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Methane Concentration in the Heartwood of Living Trees and Estimated Methane Emission on Stems in Upland Forests

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Abstract

The stems of living trees in upland forests might contribute to the global methane (CH4) source, but the contribution is poorly understood. We investigated CH4 concentration in the heartwood of living trees in dominant upland forests using field campaign and subsequently evaluated the importance of stem CH4 emission in the context of the global total. We found that only 0%, 9.8%, and 1.8% of stems of living trees had substantial CH4 concentration in heartwood of ≥ 10,000 μL L–1 in the boreal, temperate, and tropical and subtropical upland forests investigated, respectively. CH4 concentration in heartwood depended mainly upon tree species and subsequently soil moisture. Relationships fitted indicate that CH4 concentration followed a power function with respect to water content in heartwood, whereas nitrous oxide (N2O) or carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration linearly increased with water content in heartwood. Stem CH4 emission was estimated at approximately 0.2–2 Tg yr–1 globally, corresponding to less than 0.4% of the global total including all natural plus anthropogenic sources. Water content in heartwood is positively associated with soil water content. Soil water content rarely exceeds 40% v/v in upland forests, indicating stem CH4 emission occurs mainly in the areas of low-lying upland forests with occasionally moist soils. More attentions should be paid on low-lying upland forests and forested wetlands in future when stem CH4 emission needs to be estimated in all forests.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was jointly funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFA0600803) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31370493, 41930643).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanxincun 20, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China

    Zhi-Ping Wang, Huan-Long Li, Jian-Hui Huang & Xing-Guo Han

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquanlu, Beijing, 100049, China

    Huan-Long Li & Xing-Guo Han

  3. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Hong-Hui Wu

  4. School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan, China

    Shi-Jie Han

  5. Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, MOA, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xi-Mei Zhang

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  1. Zhi-Ping Wang
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Correspondence to Zhi-Ping Wang or Xi-Mei Zhang.

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Authors’ Contribution: ZPW, SJH, and XGH conceived the study. ZPW, XMZ, and HHW designed the study. HLL, ZPW, HHW, and JHH performed the research. ZPW, HLL, and HHW analyzed data. ZPW, XMZ, and HHW wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the revisions and reviewed the manuscript.

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Wang, ZP., Li, HL., Wu, HH. et al. Methane Concentration in the Heartwood of Living Trees and Estimated Methane Emission on Stems in Upland Forests. Ecosystems 24, 1485–1499 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00596-3

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