Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink

K.A. Smith; K.E. Dobbie; B.C. Ball; L.R. Bakken; B.K. Sitaula; S. Hansen; R. Brumme; W. Borken; Søren Christensen; Anders Priemé; D. Fowler; J.A. MacDonald; U. Skiba; L. Klemedtsson; A. Kasimir-Klemedtsson; A. Degorska; P. Orlanski

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x

Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink

K.A. Smith, K.E. Dobbie, B.C. Ball, L.R. Bakken, B.K. Sitaula, S. Hansen, R. Brumme, W. Borken, Søren Christensen, Anders Priemé, D. Fowler, J.A. MacDonald, U. Skiba, L. Klemedtsson, A. Kasimir-Klemedtsson, A. Degorska, P. Orlanski

354 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper reports the range and statistical distribution of oxidation rates of atmospheric CH₄ in soils found in Northern Europe in an international study, and compares them with published data for various other ecosystems. It reassesses the size, and the uncertainty in, the global terrestrial CH₄ sink, and examines the effect of land-use change and other factors on the oxidation rate.

Only soils with a very high water table were sources of CH₄; all others were sinks. Oxidation rates varied from 1 to nearly 200 µg CH₄ m^-2 h^-1; annual rates for sites measured for =1 y were 0.1-9.1 kg CH₄ ha^-1 y^-1, with a log-normal distribution (log-mean ˜ 1.6 kg CH₄ ha^-1 y^-1). Conversion of natural soils to agriculture reduced oxidation rates by two-thirds -- closely similar to results reported for other regions. N inputs also decreased oxidation rates. Full recovery of rates after these disturbances takes > 100 y. Soil bulk density, water content and gas diffusivity had major impacts on oxidation rates. Trends were similar to those derived from other published work. Increasing acidity reduced oxidation, partially but not wholly explained by poor diffusion through litter layers which did not themselves contribute to the oxidation. The effect of temperature was small, attributed to substrate limitation and low atmospheric concentration.

Analysis of all available data for CH₄ oxidation rates in situ showed similar log-normal distributions to those obtained for our results, with generally little difference between different natural ecosystems, or between short-and longer-term studies. The overall global terrestrial sink was estimated at 29 Tg CH₄ y^-1, close to the current IPCC assessment, but with a much wider uncertainty range (7 to > 100 Tg CH₄ y^-1). Little or no information is available for many major ecosystems; these should receive high priority in future research.

Original language	English
Journal	Global Change Biology
Volume	6
Issue number	7
Pages (from-to)	791-803
ISSN	1354-1013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x
Publication status	Published - 2000

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Smith, K. A., Dobbie, K. E., Ball, B. C., Bakken, L. R., Sitaula, B. K., Hansen, S., Brumme, R., Borken, W., Christensen, S., Priemé, A., Fowler, D., MacDonald, J. A., Skiba, U., Klemedtsson, L., Kasimir-Klemedtsson, A., Degorska, A., & Orlanski, P. (2000). Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink. Global Change Biology, 6(7), 791-803. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x

Smith, KA, Dobbie, KE, Ball, BC, Bakken, LR, Sitaula, BK, Hansen, S, Brumme, R, Borken, W, Christensen, S , Priemé, A, Fowler, D, MacDonald, JA, Skiba, U, Klemedtsson, L, Kasimir-Klemedtsson, A, Degorska, A & Orlanski, P 2000, 'Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink', Global Change Biology, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 791-803. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x

@article{00a160f03d5a11ddb7b4000ea68e967b,

title = "Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink",

abstract = "This paper reports the range and statistical distribution of oxidation rates of atmospheric CH4 in soils found in Northern Europe in an international study, and compares them with published data for various other ecosystems. It reassesses the size, and the uncertainty in, the global terrestrial CH4 sink, and examines the effect of land-use change and other factors on the oxidation rate. Only soils with a very high water table were sources of CH4; all others were sinks. Oxidation rates varied from 1 to nearly 200 µg CH4 m-2 h-1; annual rates for sites measured for =1 y were 0.1-9.1 kg CH4 ha-1 y-1, with a log-normal distribution (log-mean ˜ 1.6 kg CH4 ha-1 y-1). Conversion of natural soils to agriculture reduced oxidation rates by two-thirds -- closely similar to results reported for other regions. N inputs also decreased oxidation rates. Full recovery of rates after these disturbances takes > 100 y. Soil bulk density, water content and gas diffusivity had major impacts on oxidation rates. Trends were similar to those derived from other published work. Increasing acidity reduced oxidation, partially but not wholly explained by poor diffusion through litter layers which did not themselves contribute to the oxidation. The effect of temperature was small, attributed to substrate limitation and low atmospheric concentration. Analysis of all available data for CH4 oxidation rates in situ showed similar log-normal distributions to those obtained for our results, with generally little difference between different natural ecosystems, or between short-and longer-term studies. The overall global terrestrial sink was estimated at 29 Tg CH4 y-1, close to the current IPCC assessment, but with a much wider uncertainty range (7 to > 100 Tg CH4 y-1). Little or no information is available for many major ecosystems; these should receive high priority in future research. ",

author = "K.A. Smith and K.E. Dobbie and B.C. Ball and L.R. Bakken and B.K. Sitaula and S. Hansen and R. Brumme and W. Borken and S{\o}ren Christensen and Anders Priem{\'e} and D. Fowler and J.A. MacDonald and U. Skiba and L. Klemedtsson and A. Kasimir-Klemedtsson and A. Degorska and P. Orlanski",

note = "KEYWORDS ecosystem • global terrestrial sink • land-use change • methane oxidation • soil",

year = "2000",

doi = "10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

pages = "791--803",

journal = "Global Change Biology",

issn = "1354-1013",

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number = "7",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink

AU - Smith, K.A.

AU - Dobbie, K.E.

AU - Ball, B.C.

AU - Bakken, L.R.

AU - Sitaula, B.K.

AU - Hansen, S.

AU - Brumme, R.

AU - Borken, W.

AU - Christensen, Søren

AU - Priemé, Anders

AU - Fowler, D.

AU - MacDonald, J.A.

AU - Skiba, U.

AU - Klemedtsson, L.

AU - Kasimir-Klemedtsson, A.

AU - Degorska, A.

AU - Orlanski, P.

N1 - KEYWORDS ecosystem • global terrestrial sink • land-use change • methane oxidation • soil

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - This paper reports the range and statistical distribution of oxidation rates of atmospheric CH4 in soils found in Northern Europe in an international study, and compares them with published data for various other ecosystems. It reassesses the size, and the uncertainty in, the global terrestrial CH4 sink, and examines the effect of land-use change and other factors on the oxidation rate. Only soils with a very high water table were sources of CH4; all others were sinks. Oxidation rates varied from 1 to nearly 200 µg CH4 m-2 h-1; annual rates for sites measured for =1 y were 0.1-9.1 kg CH4 ha-1 y-1, with a log-normal distribution (log-mean ˜ 1.6 kg CH4 ha-1 y-1). Conversion of natural soils to agriculture reduced oxidation rates by two-thirds -- closely similar to results reported for other regions. N inputs also decreased oxidation rates. Full recovery of rates after these disturbances takes > 100 y. Soil bulk density, water content and gas diffusivity had major impacts on oxidation rates. Trends were similar to those derived from other published work. Increasing acidity reduced oxidation, partially but not wholly explained by poor diffusion through litter layers which did not themselves contribute to the oxidation. The effect of temperature was small, attributed to substrate limitation and low atmospheric concentration. Analysis of all available data for CH4 oxidation rates in situ showed similar log-normal distributions to those obtained for our results, with generally little difference between different natural ecosystems, or between short-and longer-term studies. The overall global terrestrial sink was estimated at 29 Tg CH4 y-1, close to the current IPCC assessment, but with a much wider uncertainty range (7 to > 100 Tg CH4 y-1). Little or no information is available for many major ecosystems; these should receive high priority in future research.

AB - This paper reports the range and statistical distribution of oxidation rates of atmospheric CH4 in soils found in Northern Europe in an international study, and compares them with published data for various other ecosystems. It reassesses the size, and the uncertainty in, the global terrestrial CH4 sink, and examines the effect of land-use change and other factors on the oxidation rate. Only soils with a very high water table were sources of CH4; all others were sinks. Oxidation rates varied from 1 to nearly 200 µg CH4 m-2 h-1; annual rates for sites measured for =1 y were 0.1-9.1 kg CH4 ha-1 y-1, with a log-normal distribution (log-mean ˜ 1.6 kg CH4 ha-1 y-1). Conversion of natural soils to agriculture reduced oxidation rates by two-thirds -- closely similar to results reported for other regions. N inputs also decreased oxidation rates. Full recovery of rates after these disturbances takes > 100 y. Soil bulk density, water content and gas diffusivity had major impacts on oxidation rates. Trends were similar to those derived from other published work. Increasing acidity reduced oxidation, partially but not wholly explained by poor diffusion through litter layers which did not themselves contribute to the oxidation. The effect of temperature was small, attributed to substrate limitation and low atmospheric concentration. Analysis of all available data for CH4 oxidation rates in situ showed similar log-normal distributions to those obtained for our results, with generally little difference between different natural ecosystems, or between short-and longer-term studies. The overall global terrestrial sink was estimated at 29 Tg CH4 y-1, close to the current IPCC assessment, but with a much wider uncertainty range (7 to > 100 Tg CH4 y-1). Little or no information is available for many major ecosystems; these should receive high priority in future research.

U2 - 10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x

DO - 10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00356.x

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1354-1013

VL - 6

SP - 791

EP - 803

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

IS - 7

ER -

Oxidation of atmospheric methane in Northern European soils, comparison with other ecosystems, and uncertainties in the global terrestrial sink

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