Summary
The CH4 flux from intact soil cores of a flooded rice field in Italy was measured under aerobic and anaerobic incubation conditions. The difference between the anaerobic and aerobic CH4 fluxes was apparently due to CH4 oxidation in the oxic soil surface layer. This conclusion was supported by measurements of the vertical CH4 profile in the upper 2-cm layer, and of the V max of CH4 oxidation in slurried samples of the soil surface layer. About 80% of the CH4 was oxidized during its passage through the soil surface layer. CH4 oxidation was apparently limited by the concentration of CH4 and/or O2 in the active surface layer. The addition of ammonium to the water layer on top of the soil core reversibly increased the aerobic CH4 fluxes due to inhibition of CH4 oxidation in the soil surface layer.
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Conrad, R., Rothfuss, F. Methane oxidation in the soil surface layer of a flooded rice field and the effect of ammonium. Biol Fert Soils 12, 28–32 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369384
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369384