Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces

Gauci, Vincent; Pangala, Sunitha Rao; Shenkin, Alexander; Barba, Josep; Bastviken, David; Figueiredo, Viviane; Gomez, Carla; Enrich-Prast, Alex; Sayer, Emma; Stauffer, Tainá; Welch, Bertie; Elias, Dafydd ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2674-9285; McNamara, Niall ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5143-5819; Allen, Myles; Malhi, Yadvinder. 2024 Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces. Nature, 631 (8022). 796-800. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07592-w

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07592-w

Abstract/Summary

Methane is an important greenhouse gas, but the role of trees in the methane budget remains uncertain. Although it has been shown that wetland and some upland trees can emit soil-derived methane at the stem base, it has also been suggested that upland trees can serve as a net sink for atmospheric methane. Here we examine in situ woody surface methane exchange of upland tropical, temperate and boreal forest trees. We find that methane uptake on woody surfaces, in particular at and above about 2 m above the forest floor, can dominate the net ecosystem contribution of trees, resulting in a net tree methane sink. Stable carbon isotope measurement of methane in woody surface chamber air and process-level investigations on extracted wood cores are consistent with methanotrophy, suggesting a microbially mediated drawdown of methane on and in tree woody surfaces and tissues. By applying terrestrial laser scanning-derived allometry to quantify global forest tree woody surface area, a preliminary first estimate suggests that trees may contribute 24.6–49.9 Tg of atmospheric methane uptake globally. Our findings indicate that the climate benefits of tropical and temperate forest protection and reforestation may be greater than previously assumed.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07592-w
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0028-0836
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	carbon cycle, forest ecology
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Agriculture and Soil Science
Related URLs:	Dataset
Date made live:	30 Jul 2024 09:29 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537784

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07592-w

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0028-0836

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

carbon cycle, forest ecology