Coupled anaerobic methane oxidation and metal reduction in soil under elevated CO 2

Abstract

Continued current emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) by human activities will increase global atmospheric CO 2 and CH 4 concentrations and surface temperature significantly. Fields of paddy rice, the most important form of anthropogenic wetlands, account for about 9% of anthropogenic sources of CH 4 . Elevated atmospheric CO 2 may enhance CH 4 production in rice paddies, potentially reinforcing the increase in atmospheric CH 4 . However, what is not known is whether and how elevated CO 2 influences CH 4 consumption under anoxic soil conditions in rice paddies, as the net emission of CH 4 is a balance of methanogenesis and methanotrophy. In this study, we used a long‐term free‐air CO 2 enrichment experiment to examine the impact of elevated CO 2 on the transformation of CH 4 in a paddy rice agroecosystem. We demonstrate that elevated CO 2 substantially increased anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to manganese and/or iron oxides reduction in the calcareous paddy soil. We further show that elevated CO 2 may stimulate the growth and metabolism of Candidatus Methanoperedens nitroreducens , which is actively involved in catalyzing AOM when coupled to metal reduction, mainly through enhancing the availability of soil CH 4 . These findings suggest that a thorough evaluation of climate‐carbon cycle feedbacks may need to consider the coupling of methane and metal cycles in natural and agricultural wetlands under future climate change scenarios.

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