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A study of soil methane sink regulation in two grasslands exposed to drought and N fertilization

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Abstract

Oxidation by soil bacteria is the only biological sink for atmospheric methane (CH4). There are substantial uncertainties regarding the global size of this sink, in part because the ecological controls of the involved processes are not well understood to date. We have investigated effects of severe summer drought and of nitrogen inputs (ammonium nitrate or cattle urine) on soil CH4 fluxes in a field experiment. Soil moisture was the most important factor regulating the temporal dynamics of CH4 fluxes. Simulated drought episodes altered the soil’s water balance throughout the year, increasing CH4 oxidation by 50% on an annual basis. N fertilizers exerted only small and transient effects at the ecosystem level. Laboratory incubations suggested that effects differed between soil layers, with larger effects of drought and N application in the top soil than in deeper layers. With soil moisture being the primary controlling factor of methanotrophy, a detailed understanding of the ecosystem’s water balance is required to predict CH4 budgets under future climatic conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Petra A. Braun for discussions and helpful comments on this manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Matthias Zeeman provided precipitation data for both field sites. We are further indebted to Annika Lenz, Peter Plüss and Patrick Flütsch for technical support, Anna Gilgen, Samuel Schmid and Petra Braun helped with the set up of the rain exclusion roofs. This project was funded by Swiss National Science Foundation grant 315230-112681 to PAN. The project was conceived by PAN, the field experiment designed and implemented by AAH and PAN and written up by AAH and PAN with input from NB. AAH gratefully acknowledges a scholarship from ETH Zurich for financial support that allowed the completion of this manuscript. PAN acknowledges founding by TUMSS (Towards the Understanding of Methane Sinks and Sources), a project of ETH’s School domain of Earth, Environment and Natural Resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant, Animal and Agroecosystem Sciences, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstr. 2, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Adrian A. Hartmann, Nina Buchmann & Pascal A. Niklaus

  2. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Pascal A. Niklaus

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  1. Adrian A. Hartmann
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  2. Nina Buchmann
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  3. Pascal A. Niklaus
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Correspondence to Pascal A. Niklaus.

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Hartmann, A.A., Buchmann, N. & Niklaus, P.A. A study of soil methane sink regulation in two grasslands exposed to drought and N fertilization. Plant Soil 342, 265–275 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0690-x

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