Abstract
Methane flux rates were measured on a loamy sand soil within perennial and annual energy crops in northeast Germany. The study was performed in closed chambers between 2003 and 2005 with four measurements per week. A mixed linear model including the fixed effects of year, rotation period, crop and fertilisation was applied to determine the influence of climatic factors and soil management on the CH4 flux. Soil water content and air temperature were added as co-variables. With the exception of air temperature, all fixed effects and the co-variable soil water content influenced the CH4 flux. The soil of annual crops consumed 6.1 μg CH4 m−2 h−1, significantly more than the soil of perennial crops with 4.3 μg CH4 m−2 h−1. It is suggested that soil water content plays the key role in CH4 flux between pedosphere and atmosphere. In the range of water contents between 5% and 15%, our model describes that a soil water content increase of 1% induces a net emission of 0.375 μg CH4 m−2 h−1. As the soil of the experimental field was well-drained and aerobic, it represented a net sink for CH4 throughout the study period.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Augustin J, Merbach W, Rogasik J (1998) Factors influencing nitrous oxide and methane emissions from minerotrophic fens in northeast Germany. Biol Fertil Soils 28:1–4
Bodelier PLE, Laanbroek HJ (2004) Nitrogen as a regulatory factor of methane oxidation in soils and sediments. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 47:265–277
Bykova S, Boeckx P, Kravchenko I, Galchenko V, Van Cleemput O (2007) Response of CH4 oxidation and methanotrophic diversity to NH +4 and CH4 mixing ratios. Biol Fertil Soils 43:341–348
Castaldi S, Ermice A, Strumia S (2006) Fluxes of N2O and CH4 from soils of savannas and seasonally-dry ecosystems. J Biogeogr 33:401–415
Curry C (2007) Modeling the soil consumption of atmospheric methane at the global scale. Global Biogeochem Cy 21:GB4012
Dalal RC, Allen DE, Livesley SJ, Richards G (2008) Magnitude and biophysical regulators of methane emission and consumption in the Australian agricultural, forest, and submerged landscapes: a review. Plant Soil 309:43–76
Deutscher Wetterdienst (2009) http://www.dwd.de/bvbw/generator/DWDWWW/Content/Oeffentlichkeit/KU/klimaatlas/download/niederschlag/klimaatlas__dwd__rrr__2009__jahresuebersicht,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.jpg/klimaatlas_dwd_rrr_2009_jahresuebersicht.jpg
Dobbie KE, Smith KA, Priemé A, Christensen S, Degorska A, Orlanski P (1996) Effect of land use on the rate of methane uptake by surface soils in northern Europe. Atmos Environ 30:1005–1011
Fisher RA (1932) Statistical methods for research workers, 14th edn. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1970
Flachowsky G, Brade W (2007) Reduction potentials for methane emissions from ruminants. Zuchtungskunde 79:417–465
Forster P, Ramaswamy V, Artaxo P, Berntsen T, Betts R, Fahey DW, Haywood J, Lean J, Lowe DC, Myhre G, Nganga J, Prinn R, Raga G, Schulz M, Van Dorland R (2007) Changes in atmospheric constituents and in radiative forcing. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Climate change, the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 130–234
Frenzel P, Bosse U, Janssen PH (1999) Rice roots and methanogenesis in a paddy soil: ferric iron as an alternative electron acceptor in the rooted soil. Soil Biol Biochem 31:421–430
Grunfeld S, Brix H (1999) Methanogenesis and methane emissions: effects of water table, substrate type and presence of Phragmites australis. Aquat Bot 64:63–75
Hellebrand HJ, Kern J, Scholz V (2003) Long-term studies on greenhouse gas fluxes during cultivation of energy crops of sandy soils. Atmos Environ 37:1635–1644
Hellebrand HJ, Scholz V, Kern J, Kavdir Y (2005) N2O release during cultivation of energy crops. Agrartechnische Forschung 11(5):E114–E124
Jäckel U, Schnell S, Conrad R (2001) Effect of moisture, texture and aggregate size of paddy soil on production and consumption of CH4. Soil Biol Biochem 33:965–971
Jambert C, Delmas R, Serca D, Thouron L, Labroue L, Delprat L (1997) N2O and CH4 emissions from fertilized agricultural soils in southwest France. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 48:105–114
Kammann C, Hepp S, Lenhart K, Mulller C (2009) Stimulation of methane consumption by endogenous CH4 production in aerobic grassland soil. Soil Biol Biochem 41:622–629
Kavdir Y, Hellebrand HJ, Kern J (2008) Seasonal variations of nitrous oxide emission in relation to nitrogen fertilization and energy crop types in sandy soil. Soil Till Res 98:175–186
Kern J, Hellebrand HJ, Scholz V, Linke B (2010) Assessment of nitrogen fertilization for the CO2 balance during the production for poplar and rye. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14:1453–1460
Klemedtsson AK, Klemedtsson L (1997) Methane uptake in Swedish forest soil in relation to liming and extra N-deposition. Biol Fertil Soils 25:296–301
Koschorreck M (2000) Methane turnover in exposed sediments of an Amazon floodplain lake. Biogeochemistry 50:195–206
Kotiaho M, Fritze H, Merila P, Juottonen H, Leppala M, Laine J, Laiho R, Yrjala K, Tuittila ES (2010) Methanogen activity in relation to water table level in two boreal fens. Biol Fertil Soils 46:567–575
Loftfield N, Flessa J, Augustin J, Beese F (1997) Automate gas chromatographic system for rapid analysis of the atmospheric trace gases methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide. J Environ Qual 26:560–564
Megonigal JP, Schlesinger WH (1997) Enhanced CH4 emissions from a wetland soil exposed to elevated CO2. Biogeochemistry 37:77–88
Mosier AR, Delgado JA, Cochran VL, Valentine DW, Parton WJ (1997) Impact of agriculture on soil consumption of atmospheric CH4 and a comparison of CH4 and N2O flux in subarctic, temperate and tropical grasslands. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 49:71–83
Nykänen H, Alm J, Lang K, Silvola J, Martikainen PJ (1995) Emissions of CH4, N2O and CO2 from a virgin fen and a fen drained for grassland in Finland. J Biogeogr 22:351–357
Olesen JE, Bindi M (2002) Consequences of climate change for European agricultural productivity, land use and policy. Eur J Agron 16:239–262
Qin YM, Liu SW, Guo YQ, Liu QH, Zou JW (2010) Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from organic and conventional rice cropping systems in Southeast China. Biol Fertil Soils 46:825–834
Scholz V, Ellerbrock R (2002) The growth productivity, and environmental impact of the cultivation of energy crops on sandy soil in Germany. Biomass Bioenergy 23:81–92
Scholz V, Hellebrand HJ, Höhn A (2004) Energetische und ökologische Aspekte der Feldholzproduktion. Bornimer Agrartechnische Berichte 55:15–32
Smith P, Martino D, Cai Z, Gwary D, Janzen H, Kumar P, McCarl B, Ogle S, O’Mara F, Rice C, Scholes B, Sirotenko O, Howden M, McAllister T, Pan G, Romanenkov V, Schneider U, Towprayoon S, Wattenbach M, Smith J (2008) Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Philos T Roy Soc B 363:789–813
Wang YS, Xue M, Zheng XH, Ji BM, Du R, Wang YF (2005) Effects of environmental factors on N2O emission from and CH4 uptake by the typical grasslands in the Inner Mongolia. Chemosphere 58:205–215
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kern, J., Hellebrand, H.J., Gömmel, M. et al. Effects of climatic factors and soil management on the methane flux in soils from annual and perennial energy crops. Biol Fertil Soils 48, 1–8 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0603-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0603-z