Abstract
Under normal conditions, CH4, one of the most important greenhouse gases, is subject to biological oxidation in forest soils. However, this process can be negatively affected by N amendment. The reported experiment was conducted in order to study the short- and long-term effects of N amendment on CH4 oxidation in pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest soils. Soil samples were taken from three experimental sites, two of which had been amended with N once, over 20 years earlier, while the third had been amended 3 weeks earlier. The soil samples were incubated fresh at 15 °C at ambient CH4 concentrations (ca. 1.8 ppmv CH4). The variation in CH4-turnover rates was high within the treatments: CH4 was produced [up to 22.6 pmol CH4 g dry wt. soil–1 h–1] in samples from the recently amended site, whereas it was consumed at high rates (up to 431 pmol CH4 g dry wt. soil–1 h–1) in samples from the plot that had received the highest N amendment 27 years before sampling. Although no significant differences were found between N treatments, in the oldest plots there was a correlation between consumption of atmospheric CH4 and the total C content at a depth of 7.5–15 cm in the mineral soil (r 2=0.74). This indicates that in the long-term, increased C retention in forest soils following N amendment could lead to increased CH4 oxidation.
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Received: 3 September 1997
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Börjesson, G., Nohrstedt, HÖ. Short- and long-term effects of nitrogen fertilization on methane oxidation in three Swedish forest soils. Biol Fertil Soils 27, 113–118 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003740050408
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003740050408