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Methane and Carbon Dioxide Flux Heterogeneity Mediated by Termite Mounds in Moist Tropical Forest Soils of Himalayan Foothills, India

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Abstract

Termites are dominant soil macro-fauna in tropical forests, yet remain an uncertain component of the carbon budget in many regions. We investigated CH4 and CO2 flux patterns from termite mounds and background soils of moist tropical deciduous forests in Indian lower Himalaya from April 2015 till March 2016 using static closed chamber technique. The relation between gas fluxes and soil moisture as well as temperature were examined. Termite (Odontotermes obesus) mounds were significant localized source of CH4 (0.38 ± 0.01 mg m−2 h−1) and CO2 (1837 ± 40 mg m−2 h−1) amidst CH4 consuming (– 0.028 ± 0.001 mg m−2 h−1) or lower CO2 emitting (1120 ± 19 mg m−2 h−1) background forest soils. Gas fluxes from termite mounds were seasonally bimodal (monsoon flux being highest followed by a second mild peak in winter) and diurnally variable. Soil moisture was a significant determinant of CH4 and CO2 fluxes from termite mounds, explaining more than 50% variability. In the case of background forest soils, the combined effect of soil moisture and temperature best explained CO2 and CH4 flux variation. On scaling up, termite mounds contributed negligibly (0.3%) to total soil CO2 emission while mound-mediated CH4 emission offset net soil CH4 uptake by 2.0%. Our results suggest considerable role of termite mounds in influencing source–sink capacity of forest soils. Present data are crucial in reducing error and uncertainty due to spatiotemporal variations in case of large-scale predictions. We suggest careful future land use decisions to minimize the contribution of mound-building termites to net soil CO2 and CH4 flux from this region.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the scientific and technical team of Indian Institute of Petroleum for facilitating chromatographic analysis of gas samples. We thank the local people for their voluntary assistance during the field work. We acknowledge the funding support of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India, in the form of NET-Junior and Senior Research Fellowship provided to the first author.

Funding

This study was funded by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India, in the form of NET-Junior and Senior Research Fellowship (Grant No. 2061030649).

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Author notes

  1. JSC, SS and VJ conceived of and designed the study. JSC and NS performed field work and research, fine-tuned field methods. JSC and SS analyzed data. JSC and NS wrote the paper and VJ, SS commented on the manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology, Climate Change and Forest Influence Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, New Forest, Uttarakhand, 248 006, India

    Joyeeta Singh Chakraborty & V. Jeeva

  2. Forest Entomology Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248 006, India

    Sudhir Singh

  3. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India

    Nilendu Singh

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  1. Joyeeta Singh Chakraborty
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Correspondence to Joyeeta Singh Chakraborty.

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Chakraborty, J.S., Singh, S., Singh, N. et al. Methane and Carbon Dioxide Flux Heterogeneity Mediated by Termite Mounds in Moist Tropical Forest Soils of Himalayan Foothills, India. Ecosystems 24, 1991–2006 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00630-y

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