Quantifying greenhouse gas flux in a restored tallgrass prairie; does chamber material matter?

Tallgrass prairie ecosystems play a vital role in the carbon cycle; their restoration may be an important component of mitigating future climate change. To quantify the biosphere-to-atmosphere exchange of greenhouse gases, enclosure based chamber systems are frequently used because they are simple and inexpensive to construct, and can be easily replicated in a variety of ecosystems. We tested for differences between paired PVC and galvanized steel chambers in methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions within a restored prairie at Nachusa Grasslands in June and July 2014. We found that there were no significant differences between PVC and steel chambers in CO2, CH4, and N2O flux in either month. These results suggest that researchers can use steel chambers to quantify greenhouse gas flux in frequently burned prairies without having to remove chambers.