New process-model of soil methanotrophy of methane

We have created a new process-model of methane uptake by soil, based on a compilation of field measurements showed significant differences in methanotrophy rates in different ecosystems. Our model incorporates different microbial oxidation rate constants for different ecosystems and we find that the methanotrophy rates we derive are much more consistent with field measurements than previous studies. A gridded soil methanotrophy map can be found with the publication.

Latitudinal distribution of the soil uptake predicted by other models (green and blue lines), and our process-model (black line). Measurements of CH4 uptake are shown in small brown dots.

Seasonal uptake of atmospheric CH4 by global soils predicted by our process-model for the period 1990 to 2009.