Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of methane ebullition in lowland headwater streams and the impact on sampling design.

Headwater streams are known sources of methane (CH) to the atmosphere, but their contribution to global scale budgets remains poorly constrained. While efforts have been made to better understand diffusive fluxes of CH in streams, much less attention has been paid to ebullitive fluxes. We examine the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of CH ebullition from four lowland headwater streams in the temperate northeastern United States over a 2-yr period.