CO2 Science: The authors write that “methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas contributing roughly 20% to observed global warming (IPCC, 2007),” while adding that “oxidation of CH4 in soil by methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) currently removes 30 Tg annually from the atmosphere, which equals 5.4% of the global CH4 sink (IPCC, 2007).” Thus, they but state the obvious when they further say that CH4-eating bacteria “play a critical role in the mitigation of global warming.”
What was done
Working at the Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qinghai Province in the northeastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau, and utilizing the infrared heating system and free-air temperature enhancement protocol developed by Kimball et al. (2008), Zheng et al. studied the effects of a 1.2°C higher daylight temperature together with a 1.7°C higher nighttime temperature, with and without continuous concomitant grazing by adult Tibetan sheep, on methanotrophic abundance, community composition, and activity.
What was learned
In the non-grazed treatments, the experimental warming employed by the seven scientists increased methanotrophic abundance by approximately 88%, as best we can determine from the graphical representation of their results, while in the grazed treatments, warming boosted methanotrophic abundance by more than twice that amount (~183%).
What it means
Zheng et al. conclude that their findings imply that the Tibetan Plateau “may remove more CH4 [from the atmosphere] under future climate conditions.” And, by inference, it can be concluded that such will likely be the case almost everywhere, for they write that “methanotrophs are widely distributed in various environments (e.g., McDonald et al., 2008; Op den Camp et al., 2009; Semrau et al., 2010), such as in paddy soils (Bodelier et al., 2000; Zheng et al., 2008), forest soils (Mohanty et al., 2007; Kolb, 2009), landfill soils (Chen et al., 2007; Einola et al., 2007; Semrau, 2011), grassland soils (Zhou et al., 2008; Abell et al., 2009), oil field soil (Zhang et al., 2010), and extreme thermoacidophilic environments (Dunfield et al., 2007; Pol et al., 2007; Islam et al., 2008).” Thus, it can be appreciated that this particular terrestrial impact of global warming constitutes a significant biologically-induced negative feedback.
Reference
Zheng, Y., Yang, W., Sun, X., Wang, S.-P., Rui, Y.-C., Luo, C.-Y. and Guo, L.-D. 2012. Methanotrophic community structure and activity under warming and grazing of alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
93: 2193-2203.
