Abstract/Summary

Mariculture shrimp ponds are important CH4 sources to the atmosphere. However, the spatiotemporal variations of CH4 concentration and flux at fine spatial scales in mariculture ponds are poorly known, particularly in China, worlds largest aquaculture producer. In this study, the plot‐scale spatiotemporal variations of water CH4 concentration and flux, both within and among ponds, were researched in shrimp ponds in Shanyutan wetland, Min River Estuary, Southeast China. The average water CH4 concentration and diffusion flux across the water‐air interface in the shrimp ponds over the shrimp aquaculture period varied from 2.29 ± 0.29 to 50.48 ± 20.91 μM and from 0.09 ± 0.01 to 2.32 ± 0.95 mmol·m−2·hr−1, respectively. The CH4 emissions from the estuarine ponds varied greatly between seasons, with peaks in August and September, which was similar to the trend of water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentrations. There was no remarkable difference in CH4 concentration and flux between shrimp ponds but significantly spatiotemporal differences in CH4 concentration and flux within the ponds. Significantly higher emissions occurred in the feeding zone, accounting for approximately 60% of total CH4 emission flux, while much lower CH4 emissions appeared in aeration zone, contributing 14% to total flux. This study suggests the importance of considering spatiotemporal variation in the whole‐pond estimates of CH4 concentration and flux. In light of such high spatial variation within ponds, improving aeration and feed utilization efficiency would help to mitigate CH4 emissions from mariculture ponds.