Warmer and drier conditions and nitrogen fertilizer application altered methanotroph abundance and methane emissions in a vegetable soil

Yu Ran; Jianli Xie; Xiaoya Xu; Yong Li; Yapeng Liu; Qichun Zhang; Zheng Li; Jianming Xu; Hongjie Di

doi:10.1007/s11356-016-8027-9

Warmer and drier conditions and nitrogen fertilizer application altered methanotroph abundance and methane emissions in a vegetable soil

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2017 Jan;24(3):2770-2780. doi: 10.1007/s11356-016-8027-9. Epub 2016 Nov 12.

Authors

Yu Ran¹, Jianli Xie², Xiaoya Xu¹, Yong Li³, Yapeng Liu¹, Qichun Zhang¹, Zheng Li⁴, Jianming Xu¹, Hongjie Di¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Soil and Water Resources and Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
² Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute, Suzhou, 215004, China.
³ Institute of Soil and Water Resources and Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. yongl@zju.edu.cn.
⁴ Changzhou Industrial Technology Research Institute of Zhejiang University, Changzhou, 213022, China.

PMID: 27837471
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-8027-9

Abstract

Methane (CH₄) is a potent greenhouse gas, and soil can both be a source and sink for atmospheric CH₄. It is not clear how future climate change may affect soil CH₄ emissions and related microbial communities. The aim of this study was to determine the interactive effects of a simulated warmer and drier climate scenarios and the application of different nitrogen (N) sources (urea and manure) on CH₄ emissions and related microbial community abundance in a vegetable soil. Greenhouses were used to control simulated climate conditions which gave 2.99 °C warmer and 6.2% lower water content conditions. The field experiment was divided into two phases. At the beginning of phase II, half of the greenhouses were removed to study possible legacy effects of the simulated warmer and drier conditions. The responses in methanogen and methanotroph abundance to a simulated climate change scenario were determined using real-time PCR. The results showed that the simulated warmer and drier conditions in the greenhouses significantly decreased CH₄ emissions largely due to the lower soil moisture content. For the same reason, CH₄ emissions of treatments in phase I were much lower than the same treatments in phase II. The abundance of methanotrophs showed a more significant response than methanogens to the simulated climate change scenario, increasing under simulated drier conditions. Methanogenic community abundance remained low, except where manure was applied which provided a source of organic C that stimulated methanogen growth. Soil moisture content was a major driver for methanotroph abundance and strongly affected CH₄ emissions. The application of N source decreased CH₄ emissions probably because of increased methanotrophic activity. CH₄ emissions were positively correlated to methanogenic abundance and negatively correlated to methanotrophic abundance. These results demonstrate that projected future climate change conditions can have a feedback impact on CH₄ emissions from the soil by altering soil conditions (particularly soil moisture) and related microbial communities.

Keywords: CH4 emissions; Climate change; Methanogens; Methanotrophs.

MeSH terms

Climate Change*
Fertilizers*
Manure
Methane / analysis*
Nitrogen / analysis
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Soil Microbiology
Soil*
Vegetables

Substances

Fertilizers
Manure
Soil
Nitrogen
Methane