EGU2020-11704
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11704
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Unravelling controls on methane uptake in a temperate forest soil: impacts of ectomycorrhizas

Sylvia Toet1, Ruochan Ma1, Phoebe Morton2, and Phil Ineson3
Sylvia Toet et al.
  • 1Department of Environment and Geography, York, UK (sylvia.toet@york.ac.uk)
  • 2School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK (p.morton@ulster.ac.uk)
  • 3Department of Biology, University of York, UK (phil.ineson@york.ac.uk)

Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas, globally responsible for 17% of current radiative forcing. Soils can be important net sources or sinks of CH4 depending on the net balance of two contrasting microbial processes - CH4 production and CH4 oxidation. In unsaturated soils, the aerobic methane oxidation process often dominates. These soils form the only global terrestrial CH4 sink, but estimates are still highly uncertain, both spatially and temporally. Forest soils have shown some of the strongest net CH4 uptake rates, but this is not consistent across sites and the controls are poorly understood.

In this field study, we focused on the effects of ectomycorrhizas on net CH4 uptake in an unsaturated, sandy gley podzolic soil of a mature coniferous forest stand dominated by Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in Northern England over three years. Methane fluxes were determined in cores with soil only (roots and ectomycorrhizal mycelium excluded using windows with 1 µm mesh in the cores) and cores with soil and ectomycorrhizal mycelium (only roots excluded with 41 µm mesh). Net CH4 uptake rates in summer were higher when ectomycorrhizal mycelium was present, whereas the opposite was observed in winter. We will discuss mechanisms that may underpin these ectomycorrhizal impacts on net CH4 uptake in unsaturated forest soils.

How to cite: Toet, S., Ma, R., Morton, P., and Ineson, P.: Unravelling controls on methane uptake in a temperate forest soil: impacts of ectomycorrhizas, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-11704, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11704, 2020

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