Project Details
Projekt
Quantification of methane sources and sinks in a plant-soil system
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Katharina Lenhart
Subject Area
Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
Term
from 2014 to 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 259988333
In recent years methane (CH4) production under oxic conditions and without the help of methanogenic Archaea has been shown for plants, fungi, and soil. But the scientific findings were largely obtained under sterile conditions. Likely, CH4 production rates under natural conditions (including e.g. animal feeding, changing oxygen and moisture conditions, interaction with other organisms) will differ from the emission rates obtained from sterile cultures. With this project we want to investigate for the first time the CH4 production and simultaneous microbial consumption in an aerated plant-soil system including fungi and microbes under controlled laboratory conditions. The first goal is to develop a closed-chamber modular construction system where specific components of the plant-soil system and their interaction can be investigated with regard to CH4 production. Primarily, the interaction of plants and associated fungi will be explored. Separation of CH4 sources in soil will be achieved by using selective inhibitors. We address the questions how the presence of plants affects soil endogenic CH4 production and will use stable isotope labeling to trace the conversion of photosynthetically fixed CO2 to CH4. Moreover, we are interested in CH4 fluxes within the system. To test the existence of a possible connection between endogenic CH4 production and CH4 consumption we will simultaneously quantify CH4 production and consumption. A combination of isotope labelling techniques with molecular methods will be used to trace plant-derived CH4 within methanotrophic bacteria. The response of plant-derived CH4 emissions after caterpillar feeding and vermin infestation will be tested and temperature-induced changes in CH4 emissions will be related to metabolic activity. The aim of this research project is to improve our understanding of CH4 fluxes in the plant-soil system via the quantification of CH4 production and consumption. Furthermore, our results might contribute to explain the variability of terrestrial ecosystems and may improve predictions of climate induced changes of ecosystem CH4 fluxes.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Belgium
