Abstract
Methane (CH4) emission from tree stems (stem CH4 emission) is a previously overlooked emission pathway in forested wetlands. Despite growing evidence of its significance to both regional and global CH4 budgets, the drivers and mechanisms of stem CH4 emission in wetlands are not fully understood. To clarify the environmental drivers of stem CH4 emission, we conducted chamber-based flux measurements for mature Alnus japonica and Fraxinus mandshurica trees in a forested wetland in northern Japan over four snow-free seasons, as well as a short-term flooding experiment and an isotopic analysis of stem-emitted and soil porewater CH4. Stem CH4 fluxes varied seasonally and annually. The highest flux, exceeding 10,000 µg CH4 m−2 h−1, occurred in August 2016 following a record-breaking rainfall. Soil temperature and water-table depth had significant effects on stem CH4 flux. Artificial flooding remarkably increased stem CH4 flux more than tenfold within 4 days and elevated fluxes persisted for at least 1 day after the floodwater receded. Stem-emitted CH4 was depleted in 13C by an average of 2–3‰ relative to porewater CH4, implying isotopic fractionation of CH4 by diffusion and/or oxidation along its emission pathway. Belowground environmental conditions exhibited considerable control over stem CH4 emissions in forested wetlands; the biogeochemical and biological mechanisms of this influence should be further explored.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by two Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Numbers 26292089 and 17H03834, and by the Faculty of Bioindustry at the Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA). We thank JSPS research project members for their expertise and constructive participation in promoting our work: Takatoshi Nakamura (TUA), Yoko Watanabe (Hokkaido Univ.), Tomoaki Morishita (Forest and Forest Products Research Institute), and Yasuyuki Ohno (Forestry Research Institute, Hokkaido Research Organization). The staff of the Abashiri Cold Region Farm at TUA provided enormous assistance to our field work. This study was made possible through the contributions of a large number of students in the Laboratory of Plant Resource Conservation, Faculty of Bioproduction, TUA, especially: Yuki Tagaya, Satoshi Hiraoka, Mamoru Ikeda, Taishu Yoshida, Yoshiki Yamane, Yurina Torikai, Ryosuke Orihara, Mai Ogawa, Mika Kawawa, Ayano Nakamura, Hitomi Handa, Junya Asano, Ryo Imura, and Naoki Shinshi. Luke C. Jeffrey and one anonymous reviewer provided constructive suggestions for the improvement of this manuscript.
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This study was supported by two Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Numbers 26292089 and 17H03834, and by the Faculty of Bioindustry at the Tokyo University of Agriculture.
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KT conceived the study, conducted fieldwork and laboratory analyses with the assistance of TUA students, and conducted statistical analyses. TS, KY, and SI assisted in fieldwork. TT and SI designed the isotopic study, and TT conducted the isotopic analyses. TS conducted the gas concentration analyses. KT wrote and revised the manuscript, and TT, TS, KY, and SI reviewed and edited the manuscript.
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Terazawa, K., Tokida, T., Sakata, T. et al. Seasonal and weather-related controls on methane emissions from the stems of mature trees in a cool-temperate forested wetland. Biogeochemistry 156, 211–230 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00841-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00841-4