Scientists Find New Climate ‘Feedback Loop’ in Lakes
Warming global temperatures have helped boost the growth of freshwater plants like cattails in the world’s lakes in recent decades. Now, scientists have found that this surge in aquatic plant growth could double the methane being emitted from lakes — already significant sources of methane — over the next 50 years.
The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, reveals a previously unknown climate feedback loop, where warming triggers the release of greenhouse gases, which in turn triggers more warming — similar to what is happening with Arctic’s melting permafrost. Freshwater lakes currently contribute as much as 16 percent of the world’s methane emissions, compared with just 1 percent from oceans.
Cattails are nutrient-rich, containing beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin C. (Cattail flour can cause discomfort for those individuals with a gluten-intolerance, and should be avoided by people with Celiac disease. ) Cattail Information, Recipes and Facts
Reeds in a lake near Sudbury, Ontario, in the Canadian Boreal Shield. Andrew Tanentzap
Lakes produce methane when plant debris is buried in sediment and consumed by microbes. The scientists studied differences in methane production from biomass that originated in lakeside forests and from dead aquatic plants growing in the water. They found that forest-derived biomass helped to actually trap carbon in the lake sediment, reducing methane emissions.
But aquatic plant biomass actually fueled methane production. Lake sediment full of decaying cattails produced over 400 times the amount of methane as sediment with plant debris from coniferous trees, and almost 2,800 times the methane from deciduous tree-filled sediment.
“The organic matter that runs into lakes from the forest trees acts as a latch that suppresses the production of methane within lake sediment,” Erik Emilson, an ecologist at Natural Resources Canada and lead author of the study, said in a statement. “Forests have long surrounded the millions of lakes in the northern hemisphere, but [they] are now under threat.
At the same time, changing climates are providing favorable conditions for the growth and spread of aquatic plants such as cattails, and the organic matter from these plants promotes the release of even more methane from the freshwater ecosystems of the global north.”
Using models of the Boreal Shield, a lake-filled ecosystem that stretches across central and eastern Canada, Emilson and his colleagues calculated that the number of lakes colonized by just the common cattail (Typha latifolia) could double in the next 50 years — resulting in a 73 percent increase in lake-produced methane in that part of the world alone.
The Free 
Few people realize what a great source of food cattails are. Cities all over the world have cattails growing in them. They can be found anywhere from Alaska to Zimbabwe. Cattails are healthy and nutritious and they can be found almost anywhere there is year-round standing water. They’re also fairly easy to identify—they have brown, wiener-like seed heads at the end of a long stem. However, like with any plant, if you’re not certain you’ve correctly identified it, don’t eat it. ………
Best Benefits of Cattail | Organic Facts https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/cereal/cattail.html Jump to Health Benefits of Cattail – Use of cattail provides many benefits such as relief from inflammation and heal boils and sores. It also prevents conditions such as anemia, and cancer. What is Cattail? · Antiseptic
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Barb says
Cattails can actually produce 12 different foods.
1-2-3 Starting at the top (during the spring) is the pollen spike and then the seed pod and later on the corm — which is called Cossack asparagus (which you have already described.)
4 Next are the leaves — which can be bitter — so you need to boil or stir fry them for soup, stew, or stir-fry..
5 There is a part of the stalk down by the root that stays white. This part can be eaten raw or cooked. — in a salad, soup, stew or stir-fry. It’s very much like the Asian cabbage called bok choy.
6 Next go to the rootlets on the bottom of rhizome/root. Cut these off, boil them up, and they are pasta substitutes. Add cheese and you’ve got Mac and Cheese — add tomato sauce or pasta sauce and you’ve got spaghetti –add soy sauce and you’ve got Chinese noodles.
7 You can cut these rootlets into smaller pieces and boil them to use like rice.
8 Next cut around the sheath on the root. Pull the sheath from each end and you have the actual root, which is mostly starch. This root can be boiled and mashed, sliced and fried, and baked just like potatoes.
9 Or dehydrate the root, grind it up and you have cattail flour, complete with gluten. It won’t make a fluffy loaf of bread, but it has enough gluten to make pancakes, tacos, and biscuits.
10 Next take the same part of the root, cut it into pieces, put it in a container and cover with water. The next day pour the water into another container and let the slurry dry. This is pure starch. You can use it like corn starch for thickening stews or gravies or making pudding.
11 Then do the same thing plus add the water from the starch, except this time simmer the starch and water until you get a syrup. This is a sweet syrup that you can use like honey or maple syrup.
12 Last but not least, take the root, roast at 400 to 450 degrees until the root is a nice chocolate brown, and chop into rice sized pieces. Use this as a coffee substitute.
All of this surprised the heck out of me when I found out about it. If I ever get in a situation where I need to find some free food, I hope there are plenty of cattails. around.