DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txss
title: Wetland drainage produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions in the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region

description: The Prairie Pothole Region of central North America has land use dominated
 by agriculture and is characterized by many small mineral-soil wetlands
 that are commonly drained to increase the land available for crop
 production. Here, we synthesize the available data regarding Canadian
 prairie mineral wetland carbon storage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
 along with other aspects of land-use change GHG emissions, in a full
 life-cycle assessment to estimate the net effect of ongoing wetland
 drainage on Canada’s GHG budget. Our analysis found that 2.13 Tg CO2-eq
 are released from one year’s worth of prairie wetland drainage, and this
 is dominated by CO2-eq lost through exposure of wetland sediment to
 atmospheric conditions. Our estimated emissions from wetland drainage
 increased to 3.38 Tg CO2-eqwhen natural emissions from the intact wetlands
 were excluded. Other land-use changes associated with wetland drainage,
 including eliminating nitrous oxide emissions from double fertilization of
 the areas around wetlands, did not appreciably offset GHG emissions from
 wetland carbon loss. GHGs from mineral-soil wetland loss are not currently
 included in Canada’s National Inventory Report — incorporation of these
 emissions would necessitate substantial reductions in emissions from other
 agricultural activities to achieve overall emissions reductions targets.
description: # Wetland drainage produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions in the
 Canadian Prairie Pothole Region Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txss](10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txss) ## Description of the
 data and file structure We derived values for Terms 1–6 from a combination
 of data sources, including peer-reviewed literature and gray literature
 including the National Inventory Report for Canada. Details of sources are
 included in the manuscript. Term1_Wetland loss_ha.yr: Area of wetlands
 drained per year, in hectares per year. Term2_MgC.ha  : Carbon released
 from wetland sediments after drainage, in Mg CO2 per hectare
 Term3_CO2e_Mg.ha.yr: Avoided greenhouse gas emissions (sum of methane,
 carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide) from wetlands after drainage in Mg
 CO2-eq per hectare per year. Term4_CO2e_Mg.ha.yr: Greenhouse gas emissions
 produced from farming and fertilizing the former wetland, including direct
 N~2~O emissions from soils, indirect N~2~O emissions, and CO~2~ emissions
 from farm fuel, in Mg CO2-eq per hectare per year.     Term5_MgC.ha:
 Carbon released from the removal of above-ground vegetation (i.e., willow
 rings) and subsequent decomposition or burning of vegetation to release
 the carbon stored in the biomass. Calculated based on willow ring biomass,
 carbon composition of biomass, area of willow rings, and proportion of
 wetlands with a willow ring present in Mg CO2 per hectare.    
 Term6_CO2e_Mg.ha.yr: Avoided diesel fuel combustion and nitrous oxide
 emissions by no longer driving around and double fertilizing the perimeter
 of the wetland, in Mg CO2-eq per hectare per year.
 estimate_20year.CO2e.Mg: Total CO2-eq emissions from wetland drainage
 assuming 20 years for wetland sediment to equilibrate with upland soils,
 in Mg CO2-eq.    estimate_20year_withoutTerm3.CO2e.Mg: Total CO2-eq
 emissions excluding Term 3 listed above, to remove the accounting of
 natural GHG sources from wetlands for IPCC accounting, in Mg CO2-eq.