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• 1. [Article] Emissions of Anaerobically Produced Methane by Trees

  Recent studies indicate that plants may be a previously overlooked but significant source of atmospheric CH₄, though there is considerable disagreement on the mechanism of production. Our work sought to ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Emissions of Anaerobically Produced Methane by Trees Author: Rice, Andrew L., Butenhoff, Christopher Lee, Shearer, Martha J., Teama, Doaa, Rosenstiel, Todd N., Khalil, M. A. K. Year: 2010 Recent studies indicate that plants may be a previously overlooked but significant source of atmospheric CH₄, though there is considerable disagreement on the mechanism of production. Our work sought to verify that woody deciduous trees grown under inundated conditions had the capacity for transporting CH₄ from an anaerobic subsurface to the atmosphere and to consider if such a source could be important globally. Here, we report results from a greenhouse mesocosm study that indicate significant emissions of anaerobically produced CH₄ transmitted to the atmosphere through broadleaf riparian tree species grown under flooded conditions. Using a leaf area normalized mean emission rate (0.7 ± 0.3 μg cm⁻² hr⁻¹), results were scaled globally for flooded forest regions and estimated to be 60 ± 20 Tg year⁻¹, ~10% of the global CH₄ source. The carbon isotopic composition of CH4 emitted was found to be significantly enriched compared with expectations (δ13C ~ −54‰) and provided an important isotopic constraint on the global source which coincides with the mean of the globally scaled greenhouse-based estimate. Title: Emissions of Anaerobically Produced Methane by Trees Author: Rice, Andrew L., Butenhoff, Christopher Lee, Shearer, Martha J., Teama, Doaa, Rosenstiel, Todd N., Khalil, M. A. K. Year: 2010 Recent studies indicate that plants may be a previously overlooked but significant source of atmospheric CH₄, though there is considerable disagreement on the mechanism of production. Our work sought to verify that woody deciduous trees grown under inundated conditions had the capacity for transporting CH₄ from an anaerobic subsurface to the atmosphere and to consider if such a source could be important globally. Here, we report results from a greenhouse mesocosm study that indicate significant emissions of anaerobically produced CH₄ transmitted to the atmosphere through broadleaf riparian tree species grown under flooded conditions. Using a leaf area normalized mean emission rate (0.7 ± 0.3 μg cm⁻² hr⁻¹), results were scaled globally for flooded forest regions and estimated to be 60 ± 20 Tg year⁻¹, ~10% of the global CH₄ source. The carbon isotopic composition of CH4 emitted was found to be significantly enriched compared with expectations (δ13C ~ −54‰) and provided an important isotopic constraint on the global source which coincides with the mean of the globally scaled greenhouse-based estimate. Close