Environmental and chemical factors regulating methane oxidation in a New Zealand forest soil
Sally J. Price A B D , Francis M. Kelliher A B , Robert R. Sherlock A , Kevin R. Tate C and Leo M. Condron AA Soil Plant and Ecological Sciences Division, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.
B Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research, PO Box 69, Lincoln 8152, New Zealand.
C Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research, Private bag 11,052 Palmerston North, New Zealand.
D Corresponding author. Email: price@lincoln.ac.nz or prices@landcareresearch.co.nz
Australian Journal of Soil Research 42(7) 767-776 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR04026
Submitted: 17 February 2004 Accepted: 14 June 2004 Published: 12 November 2004
Abstract
Tropospheric methane (CH4) is oxidised by soil microbes called methanotrophs. We examined them in soil samples from a pristine Nothofagus forest located in New Zealand. Laboratory incubations indicated the presence of high-affinity methanotrophs that displayed Michaelis–Menton kinetics (Km = 8.4 µL/L where Km is the substrate concentration at half the maximal rate). When the soil was dried from its field capacity water content of 0.34 to 0.16 m3/m3, CH4 oxidation rate increased nearly 7-fold. The methanotrophs were thus metabolically poised for very high activity, but substrate availability was commonly limiting. When water content was held constant, CH4 oxidation rate nearly doubled as temperature increased from 5 to 12°C, a range found in the forest. By contrast, CH4 oxidation rate did not change much from 12 to 30°C, and it was zero at 35°C. When water content and temperature were held constant, the optimal soil pH for CH4 oxidation was 4.4, as found in the forest. Soil disturbance by nitrogen (N) and non-N salt amendment decreased CH4 oxidation rate, but this depended on the amendment species and concentration. The methanotrophs were adapted to native conditions and exhibited a great sensitivity to disturbance.
Additional keywords: CH4, methane oxidation, greenhouse gas, methanotrophs, pristine forest, Southern Hemisphere.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to T. McSeveny, Landcare Research, for his assistance with collecting the soil samples. R. Cresswell and R. McPherson, Lincoln University, are thanked for their technical advice with regard to the gas chromatograph. Analytical services, Soil and Physical Sciences Group, Lincoln University are also acknowledged for the NH4+/NO3– analyses. Funding came from the NZ Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.
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