Abstract
Methane emissions from plants in wetlands are mainly due to internal transport, from the anoxic soil layers where methane is produced, to the atmosphere. This pathway has not yet been clearly demonstrated for upland forest vegetation, where methane can be produced in deep soil layers. We developed a new method to trace methane transfer from the deep soil. We conducted a 13CH4 pulse labelling at 40-cm soil depth and then monitored 13CH4 in the upper horizons, at the soil surface (with or without understorey vegetation) and emitted by tree stems until the total disappearance of the labelled gas. Most of the injected 13CH4 was oxidized in the soil despite high soil water content. The understorey vegetation did not contribute to 13CH4 emission by the soil. We prove that tree stems can emit methane produced in an upland forest soil, even when the said soil is a net methane sink. We conclude that pulse labelling with 13CH4 and tracing by laser-based spectrometry is a promising tool approach to study the transport of methane from production to emission.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Data availability
Data are available at the following link: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3929102
References
Barba J, Bradford MA, Brewer PE et al (2019) Methane emissions from tree stems: a new frontier in the global carbon cycle. New Phytol 222:18–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15582
Bhullar GS, Iravani M, Edwards PJ, Olde Venterink H (2013) Methane transport and emissions from soil as affected by water table and vascular plants. BMC Ecol 13:32. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-13-32
Bonnaud P, Santenoise Ph, Tisserand D et al (2019) Impact of compaction on two sensitive forest soils in Lorraine (France) assessed by the changes occurring in the perched water table. For Ecol Manage 437:380–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.01.029
Carmichael MJ, Bernhardt ES, Bräuer SL, Smith WK (2014) The role of vegetation in methane flux to the atmosphere: should vegetation be included as a distinct category in the global methane budget? Biogeochemistry 119:1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-9974-1
Covey KR, Megonigal JP (2019) Methane production and emissions in trees and forests. New Phytol 222:35–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15624
Epron D, Plain C, Ndiaye F-K et al (2016) Effects of compaction by heavy machine traffic on soil fluxes of methane and carbon dioxide in a temperate broadleaved forest. For Ecol Manag 382:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.09.037
Feng H, Guo J, Han M et al (2020) A review of the mechanisms and controlling factors of methane dynamics in forest ecosystems. For Ecol Manage 455:117702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117702
Flanagan LB, Nikkel DJ, Scherloski LM et al (2021) Multiple processes contribute to methane emission in a riparian cottonwood forest ecosystem. New Phytol 229:1970–1982. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16977
Goffin S, Aubinet M, Maier M et al (2014) Characterization of the soil CO2 production and its carbon isotope composition in forest soil layers using the flux-gradient approach. Agric For Meteorol 188:45–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2013.11.005
Greenup AL, Bradford MA, McNamara NP et al (2000) The role of Eriophorum vaginatum in CH4 flux from an ombrotrophic peatland. Plant Soil 227:265–272. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026573727311
Groot TT, van Bodegom PM, Harren FJM, Meijer HAJ (2003) Quantification of methane oxidation in the rice rhizosphere using 13C-labelled methane. Biogeochemistry 64:355–372. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024921714852
Halmeenmäki E, Heinonsalo J, Putkinen A et al (2017) Above- and belowground fluxes of methane from boreal dwarf shrubs and Pinus sylvestris seedlings. Plant Soil 420:361–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3406-7
Le Mer J, Roger P (2001) Production, oxidation, emission and consumption of methane by soils: a review. Eur J Soil Biol 37:25–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1164-5563(01)01067-6
Lenhart K, Bunge M, Ratering S et al (2012) Evidence for methane production by saprotrophic fungi. Nat Commun 3:1046
Machacova K, Bäck J, Vanhatalo A et al (2016) Pinus sylvestris as a missing source of nitrous oxide and methane in boreal forest. Sci Rep 6:23410
Maier M, Machacova K, Lang F et al (2018) Combining soil and tree-stem flux measurements and soil gas profiles to understand CH4 pathways in Fagus sylvatica forests. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 181:31–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201600405
Megonigal JP, Brewer PE, Knee KL (2020) Radon as a natural tracer of gas transport through trees. New Phytol 225:1470–1475. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16292
Morrissey LA, Livingston GP (1992) Methane emissions from Alaska Arctic tundra: an assessment of local spatial variability. J Geophys Res Atmos 97:16661–16670. https://doi.org/10.1029/92JD00063
Nielsen CS, Michelsen A, Ambus P et al (2017) Linking rhizospheric CH4 oxidation and net CH4 emissions in an arctic wetland based on 13CH4 labeling of mesocosms. Plant Soil 412:201–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3061-4
Pangala SR, Enrich-Prast A, Basso LS et al (2017) Large emissions from floodplain trees close the Amazon methane budget. Nature 552:230–234
Pedersen EP, Michelsen A, Elberling B (2018) In situ CH4 oxidation inhibition and 13CH4 labeling reveal methane oxidation and emission patterns in a subarctic heath ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 138:197–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0441-2
Pitz SL, Megonigal JP (2017) Temperate forest methane sink diminished by tree emissions. New Phytol 214:1432–1439. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14559
Plain C, Ndiaye F-K, Bonnaud P et al (2019) Impact of vegetation on the methane budget of a temperate forest. New Phytol 221:1447–1456. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15452
R Core Team (2017) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing
Schimel JP (1995) Plant transport and methane production as controls on methane flux from arctic wet meadow tundra. Biogeochemistry 28:183–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02186458
Shaw G, Atkinson B, Meredith W et al (2014) Quantifying 12/13CH4 migration and fate following sub-surface release to an agricultural soil. J Environ Radioact 133:18–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2013.07.006
Subke J-A, Moody CS, Hill TC et al (2018) Rhizosphere activity and atmospheric methane concentrations drive variations of methane fluxes in a temperate forest soil. Soil Biol Biochem 116:323–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.10.037
von Fischer JC, Hedin LO (2002) Separating methane production and consumption with a field-based isotope pool dilution technique. Global Biogeochem Cycles 16:8–1. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GB001448
Wang Z-P, Gu Q, Deng F-D et al (2016) Methane emissions from the trunks of living trees on upland soils. New Phytol 211:429–439. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13909
Yip DZ, Veach AM, Yang ZK et al (2019) Methanogenic archaea dominate mature heartwood habitats of eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides). New Phytol 222:115–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15346
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to S. Martin, E. Dalle, P. Courtois for their technical assistance and to the colleagues who kindly helped us in the field (B. Amiaud, S. Chauchard, D. Desalme, N. Marron and P. Priault). We also thank B. Longdoz, I. Houillon and E. Delogu for the adaptation of the flux gradient model. We also thank the colleagues of the “Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers” laboratory who are in charge of the experimental forest where we did the experiment and to K. Klumpp who allowed us to use the isotope analyser.
Funding
This study was part of the EMEFOR project, which received financial support from the ADEME – REACTIF programme (convention n° 12–60-C0057), the French agency for ecological transition. This work was supported partly by the French PIA project “Lorraine Université d’Excellence”, reference ANR-15-IDEX-04-LUE. The installation of the experimental site was mainly supported by the French National Forest Office (ONF). UMR 1434 is supported by the ARBRE Laboratory of Excellence (ANR-11-LABX-0002–01). The isotope analyser belongs to the French National Research Infrastructure “AnaEE France” (ANR-11-INBS-0001).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CP and DE planned and designed the research. CP performed the experiment and analysed the data. CP and DE wrote the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Plain, C., Epron, D. Pulse labelling of deep soil layers in forest with 13CH4: testing a new method for tracing methane in the upper horizons, understorey vegetation and tree stems using laser-based spectrometry. Biogeochemistry 153, 215–222 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00775-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00775-x
Keywords
- Laser-based spectrometry
- Soil methane oxidation
- Greenhouse gas
- Stable isotopes
- Methane diffusion