Soil CH4 oxidation: response to forest clearcutting and thinning

Abstract

First paragraph: We measured CH4 flux rates for temperate forest soils, with adjacent intact and recently felled areas, to test the hypothesis that net soil CH4 consumption would be reduced after felling. The results showed that while clearcutting reduced net CH4 consumption, thinning actually increased the rate of net soil CH4 consumption. The e ffects on CH4 consumption appeared to be linked to changes in soil N cycling or pH following felling. In well-drained soils, such as the ones studied, the soil CH4 flux will be the resultant of CH4 oxidation and CH4 production within the soil profile. As the soils were net CH4 consumers over the course of this experiment, CH4 oxidation dominated production and this is typical for such well-drained forest soils (Conrad, 1995).