Agronomic aspects of wetland rice cultivation and associated methane emissions

Wetland rice cultivation is one of the major sources of atmospheric methane (CH₄). Global rice production may increase by 65% between 1990 and 2025, causing an increase of methane emissions from a 92 Tg CH₄ y^–1 now to 131 Tg in 2025.Methane production depends strongly on the ratio oxidizing: reducing capacity of the soil. It can be influenced by e.g. addition of sulphate, which inhibits methanogenesis. The type and application mode of mineral fertilizers may also affect methane emissions. Addition of organic matter in the form of compost or straw causes an increase of methane emissions, but methane production is lower for materials with a low C/N ratio.High percolation rates in wetland rice soils and occasional drying up of the soil during the cultivation period depresses methane release. Water management practices aimed at reducing emissions are only feasible during specific periods in the rice growing season in flat lowland irrigated areas with high security of water availability and good control of the water supply. Intermittent drying of soils may not be possible on terraced rice lands.Assuming a 10 to 30% reduction in emission rates per unit harvested area, the global emission may amount to 93 Tg CH₄ y^– in 2025. A reduction of global emissions seems very difficult. To develop techniques for reducing CH₄ emissions from wetland rice fields, research is required concerning interactions between soil chemical and physical properties, and soil, water and crop management and methanogenesis. Such techniques should not adversely affect rice yields.     

Spatial and temporal dynamics of methane emissions from agricultural sources in China

Agricultural activities contribute significantly to the global methane budget. Agricultural sources of methane are influenced by land‐use change, including changes in agricultural area, livestock keeping and agricultural management practices. A spatially explicit inventory of methane emissions from agriculture is made for China taking the interconnections between the different agricultural sources into account. The influence of land‐use change on methane emissions is studied by linking a dynamic land‐use change model with emission calculations. The land‐use change model calculates changes in rice area and livestock numbers for a base‐line scenario. Emissions are calculated for 1991 based on land‐use statistics and for 2010 based on simulated changes in land‐use patterns. Emissions from enteric fermentation and manure management are based on emission factors, while emissions from rice paddies involve the calculation of total organic carbon added to rice paddy soils and assume that a constant fraction is emitted as methane. Spatial patterns of emissions are presented for the different sources. For the land‐use scenario considered it is expected that total methane emissions from agricultural sources in China increase by 11% while the relative contribution of rice fields to the emission decreases. Emissions from manure management are expected to become more important. These results indicate that agencies should anticipate changes in source strengths as a consequence of land‐use changes when proposing mitigation strategies and future national greenhouse gas budgets.     

Influence of rice cultivar on methane emission from paddy fields

Influence of rice cultivars on CH₄ emissions from a paddy field was studied using four Japonica types, two Indica types, and two Japonica/Indica F₁ hybrids. In addition, the suppression of CH₄ emission by interrupting irrigation at the flowering stage was investigated. Patterns of seasonal variation in CH₄ emission rates were similar among the eight cultivars. Two of the Japonica types showed the maximum and minimum CH₄ emissions among the cultivars investigated. Neither the number of tillers, shoot length, shoot weight, and root weight correlated with the CH₄ emission rates at the tillering and reproductive growth stages. Following temporary interruption of irrigation at the flowering stage, CH₄ emission rates decreased drastically and remained at very low levels until the harvesting stage, indicating its great effectiveness for the suppression of CH₄ emission from rice paddies.     

Revising a process-based biogeochemistry model (DNDC) to simulate methane emission from rice paddy fields under various residue management and fertilizer regimes

A comprehensive biogeochemistry model, DNDC, was revised to simulate crop growth and soil processes more explicitly and improve its ability to estimate methane (CH₄) emission from rice paddy fields under a wide range of climatic and agronomic conditions. The revised model simulates rice growth by tracking photosynthesis, respiration, C allocation, tillering, and release of organic C and O₂ from roots. For anaerobic soil processes, it quantifies the production of electron donors [H₂ and dissolved organic carbon (DOC)] by decomposition and rice root exudation, and simulates CH₄ production and other reductive reactions based on the availability of electron donors and acceptors (NO₃^?, Mn⁴⁺, Fe³⁺, and SO₄^2?). Methane emission through rice is simulated by a diffusion routine based on the conductance of tillers and the CH₄ concentration in soil water. The revised DNDC was tested against observations at three rice paddy sites in Japan and China with varying rice residue management and fertilization, and produced estimates consistent with observations for the variation in CH₄ emission as a function of residue management. It also successfully predicted the negative effect of (NH₄)₂SO₄ on CH₄ emission, which the current model missed. Predicted CH₄ emission was highly sensitive to the content of reducible soil Fe³⁺, which is the dominant electron acceptor in anaerobic soils. The revised DNDC generally gave acceptable predictions of seasonal CH₄ emission, but not of daily CH₄ fluxes, suggesting the model's immaturity in describing soil heterogeneity or rice cultivar‐specific characteristics of CH₄ transport. It also overestimated CH₄ emission at one site in a year with low temperatures, suggesting uncertainty in root biomass estimates due to the model's failure to consider the temperature dependence of leaf area development. Nevertheless, the revised DNDC explicitly reflects the effects of soil electron donors and acceptors, and can be used to quantitatively estimate CH₄ emissions from rice fields under a range of conditions.     

Nitrogen-regulated effects of free-air CO2 enrichment on methane emissions from paddy rice fields

Using the free‐air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) techniques, we carried out a 3‐year mono‐factorial experiment in temperate paddy rice fields of Japan (1998–2000) and a 3‐year multifactorial experiment in subtropical paddy rice fields in the Yangtze River delta in China (2001–2003), to investigate the methane (CH₄) emissions in response to an elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration (200±40 mmol mol^?1 higher than that in the ambient atmosphere). No significant effect of the elevated CO₂ upon seasonal accumulative CH₄ emissions was observed in the first rice season, but significant stimulatory effects (CH₄ increase ranging from 38% to 188%, with a mean of 88%) were observed in the second and third rice seasons in the fields with or without organic matter addition. The stimulatory effects of the elevated CO₂ upon seasonal accumulative CH₄ emissions were negatively correlated with the addition rates of decomposable organic carbon (P<0.05), but positively with the rates of nitrogen fertilizers applied in either the current rice season (P<0.05) or the whole year (P<0.01). Six mechanisms were proposed to explain collectively the observations. Soil nitrogen availability was identified as an important regulator. The effect of soil nitrogen availability on the observed relation between elevated CO₂ and CH₄ emission can be explained by (a) modifying the C/N ratio of the plant residues formed in the previous growing season(s); (b) changing the inhibitory effect of high C/N ratio on plant residue decomposition in the current growing season; and (c) altering the stimulatory effects of CO₂ enrichment upon plant growth, as well as nitrogen uptake in the current growing season. This study implies that the concurrent enrichment of reactive nitrogen in the global ecosystems may accelerate the increase of atmospheric methane by initiating a stimulatory effect of the ongoing dramatic atmospheric CO₂ enrichment upon methane emissions from nitrogen‐poor paddy rice ecosystems and further amplifying the existing stimulatory effect in nitrogen‐rich paddy rice ecosystems.     

Methane emission from a wetland rice field as affected by salinity

The impact of salinity on CH₄ emission was studied by adding salt to a Philippine rice paddy, increasing pore water EC to approx. 4 dS.m^-1 Methane emission from the salt-amended plot and adjacent control plots was monitored with a closed chamber technique. The addition of salt to the rice field caused a reduction by 25% in CH₄ emission. Rates of methane emissions from intact soil cores were measured during aerobic and anaerobic incubations. The anaerobic CH₄ fluxes from the salt-amended soil cores were three to four times lower than from cores of the control plot, whereas the aerobic CH₄ fluxes were about equal. Measurements of the potential CH₄ production with depth showed that the CH₄ production in the salt-amended field was strongly reduced compared to the control field. Calculation of the percentage CH₄ oxidized of the anaerobic flux indicated that CH₄ oxidation in the salt-amended plot was even more inhibited than CH₄ production. The net result was about equal aerobic CH₄ fluxes from both salt-amended plots and non-amended plots. The data illustrate the importance of both CH₄ production and CH₄ oxidation when estimating CH₄ emission and show that the ratio between CH₄ production and CH₄ oxidation may depend on environmental conditions. The reduction in CH₄ emission from rice paddies upon amendment with salt low in sulfate is considerably smaller than the reduction in CH₄ emission observed in a similar study where fields were amended with high-sulfate containing salt (gypsum). The results indicate that CH₄ emissions from wetland rice fields on saline, low-sulfate soils are lower than CH₄ emissions from otherwise comparable non-saline rice tields. However, the reduction in CH₄ emission is not proportional to the reduction in CH₄ production     

Modeling methane emissions from irrigated rice cultivation in China from 1960 to 2050

Rice paddy is a major source of anthropogenic terrestrial methane (CH₄). China has the second‐largest area of rice cultivation in the world, accounting for ca. 19% of the world's rice‐producing area. Recognizing the significance of China's rice cultivation in the global CH₄ budget, we estimated the CH₄ emissions resulting from irrigated rice cultivation in China from 1960 to 2050 using a CH4MOD model. The model estimates suggest that the annual CH₄ emissions decreased from 5.62 Tg yr^?1 in 1960 to 4.13 Tg yr^?1 in 1970, and this decrease was attributed to changes in water management from continuous flooding to mid‐season drainage irrigation. Since the early 1970s, the amount of CH₄ emissions gradually increased to 6.85 Tg yr^?1 by 2009 because of significant improvements in crop production that led to high‐crop residue retention. Higher levels of CH₄ emissions occurred in southern China, where double rice cropping systems are most common. For the A1B and B1 scenarios of the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES), the amount of CH₄ emissions from 2010 to 2050 is predicted to increase at an average rate of 1.2 kg ha^?1 yr^?1 in response to global warming. Compared to 2009, the CH₄ flux is predicted to increase by ca. 14% by the late 2040s, and the increase in these emissions in northeastern China is estimated to become more significant than in the other rice‐growing regions of the country. Under the assumptions that the rice‐producing land area will remain the same, decrease by 25% or increase by 38% by the late 2040s, the CH₄ emissions are projected to be 7.8, 5.6 or 11.7 Tg yr^?1, respectively.     

Estimates of methane emissions from Chinese rice paddies by linking a model to GIS database

Methane is one of the principal greenhouse gases. Irrigated rice paddies are recognized as contributing to atmospheric methane concentration. Methane emissions from rice paddies are among the most uncertain estimates in rice-growing countries. Efforts have been made over the last decade to estimate CH₄ emissions from Chinese rice paddies via the model method. However, these estimates are very vague due to different models and upscaling methods. A reduction in these uncertainties may be achieved by coupling field-scale models with regional databases. The objective of this article is to develop a methodology of coupling a CH₄ emission model with regional databases by which CH₄ emissions from Chinese rice paddies can then be estimated. CH4MOD, a model for simulating CH₄ emissions from rice paddies with minimal input by using commonly available parameters, is of great potential in terms of upscaling as it has provided a realistic estimate of the observed results from various soils, climates and agricultural practices. By linking spatial databases to CH4MOD, CH₄ emissions from Chinese rice paddies in the 2000 rice-growing season were simulated on a day-by-day basis. The spatial databases were created by GIS with a spatial resolution of 10km10km, including soil sand percentage, amounts of crop straw and roots from the previous season and farm manure, the water management pattern, dates of rice transplanting and harvesting, acreage of rice planted, rice grain yield and daily air temperature. ARCGIS software was used to meet all GIS needs, including data access, projection definition, overlaying of different vector layers, creation of grids (a raster format of ARCGIS software) by converting vector data, and the data conversion between grids and ASCII formats. Methane emissions from rice paddies in mainland China in the 2000 rice-growing season were estimated to be 6.02 Tg (1 Tg = 10⁹ kg). Of the total, approximately 49% (2.93Tg) is emitted during the single rice-growing season, and 27% (1.63Tg) and 24% (1.46Tg) are from the early and late rice-growing seasons respectively. It was concluded that regional CH4 emissions from rice paddies could be estimated by coupling CH4MOD with regional databases with a high spatial resolution. A further effort should be made to improve the quality of the spatial databases, especially in terms of the amount of added organic matter and the water regime. It is also necessary to evaluate the uncertainties of the present estimates in order to improve the overall accuracy.     

Estimates of methane emissions from Chinese rice paddies by linking a model to GIS database

Methane is one of the principal greenhouse gases. Irrigated rice paddies are recognized as contributing to atmospheric methane concentration. Methane emissions from rice paddies are among the most uncertain estimates in rice-growing countries. Efforts have been made over the last decade to estimate CH₄ emissions from Chinese rice paddies via the model method. However, these estimates are very vague due to different models and upscaling methods. A reduction in these uncertainties may be achieved by coupling field-scale models with regional databases. The objective of this article is to develop a methodology of coupling a CH₄ emission model with regional databases by which CH₄ emissions from Chinese rice paddies can then be estimated. CH4MOD, a model for simulating CH₄ emissions from rice paddies with minimal input by using commonly available parameters, is of great potential in terms of upscaling as it has provided a realistic estimate of the observed results from various soils, climates and agricultural practices. By linking spatial databases to CH4MOD, CH₄ emissions from Chinese rice paddies in the 2000 rice-growing season were simulated on a day-by-day basis. The spatial databases were created by GIS with a spatial resolution of 10km×10km, including soil sand percentage, amounts of crop straw and roots from the previous season and farm manure, the water management pattern, dates of rice transplanting and harvesting, acreage of rice planted, rice grain yield and daily air temperature. ARCGIS software was used to meet all GIS needs, including data access, projection definition, overlaying of different vector layers, creation of grids (a raster format of ARCGIS software) by converting vector data, and the data conversion between grids and ASCII formats. Methane emissions from rice paddies in mainland China in the 2000 rice-growing season were estimated to be 6.02 Tg (1 Tg = 10⁹ kg). Of the total, approximately 49% (2.93Tg) is emitted during the single rice-growing season, and 27% (1.63Tg) and 24% (1.46Tg) are from the early and late rice-growing seasons respectively. It was concluded that regional CH4 emissions from rice paddies could be estimated by coupling CH4MOD with regional databases with a high spatial resolution. A further effort should be made to improve the quality of the spatial databases, especially in terms of the amount of added organic matter and the water regime. It is also necessary to evaluate the uncertainties of the present estimates in order to improve the overall accuracy.     

Diffusion-controlled transport of methane from soil to atmosphere as mediated by rice plants

Methane emission from rice grown in flooded soil was measured in pot experiments using headspaces with different gas composition. The emission rates varied with the atmospheric composition. Based on the kinetic theory of gases the binary diffusion coefficients for methane in various gases were calculated. The ratios of the measured emissions under a certain atmosphere relative to that in air were similar to the ratios of the binary diffusion coefficients showing that plant-mediated CH₄ transport is driven by diffusion. Small deviations from the theoretical ratios of emissions support the hypothesis that mass flow of gas to the submerged parts of the rice plant may depress the upward diffusive CH₄ flux. The results in combination with data from the literature suggest that the rate limiting step in plant-mediated methane transport is diffusion of CH₄ across the root/shoot junction.     

Impact of gas transport through rice cultivars on methane emission from rice paddy fields

Two Italian rice (Oryza sativa var. japonica) cultivars, Lido and Roma, were tested in the field for methane production, oxidation and emission. In two consecutive years, fields planted with the rice cultivar Lido showed methane emissions 24–31% lower than fields planted with the cultivar Roma. This difference was observed irrespective of fertilizer treatment. In contrast to methane emissions, differences in methane production or oxidation were not observed between fields planted with the two cultivars. Plant-mediated transport of methane from the sediment to the atmosphere was the dominating pathway of methane emission. During the entire vegetation period, the contribution of this pathway to total methane emission amounted to c. 90%, whereas the contribution of gas bubble release and of diffusion through the water column to total methane emission was of minor significance. Results obtained from transport studies of tracer gas through the aerenchyma system of rice plants demonstrated that the root–shoot transition zone is the main site of resistance to plant-mediated gas exchange between the soil and the atmosphere. The cultivar Lido, showing relatively low methane emissions in the field, had a significantly lower gas transport capacity through the aerenchyma system than the cultivar Roma. Thus, the observed differences in methane emissions in the field between the cultivars Lido and Roma can be explained by different gas transport capacities. Apparently, these differences in gas transport capacities are a consequence of differences in morphology of the aerenchyma systems, especially in the root–shoot transition zone. It is, therefore, concluded that identification and use of high-yielding rice cultivars which have a low gas transport capacity represent an economically feasible, environmentally sound and promising approach to mitigating methane emissons from rice paddy fields.     

水稻植株对稻田甲烷排放的影响

稻田CH4排放是稻田土壤中CH4产生、氧化和传输不同过程的净效应,水稻植株强烈影响稻田CH4的产生、氧化和传输过程,是导致稻田CH4排放季节性变化规律的一个重要因素,本文综述了水稻植株对稻田CH4排放过程的不同影响,水稻植株根系分泌物和脱落物作为产甲烷前体促进稻田土壤中CH4的产生,在水稻生长后期,植株根系分泌物和脱落物被认为是稻田土壤甲烷产生的主要基质,是导致这一时期稻田CH4高排放通量的主要原因;水稻植株根系泌氧在根际环境形成一个微氧区域氧化稻田甲烷,整个水稻生长季稻田土壤中产生的CH4大约36％～90％在植株根际环境中被氧化;约80％甚至更多的稻田CH4通过水稻植株的通气组织进入大气圈,植株对稻田CH4的传输具有十分重要的意义。     

Development of region-specific emission factors and estimation of methane emission from rice fields in the East, Southeast and South Asian countries

Rice cultivation areas in East, Southeast and South Asia account for 89% of the world total, and field measurements of methane (CH₄) emission from rice cultivation have been widely performed in this area. In this paper, we assembled most of the measurements and developed region‐specific CH₄ emission factors. Efforts were made in order to regionalize rice fields by climate and soil properties, and to incorporate the effect of organic input and water regime on emission. Data on rice cultivation areas of 1995 were collected at subdivision level (province, state, prefecture, etc.). Total emission from these areas was estimated at 25.1 Tg CH₄ year ^{? 1}, of which 7.67 Tg was emitted from China and 5.88 Tg from India. Irrigated and rainfed rice fields contributed 70.4 and 27.5% to the total emission, respectively. Deepwater rice fields had a very small share. A high‐resolution and quality emission distribution map was constructed as the emission was directly estimated at province level and below that, a 30‐second land‐use dataset was used in order to translate the emission to grid format. As the rice cultivation area in the study region accounts for 89% of the world total, extrapolating the estimate to the global scale indicates a global emission of 28.2 Tg CH₄ year ^{? 1}. The estimate was compared with country reports made by local scientists. For some countries – such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan and the Philippines – the results of this estimate agree reasonably well with their country reports (CV < 15%). For some other countries – such as China, India and Bangladesh – there is relatively large disagreement between our estimate and their country reports. The reasons for the discrepancies were discussed.     

CH4 emissions from rice paddies managed according to farmer's practice in Hunan, China

We measured CH₄ emissions from ricepaddies managed by farmer's practices inChangsha, Hunan Province, China, from 1995 to1997. During the winter season, rice fieldswere left fallow under either drained(C-Fallow) or flooded conditions (C-Flood), andplanted with either Chinese milk vetch (C-GM)or oil-seed rape (C-Rape). The organic manureproduced in the winter (weeds, Chinese milkvetch, or oil-seed rape straw) was incorporatedin situ before the early-ricetransplanting. Both early-rice and late-ricestraws were removed and the soil was notamended with any exogenous organic manure. For1996 to 1997, the average seasonal CH₄emission for the double rice cropping periodwas the highest from the plot that was floodedin the winter (103.5 g CH₄ m^–2) andlowest from the plot planted and incorporatedwith Chinese milk vetch (32.6 gCH₄ m^–2). Precipitation in the winternot only affected growth of green manure, whichwas incorporated in situ, but might alsoaffect CH₄ emissions during the subsequentrice growing period. Therefore, a simplerelationship could not be found between theincorporated amount of green manure andCH₄ emission. In the plots incorporatedwith vetch and oil-seed rape straw CH₄emissions were significantly less during thesubsequent late-rice period than during theearly-rice period. This phenomenon might beattributed to a ``priming effect' of greenmanure, which exhausted soil labile organicmatter. Based on the CH₄ fluxmeasurements, the total CH₄ emissions fromrice fields in Hunan Province during the ricegrowing season were estimated as 1.56 TgCH₄ in 1996 and 1.06 Tg CH₄ in 1997.Large variation of precipitation in the winterwould be an important factor controlling theannual variation of CH₄ emissions from thetreatments.     

秸秆还田与氮肥施用对稻田温室气体排放的影响

秸秆还田与氮肥施用是农田生态系统中碳氮元素的两大主要补给途径,其在调控稻田甲烷(CH₄)和氧化亚氮(N₂O)排放以及水稻产量方面具有重要作用。以往的研究主要关注秸秆还田或氮肥施用单因素对稻田温室气体排放的影响,而双因素互作对甲烷和氧化亚氮排放的影响尚未明确。同时,在秸秆还田条件下如何进行合理的氮肥施用鲜有深入研究。本研究基于3个氮肥处理(0、180、360 kg N/hm²)和3个秸秆还田处理(0、2.25、3.75 t/hm²)进行多年水稻田间定位试验,研究结果表明:CH₄季节累积排放随秸秆还田量增加而增加,与施氮量无显著正相关关系;N₂O季节累积排放随施氮量增加而增加,与秸秆还田量无显著正相关关系;秸秆还田对于产量的影响具有不确定性,两年均在秸秆不还田+不施氮处理(S0N0)出现最低产量,2021与2022年最低产量分别为5740.64和4903.75 kg/hm²。2021与2022年最高产量分别在秸秆不还田+高氮(S0N2)和高量秸秆还田+高氮(S2N2)出现,分别为10938.48和10384.83 kg/hm²。同时,本研究发现在低量秸秆还田条件下,在碳足迹(CF, Carbon Footprint)方面,施氮量为251 kg N/hm²时碳足迹达到最低点,为1.01 kg C/kg;而在生态经济净收益(NEEB, Net Ecosystem Economic Benefits)方面,施氮量为294 kg N/hm²时生态经济净收益达到最高点,为11778.15 元/hm²。为协同生态经济净收益与碳排放,在低量秸秆还田(S1)下,配合251-294 kg N/hm²的施氮量为最优施肥方案。研究结果为指导稻田温室气体减排、实现稻田碳中和以及农田管理提供了理论支撑,为实现水稻的高产稳产与低碳生产科学依据。     

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddy fields as affected by nitrogen fertilisers and water management

Methane and N₂O emissions affected by nitrogen fertilisers were measured simultaneously in rice paddy fields under intermittent irrigation in 1994. Ammonium sulphate and urea were applied at rates of 0 (control), 100 and 300 kg N ha^-1. The results showed that CH₄ emission, on the average, decreased by 42 and 60% in the ammonium sulphate treatments and 7 and 14% in the urea treatments at rates of 100 and 300 kg N ha^-1, respectively, compared to the control. N₂O emission increased significantly with the increase in the nitrogen application rate. N₂O emission was higher from ammonium sulphate treatments than from the urea treatments at the same application rate. A trade-off effect between CH₄ and N₂O emission was clearly observed. The N₂O flux was very small when the rice paddy plots were flooded, but peaked at the beginning of the disappearance of floodwater. In contrast, the CH₄ flux peaked during flooding and was significantly depressed by mid-season aeration (MSA). The results suggest that it is important to evaluate the integrative effects of water management and fertiliser application for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in order to attenuate the greenhouse effect contributed by rice paddy fields.     

Influence of soil temperature on methane emission from rice paddy fields

Methane emission rates from an Italian rice paddy field showed diel and seasonal variations. The seasonal variations were not closely related to soil temperatures. However, the dieL changes of CH₄ fluxes were significantly correlated with the diel changes of the temperature in a particular soil depth. The soil depths with the best correlations between CH4 flux and temperature were shallow (1–5cm) in May and June, deep (10–15cm) in June and July, and again shallow (1–5 cm) in August. Apparent activation energies (E_a) calculated from these correlations using the Arrhenius model were relatively low (50–150 kJ mol^–1) in May and June, but increased to higher values (80–450 kJ mol^–1) in August. In the laboratory, CH₄ emission from two rice cultures incubated at temperatures between 20 and 38°C showed E . values of 41 and 53 kJ mol^–1) Methane production in anoxic paddy soil suspensions incubated between 7 and 43°C showed E values between 53 and 132 kJ mol^–1 with an average value of 85 kJ mol^–1) and in pure cultures of hydrogenotrophic methanogenic bacteria E _a values between 77 and 173 (average 126) kJ mol^–1. It is suggested that diel changes of soil properties other than temperature affect CH₄ emission rates, e.g. diel changes in root exudation or in efficiency of CH⁴ oxidation in the rhizosphere.     

Effects of ammonium-based fertilisation on microbialprocesses involved in methane emission from soilsplanted with rice

The emission of the greenhouse gas CH₄ from ricepaddies is strongly influenced by management practicessuch as the input of ammonium-based fertilisers. Weassessed the impact of different levels (200 and 400kgN.ha^–1) of urea and (NH₄)₂HPO₄on the microbial processes involved in production andconsumption of CH₄ in rice field soil. We usedcompartmented microcosms which received fertilisertwice weekly. Potential CH₄ production rates weresubstantially higher in the rice rhizosphere than inunrooted soil, but were not affected by fertilisation.However, CH₄ emission was reduced by the additionof fertiliser and was negatively correlated with porewater NH ₄ ^plus concentration, probably as theconsequence of elevated CH₄ oxidation due tofertilisation. CH₄ oxidation as well as numbersof methanotrophs was distinctly stimulated by theaddition of fertiliser and by the presence of the riceplant. Without fertiliser addition,nitrogen-limitation of the methanotrophs will restrictthe consumption of CH₄. This may have a majorimpact on the global CH₄ budget, asnitrogen-limiting conditions will be the normalsituation in the rice rhizosphere. Elevated potentialnitrifying activities and numbers were only detectedin microcosms fertilised with urea. However, asubstantial part of the nitrification potential in therhizosphere of rice was attributed to the activity ofmethanotrophs, as was demonstrated using theinhibitors CH₃F and C₂H₂.     

Assessment of the methane mitigation potentials of alternative water regimes in rice fields using a process‐based biogeochemistry model

Rice production is a substantial source of atmospheric CH₄, which is second only to CO₂ as a contributor to global warming. Since CH₄ is produced in anaerobic soil environments, water management is expected to be a practical measure to mitigate CH₄ emissions. In this study, we used a process‐based biogeochemistry model (DNDC‐Rice) to assess the CH₄ mitigation potentials of alternative water regimes (AWR) for rice fields at a regional scale. Before regional application, we tested DNDC‐Rice using site‐scale data from three rice fields in Japan with different water regimes. The observed CH₄ emissions were reduced by drainage of the fields, but were enhanced by organic amendments. DNDC‐Rice gave acceptable predictions of variation in daily CH₄ fluxes and seasonal CH₄ emissions due to changes in the water regime. For regional application, we constructed a GIS database at a 1 × 1 km mesh scale that contained data on rice field area, soil properties, daily weather, and farming management of each cell in the mesh, covering 3.2% of the rice fields in Japan's Hokkaido region. We ran DNDC‐Rice to simulate CH₄ emissions under five simulated water regimes: the conventional water regime and four AWR scenarios with gradually increasing drainage. We found that AWR can reduce CH₄ emission by up to 41% compared with the emission under conventional water regime. Including the changes in CO₂ and nitrous oxide emissions, potential mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) was 2.6 Mg CO₂ Eq. ha^?1 yr^?1. If this estimate is expanded to Japan's total rice fields, expected GHG mitigation is 4.3 Tg CO₂ Eq. yr^?1, which accounts for 0.32% of total GHG emissions from Japan. For a reliable national‐scale assessment, however, databases on soil, weather, and farming management must be constructed at a national scale, as these factors are widely variable between regions in Japan.     

Inhibition of methane evolution by calcium sulfate addition to flooded rice

Calcium sulfate, a common soil amendment was applied at rates of 0, 1,000 and 2,000 kg ha^-1 to flooded rice plots treated with urea-N (128 kg ha^-1). Experimental plots were drill-seeded with Toro-2, a mid-season long-grain rice cultivar, and CH₄ emissions were measured over the first cropping season. Over the 70 d sampling season, the low and high rate of CaSO₄ reduced CH₄ evolution 29 and 46%, respectively, compared to control plots. No significant correlation between soil temperature (0, 5, 10 cm depths) and CH₄ emission was observed.