Stable isotopes provide revised global limits of aerobic methane emissions from plants

Recently Keppler et al. (2006) discovered a surprising new source of methane – terrestrial plants under aerobic conditions, with an estimated global production of 62–236 Tg yr −1 by an unknown mechanism. This is ~10–40% of the annual total of methane entering the modern atmosphere and ~30–100% of annual methane entering the pre-industrial (0 to 1700 AD) atmosphere. Here we test this reported global production of methane from plants against ice core records of atmospheric methane concentration (CH 4 ) and stable carbon isotope ratios (δ 13 CH 4 ) over the last 2000 years. Our top-down approach determines that global plant emissions must be much lower than proposed by Keppler et al. (2006) during the last 2000 years and are likely to lie in the range 0–46 Tg yr −1 and 0–176 Tg yr −1 during the pre-industrial and modern eras, respectively.

• Publication year

  2006

• Venue

  Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

• Publication date

  2006-07-07

• Fields of study

  Chemistry, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.5194/ACP-7-237-2007
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The methane mystery

  2021cited by this paper
• Methane carbon isotope effects caused by atomic chlorine in the marine boundary layer: Global model results compared with Southern Hemisphere measurements

  2007influential reference
• Methane production from mixed tropical savanna and forest vegetation in Venezuela

  2006cited by this paper
• A source of methane from upland forests in the Brazilian Amazon

  2006cited by this paper
• Methane emissions from terrestrial plants under aerobic conditions

  2006influential reference
• Satellite chartography of atmospheric methane from SCIAMACHY on board ENVISAT: Analysis of the years 2003 and 2004

  2006cited by this paper
• Atmospheric constraints on global emissions of methane from plants

  2006influential reference
• Global Anthropogenic Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions

  2006influential reference
• A comment on the quantitative significance of aerobic methane release by plants.

  2006cited by this paper
• Assessing Methane Emissions from Global Space-Borne Observations

  2005cited by this paper
• Towards reconciling national emission inventories for methane with the global budget

  2005cited by this paper
• Unexpected Changes to the Global Methane Budget over the Past 2000 Years

  2005influential reference
• GEM—Geologic Emissions of Methane, the missing source in the atmospheric methane budget

  2004cited by this paper
• Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning

  2001influential reference
• Simulation of preindustrial atmospheric methane to constrain the global source strength of natural wetlands

  2000cited by this paper
• Biogeochemistry, An Analysis of Global Change

  1998cited by this paper
• Methane from the House of Tudor and the Ming Dynasty: Anthropogenic emissions in the sixteenth century

  1994influential reference
• Minor Sources of Methane

  1993influential reference
• Atmospheric Methane: Sources, Sinks, and Role in Global Change

  1993cited by this paper

• Making plant methane formation visible—Insights from application of 13C‐labeled dimethyl sulfoxide

  2022cites this paper
• Methane production and emissions in trees and forests.

  2019cites this paper
• Multi-tracer and hydrogeophysical investigation of the hydraulic connectivity between coal seam gas formations, shallow groundwater and stream network in a faulted sedimentary basin

  2019cites this paper
• Solar UV Irradiation-Induced Production of Greenhouse Gases from Plant Surfaces: From Leaf to Earth

  2016cites this paper
• Methane emissions as energy reservoir: Context, scope, causes and mitigation strategies

  2016cites this paper
• A novel pathway of direct methane production and emission by eukaryotes including plants, animals and fungi: An overview

  2015influential citation
• Advances in the Research on Sources and Sinks of CH4 and Observations and Simulations of CH4 Concentrations

  2015cites this paper
• Methane exchange in a boreal forest: : the role of soils vegetation and forest management

  2014cites this paper
• Przemiany metanu w œrodowiskach torfowych Transformation of methane in peatlands environments

  2014cites this paper
• Low-level nitrogen deposition significantly inhibits methane uptake from an alpine meadow soil on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

  2014cites this paper
• Transformation of methane in peatland environments

  2014cites this paper
• The role of vegetation in methane flux to the atmosphere: should vegetation be included as a distinct category in the global methane budget?

  2014cites this paper
• Aerobic methane emissions from stinkweed (Thlaspi arvense) capsules

  2014cites this paper
• The Production, Storage, and Flow of Carbon in Amazonian Forests

  2013cites this paper
• The Stable Carbon Isotope Composition of Methane Produced and Emitted from Northern Peatlands

  2013cites this paper
• The influence of plants on atmospheric methane in an agriculture-dominated landscape

  2013cites this paper
• Widespread non-microbial methane production by organic compounds and the impact of environmental stresses

  2013cites this paper
• Sources and Sinks of Trace Gases in Amazonia and the Cerrado

  2013cites this paper
• Present state of global wetland extent and wetland methane modelling: conclusions from a model inter-comparison project (WETCHIMP)

  2012cites this paper
• Environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: progress report, 2011

  2012cites this paper
• Biogeosciences Non-microbial methane formation in oxic soils

  2012cites this paper
• Comprehensive evaluation of the climate-change implications of shifting land use between forest and grassland: New Zealand as a case study

  2012cites this paper
• Non-microbial methane formation in oxic soils

  2012cites this paper
• Atmospheric methane removal by boreal plants

  2012cites this paper
• Automated closed-chamber measurements of methane fluxes from intact leaves and trunk of Japanese cypress

  2012cites this paper
• Stressed crops emit more methane despite the mitigating effects of elevated carbon dioxide.

  2011cites this paper
• Aerobic and anaerobic nonmicrobial methane emissions from plant material.

  2011cites this paper
• Effects of solar UV radiation and climate change on biogeochemical cycling: interactions and feedbacks

  2011cites this paper
• Non-microbial methane emissions from fresh leaves: Effects of physical wounding and anoxia

  2011cites this paper
• Barriers to predicting changes in global terrestrial methane fluxes: analyses using CLM4Me, a methane biogeochemistry model integrated in CESM

  2011cites this paper
• Methane flux, vertical gradient and mixing ratio measurements in a tropical forest

  2011cites this paper
• Methane formation by oxidation of ascorbic acid using iron minerals and hydrogen peroxide.

  2010cites this paper
• Methane emissions from livestock measured by novel spectroscopic techniques

  2010cites this paper
• Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion and its Interactions with Climate Change: 2010 Assessment

  2010cites this paper
• Research advances in methane emission from plants.

  2010cites this paper
• Global methane emission estimates from ultraviolet irradiation of terrestrial plant foliage.

  2010cites this paper
• Atmospheric methane over the past 2000 years from a sub-tropical ice core, central Himalayas

  2010cites this paper
• Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Natural Sources

  2010cites this paper
• Physical injury stimulates aerobic methane emissions from terrestrial plants

  2009cites this paper
• Emission of methane from plants

  2009cites this paper
• Soil, plant, and transport influences on methane in a subalpine forest under high ultraviolet irradiance

  2009cites this paper
• From biota to chemistry and climate: towards a comprehensive description of trace gas exchange between the biosphere and atmosphere.

  2009cites this paper
• Methane emissions from six crop species exposed to three components of global climate change: temperature, ultraviolet-B radiation and water stress.

  2009cites this paper
• Environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: Progress report, 2008

  2009cites this paper
• Consequences of climate change for biogeochemical cycling in forests of northeastern North America

  2009cites this paper
• Impact of UV light on the plant cell wall, methane emissions and ROS production

  2009cites this paper
• Methane formation in aerobic environments

  2009cites this paper
• Methane emissions from terrestrial plants over China and their effects on methane concentrations in lower troposphere

  2009cites this paper
• Mass spectrometric study of the kinetics of O2 consumption and CO2 production by breathing leaves

  2009cites this paper
• Greenhouse Gases from Crop Fields

  2009cites this paper
• Soil and plant contributions to the methane flux balance of a subalpine forest under high ultraviolet irradiance

  2009cites this paper
• Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from soil are reduced following afforestation of pasture lands in three contrasting climatic zones

  2009cites this paper
• Soil and plant contributions to the methane flux balance of a subalpine forest

  2009cites this paper
• Methane emissions from upland forest soils and vegetation.

  2008influential citation
• Missing methane emissions from leaves of terrestrial plants

  2008cites this paper
• Biogeosciences No detectable aerobic methane e ffl ux from plant material , nor from adsorption / desorption processes

  2008cites this paper
• Methane emissions by alpine plant communities in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

  2008cites this paper
• Early anthropogenic CH4 emissions and the variation of CH4 and (CH4)-C-13 over the last millennium

  2008influential citation
• Spectroscopic applications of continuous wave optical parametric oscillators

  2008cites this paper
• TURNER REVIEW No. 18. Greenhouse gas fluxes from natural ecosystems

  2008cites this paper
• Early anthropogenic CH4 emissions and the variation of CH4 and 13CH4 over the last millennium

  2008influential citation
• Global change biology Methane emissions by alpine plant communities in the Qinghai – Tibet Plateau

  2008cites this paper
• Effect of UV radiation and temperature on the emission of methane from plant biomass and structural components

  2008cites this paper
• Ultraviolet radiation drives methane emissions from terrestrial plant pectins.

  2008cites this paper
• No detectable aerobic methane efflux from plant material, nor from adsorption/desorption processes

  2008cites this paper
• Tropical methane emissions: A revised view from SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT

  2008cites this paper
• Methane soil-vegetation-atmosphere fluxes in tropical ecosystems

  2007cites this paper
• C-labelling approach

  2007cites this paper
• Airborne measurements indicate large methane emissions from the eastern Amazon basin

  2007cites this paper
• Resolving methane fluxes.

  2007cites this paper
• Methane carbon isotope effects caused by atomic chlorine in the marine boundary layer: Global model results compared with Southern Hemisphere measurements

  2007cites this paper
• No evidence for substantial aerobic methane emission by terrestrial plants: a 13C-labelling approach.

  2007cites this paper
• How Important is Aerobic Methane Release by Plants

  2007cites this paper
• Aerobic methane production from organic matter

  2005cites this paper