Consumption of atmospheric methane by soil in a lowland broadleaf mixed forest

Soils of forest ecosystems can release or consume methane (CH4) depending on their specific hydrological regime. Our study reported the consumption of CH4 by soil in a lowland broadleaf mixed temperate forest in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). The motivation of our study was to determine the importance of CH4 fluxes in context of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes of a broadleaf mixed forest. CH4 and CO2 emissions from the soil were measured during the 2016 vegetation season on a long transect applying the chamber technique. The average daily consumption of atmospheric CH4 by the forest soil ranged from 0.83 to 1.15 mg CH4-C/m(2)/day. This consumption of CH4 during summer and autumn periods was not significantly affected by soil temperature and soil moisture. However, during spring period the consumption of CH4 was positively significantly affected by soil temperature and moisture. Estimated amount of carbon (CH4-C) consumed by the forest soil makes up a very small part of carbon (CO2-C) participated in the ecosystem carbon cycle.