Data from: Methane emission offsets carbon dioxide uptake in a small productive lake

Here we investigate the importance of net CH4 production and emissions in the carbon (C) budget of a small eutrophic lake by monitoring CH4, CO2 and O2 during two consecutive years. During the study period, the lake was mostly a net emitter of both CH4 and CO2, while having a net autotrophic metabolism. The analyses suggest that during the whole study period 29 ± 23 % of C produced by net ecosystem production was ultimately converted to CH4 and emitted to the atmosphere. When converted to global warming potential, CH4 emission (in CO2 equivalents) was about 3 to 9 times higher than CO2 uptake from in-lake net ecosystem production over 100-years and 20-year timeframes, respectively. Our results suggest that the continuing eutrophication of inland waters will increase the amount of C released from lakes as CH4 instead of CO2> and may exacerbate the lake's role in climate regulating processes.