Temporal variability in greenhouse gas emissions from shrimp aquaculture ponds in China: A complete farming cycle assessment

Extensive shrimp aquaculture can release a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG). Its rapid expansion in China has raised environmental concerns. Most studies focus on GHG emissions during the farming stage. They often overlook emissions that occur during non-farming seasons. This oversight has led to a limited understanding of the temporal variations in emissions throughout the complete farming cycles. This study analyzed CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O fluxes across different farming stages and identified key environmental drivers through a meta-analysis of 564 sets of data from 26 studies spanning 2012–2024. During the farming period, the fluxes of CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O from shrimp ponds were 8.05 mg m −2 h −1 , 27.33 mg m −2 h −1 and 16.65 μg m −2 h −1 . The non-farming period with average emissions of 14.53 mg m −2 h −1 for CO 2 , 2.86 mg m −2 h −1 for CH 4 , and 80.26 μg m −2 h −1 for N 2 O. Water physicochemical parameters (like water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen) primarily drove emissions during farming periods. In contrast, sediment characteristics (like water depth, sediment pH, sediment total carbon, sediment total nitrogen) became dominant during non-farming periods. Notably, excluding the non-farming period from assessments overestimated CH 4 emissions and underestimated CO 2 and N 2 O emissions. These findings emphasize the necessity of year-round monitoring for accurate GHG emission assessments from shrimp aquaculture. They also provide crucial insights for developing effective climate mitigation strategies. • Shrimp ponds are year-round net sources of CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O. • Greenhouse gas emissions from shrimp ponds show strong temporal heterogeneity. • Excluding non-farming data overestimates CH 4 but underestimates CO 2 and N 2 O. • Water properties and sediment traits alternately dominate emission drivers.