Wetlands are complex ecosystems that globally represent approximately 6% of the Earth’s land surface and include lowland ricefields as the largest anthropogenic wetlands. Their unique role in regulating global biogeochemical cycles as well as their role as source, sink and transformation of elements are strongly influenced by temporary or permanent water saturation, in turn governed by hydrology. The resulting redox potential oscillations strongly affect long-term wetland biogeochemical processes involving multiple elemental cycles. An improved insight into the interactions between element cycling will be needed to predict the environmental fate and transport of elements and compounds that occur naturally in wetlands and those that enter the system through anthropogenic sources. We invite interdisciplinary contributions aimed at improving our understanding of the interactions and feedback mechanisms between carbon, nitrogen, iron, manganese, sulphur, phosphorus, arsenic and silicon cycles in paddy and wetland soils. This session aims at bringing together experts and scientists from around the world to discuss and provide quantitative and mechanistic insights into the key factors regulating organic matter turnover in wetlands and their influence on global carbon source/sink functions (including emissions of green-house gases and dissolved organic matter dynamics), bioavailability and loss of nutrients and contaminants, microbial community structure and function, mineral transformations and soil development.

Solicited Speaker:
Frank Jauker (Justus Liebig Universität, Germany)
Introducing non-flooded crops in rice-dominated landscapes: Impact on carbon, nitrogen and water budgets