Observed Methane Uptake and Emissions at the Ecosystem Scale and Environmental Controls in a Subtropical Forest

Hui Wang, Hong Li, Zhihao Liu, Jianhua Lv, Xinzhang Song, Quan Li, Hong Jiang and Changhui Peng
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Hui Wang: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Hong Li: Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Zhihao Liu: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Jianhua Lv: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Xinzhang Song: State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
Quan Li: State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
Hong Jiang: International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Changhui Peng: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Methane (CH 4 ) is one of the three most important greenhouse gases. To date, observations of ecosystem-scale methane (CH 4 ) fluxes in forests are currently lacking in the global CH 4 budget. The environmental factors controlling CH 4 flux dynamics remain poorly understood at the ecosystem scale. In this study, we used a state-of-the-art eddy covariance technique to continuously measure the CH 4 flux from 2016 to 2018 in a subtropical forest of Zhejiang Province in China, quantify the annual CH 4 budget and investigate its control factors. We found that the total annual CH 4 budget was 1.15 ± 0.28~4.79 ± 0.49 g CH 4 m −2 year −1 for 2017–2018. The daily CH 4 flux reached an emission peak of 0.145 g m −2 d −1 during winter and an uptake peak of −0.142 g m −2 d −1 in summer. During the whole study period, the studied forest region acted as a CH 4 source (78.65%) during winter and a sink (21.35%) in summer. Soil temperature had a negative relationship ( p < 0.01; R 2 = 0.344) with CH 4 flux but had a positive relationship with soil moisture ( p < 0.01; R 2 = 0.348). Our results showed that soil temperature and moisture were the most important factors controlling the ecosystem-scale CH 4 flux dynamics of subtropical forests in the Tianmu Mountain Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province, China. Subtropical forest ecosystems in China acted as a net source of methane emissions from 2016 to 2018, providing positive feedback to global climate warming.

Keywords: CH 4 flux; eddy covariance; annual budget; soil temperature; soil moisture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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