Methane emissions from terrestrial plants over China and their effects on methane concentrations in lower troposphere

Methane (CH₄) is the most important greenhouse gas and reactive trace gas in the atmosphere. Recently, it has been reported that terrestrial plants can emit CH₄ under aerobic conditions, which may call for reevaluation of the inventory of CH₄ emissions in China. In this paper, those emissions over China and their effects on CH₄ concentrations in lower troposphere were investigated. Firstly, based on the work of Keppler et al., the aerobic plant CH₄ emission model (PLANTCH4) for China was established. And by using the database of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from NOAA/AVHRR, the distribution of net primary productivity (NPP) over China was simulated, and thereby, for the first time, the amount and distribution of the newly identified source in China were estimated. Secondly, with the aid of the three-dimensional atmospheric chemistry model system (MM5-CALGRID), the effects of the emissions were studied. The results show that the annual aerobic plant CH4 emissions over China amount to 11.83 Tg, i.e. nearly 24% of Chinese total CH₄ emissions. And the major fraction (about 43%) comes from forests. When those emissions are considered in modeling, computed countrywide mean surface concentration of CH₄ is 29.9% higher than without them, with a maximum increase of 69.61 μg·m⁻³ in the south of Yunnan Province. In conclusion, to study CH₄ emissions from terrestrial plants over China may have important implications for correctly estimating the contribution of China to global CH₄ budget, and may call for a reconsideration of the role of CH₄ in global and regional environment and climate change. Supported by National High-Tech Research & Development Program of China (Grant No. 2006AA06A307), National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2006CB403706 and 2006CB403703), and the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, and Nanjing University Talent Development Foundation