Methane emissions from the trunks of living trees on upland soils

• Published in: The New phytologist Vol. 211; no. 2; pp. 429 - 439
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhi‐Ping, Gu, Qian, Deng, Feng‐Dan, Huang, Jian‐Hui, Megonigal, J. Patrick, Yu, Qiang, Lü, Xiao‐Tao, Li, Ling‐Hao, Chang, Scott, Zhang, Yun‐Hai, Feng, Jin‐Chao, Han, Xing‐Guo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England New Phytologist Trust 01-07-2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: annual variability; drained soils; Ecosystem; Emissions; Fluxes; Forests; Heart rot; heartwood; in situ methane (CH4) flux; Methane; Methane - analysis; Oxidation-Reduction; Plant cover; poplar (Populus davidiana); Populus; Populus davidiana; Soil; Soil - chemistry; Soils; temperate forest; Time Factors; Trees; Trees - chemistry; Wood - chemistry; China, People's Rep., Beijing; heartwood; temperate forest; drained soils; poplar (Populus davidiana); annual variability; in situ methane (CH4) flux
• ISSN: 0028-646X; 1469-8137
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.13909

Upland forests are traditionally thought to be net sinks for atmospheric methane (CH4). In such forests, in situ CH4 fluxes on tree trunks have been neglected relative to soil and canopy fluxes.
We measured in situ CH4 fluxes from the trunks of living trees and other surfaces, such as twigs and soils, using a static closed-chamber method, and estimated the CH4 budget in a temperate upland forest in Beijing.
We found that the trunks of Populus davidiana emitted large quantities of CH4 during July 2014–July 2015, amounting to mean annual emissions of 85.3 and 103.1 μg m−2 h−1 on a trunk surface area basis on two replicate plots. The emission rates were similar in magnitude to those from tree trunks in wetland forests. The emitted CH4 was derived from the heartwood of trunks. On a plot or ecosystem scale, trunk CH4 emissions were equivalent to c. 30–90% of the amount of CH4 consumed by soils throughout the year, with an annual average of 63%.
Our findings suggest that wet heartwoods, regardless of rot or not, occur widely in living trees on various habitats, where CH4 can be produced.