cm/h to 1.60 cm/h. The dependence of k600 on waving amplitude and frequency are evident from the laboratory data. These results indicate that vegetation waving has a nonnegligible effect on gas transport; thus, it can contribute to a mechanistic understanding of the fluxes underpinning biogeochemical processes.