5 Controls of temporal and spatial variability of methane uptake
5.5.4 Modelling CH 4 uptake
The model of Potter et al. (1996) assumes that CH4 uptake by soils is limited by diffusion of atmospheric CH4 into the soil. It predicted the size of the mean annual CH4 uptake satisfactorily and was able to capture the general seasonal change of CH4 uptake, even though it is based on several simplifications, which do not exist in soils: e.g. a constant linear concentration gradient of CH4 in soil air or a constant homogeneously distributed mean soil moisture during the monthly time steps. In addition, this approach neglects several other factors, which might also affect soil CH4 uptake at several sites, e.g. soil pH, thickness of the humus layer, temperature or CH4
production in soil deeper soil layers or anoxic microsites. The good performance of the model at our experimental site supports the conclusion that CH4 uptake was primarily controlled by gas diffusivity in the upper mineral soil and that all other potential controls were of minor
where the importance of gas diffusivity for CH4 uptake is lower.
5.6 Conclusions
Soils of the Hainich National park were a net-sink for atmospheric CH4 with an annual uptake rate of 2.0 to 3.4 kg CH4-C ha-1. The temporal variability of CH4 uptake was mainly driven by moisture changes in the upper mineral soil. Differences in CH4 uptake between stands could be explained to a large extent by differences in clay content in the surface soil. Despite the influence of beech abundance on humus layer formation and soil acidity, we found no evidence for an effect of beech on the size of CH4 uptake. For reliable larger scale estimates of CH4 uptake in the Hainich National Forest, detailed information on the distribution of soil clay content in the upper mineral soil is necessary. Forest stratification based on the abundance of different deciduous tree species is not necessary. The inter-annual variation of CH4 uptake suggest that climate change will result in increasing CH4 uptake rates in this region because of the trend to drier summers and warmer winters.
5. Controls of temporal and spatial variability of methane uptake 92
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6 Conclusions
The background of this thesis is the conversion of quasi-monospecific beech forests (Fagus sylvatica L.) growing in limestone areas to mixed stands with different broad-leaved species.
The long-term consequences of changing the beech abundance by admixture of valuable broad-leaved species on soil properties and soil related processes are not sufficiently investigated.
Therefore, mature mixed stands of deciduous trees along a beech gradient were investigated, which are growing under similar climate and on the same geological substrate (loess over limestone). The dominating tree species which were mixed with beech were ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), lime (Tilia cordata Mill. and/or T. platyphyllos Scop.), hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.), and maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L. and/or A. platanoides L.)
I analyzed i) soil acidity, soil nutrient status, the amount and distribution of soil organic matter, ii) the soil N cycle, and iii) the fluxes of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4) in these stands with the aim to determine the main controls of the spatial variability of these soil properties and processes and to elucidate the role of beech abundance as a possible factor, which contributes to this variability.
In this chapter, the main results of the different experiments were integrated and the most relevant conclusions are presented.