Plant root carbon inputs drive methane production in tropical peatlands.

ABSTRACT: Tropical peatlands are carbon-dense ecosystems that are significant sources of atmospheric methane (CH₄). Recent work has demonstrated the importance of trees as an emission pathway for CH₄ from the peat to the atmosphere. However, there remain questions over the processes of CH₄ production in these systems and how they relate to substrate supply. Principally, these questions relate to the relative contribution of recent photosynthetically fixed carbon, released as root exudates, versus carbon substrate supply from the slowly decomposing peat matrix to CH₄ emissions within these ecosystems. Here, we examined the role of root inputs in regulating CH₄ production inferred from soil emissions using a combination of in situ tree girdling, i

SUBMITTER: Girkin NT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11762785 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature