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Sources and intensity of CH4 production in paddy soils depend on iron oxides and microbial biomass

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Abstract

A paddy soil, with microbial biomass considerably reduced by chloroform fumigation, was treated with low-crystalline ferrihydrite and high-crystalline goethite and with 13C-labeled acetate. In the first 10 days of the incubation, CH4 was produced mainly from the added acetate (56‒91%). After day 30, however, 3‒11% of the total CH4 emissions originated from the added acetate. Chloroform fumigation reduced the microbial biomass by 43‒87%, leading to the decrease in the CH4 emission from the fumigated soil for 352‒1127 times compared to that from the unfumigated soil. Acetate only contributed to 0‒6% of the total CH4 emission from the fumigated soil during the entire incubation period. Thus, chloroform fumigation largely reduced the abundance of methanogens, and the reduction in the abundance of acetotrophic methanogens was high. Iron oxide additions reduced CH4 emissions from the added acetate and from other sources. The reduction was stronger in the fumigated soil compared to that in the unfumigated soil because the lower abundance of methanogens in the fumigated soil decreased the competition for substrates with iron reducers. The effect of ferrihydrite on CH4 emission from non-acetate sources was stronger than that of goethite before day 6; however, this effect became weaker thereafter, because of the reduced number of reactive sites after acetate sorption by ferrihydrite. We conclude that the marked reduction in the microbial biomass, and especially methanogens, decreased the methane production, changed the CH4 sources, and increased the relative effects of iron oxides on CH4 production.

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Fig. 1
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Fig. 5

source partition. Note that the arrow of iron effect represents reduction and when the arrow is pointing downward, it represents stronger reduction. The dash ginger line represents the initial effect of ferrihydrite. After acetate sorption, ferrihydrite effect is represented as the solid ginger line. SOC represents non-acetate C sources including soil organic C and organics released from dead cells killed by chloroform fumigation here 

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Prof. Paolo Nannipieri for the constructive suggestions on the manuscript. We thank the Public Service Technology Center, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences for the technical assistance, the Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University, and the RUDN University Strategic Academic Leadership Program.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41771337, 42007097), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2021JJ30766, 2020JJ4653, 2019JJ30028), the Hunan Province Base for Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation (2018WK4012), and the Natural Science Foundation of Changsha City (kq2014184).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Changsha Research Station for Agricultural and Environmental Monitoring & Key Laboratory of Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan, 410125, China

    Yuhong Li, Zhenke Zhu, Xiaomeng Wei, Baozhen Li, Jinshui Wu, Shoulong Liu & Tida Ge

  2. State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats To the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China

    Zhenke Zhu & Tida Ge

  3. Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Department of Agricultural Soil Science, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Yakov Kuzyakov

  4. Agro-Technological Institute, RUDN University, 117198, Moscow, Russia

    Yakov Kuzyakov

  5. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, 420049, Kazan, Russia

    Yakov Kuzyakov

  6. Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, 660-701, Jinju, South Korea

    Pil Joo Kim

  7. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jinshui Wu

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  1. Yuhong Li
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Li, Y., Zhu, Z., Wei, X. et al. Sources and intensity of CH4 production in paddy soils depend on iron oxides and microbial biomass. Biol Fertil Soils 58, 181–191 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-022-01618-z

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