Effects of nitrogen addition on soil methane uptake in global forest biomes
2020
Xia, Nan | Du, Enzai | Wu. Xinhui, | Tang, Yang | Wang, Yang | de Vries, Wim
Nitrogen (N) deposition has been conventionally thought to decrease forest soil methane (CH₄) uptake, while the biome specific and dose dependent effect is poorly understood. Based on a meta-analysis of 63 N addition trials from 7 boreal forests, 8 temperate forests, 13 subtropical and 4 tropical forests, we evaluated the effects of N addition on soil CH₄ uptake fluxes across global forest biomes. When combining all N addition levels, soil CH₄ uptake was insignificantly decreased by 7% in boreal forests, while N addition significantly decreased soil CH₄ uptake by 39% in temperate forests and by 21% in subtropical and tropical forests, respectively. Meta-regression analyses, however, indicated a shift from a positive to a negative effect on soil CH₄ uptake with increasing N additions both in boreal forests (threshold = 48 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and temperate forests (threshold = 27 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), while no such shift was found in subtropical and tropical forests. Considering that current N deposition to most boreal and temperate forests is below the abovementioned thresholds, N deposition likely exerts a positive to neutral effect on soil CH₄ uptake in both forest biomes. Our results provide new insights on the biome specific and dose dependent effect of N addition on soil CH₄ sink in global forests and suggest that the current understanding that N deposition decreases forest soil CH₄ uptake is flawed by high levels of experimental N addition.
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