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Microbial Functional Gene Abundance-Integrated Modeling of Global Methane Sinks in Upland Soils Under Future Climate
Wensheng Xiao1, Xiaoqi Zhou1, Li Cheng1
1Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
None:
Methanotrophs are key microbial regulators of soil methane (CH4) sinks, but the global impact of their functional gene abundance on CH4 oxidation remains unquantified. This gap limits the integration of key functional genes abundance parameters (e.g., pmoA) into soil CH4 sink model. We integrated meta-analysis, machine learning, and process-based modeling to assess the relationship between pmoA gene abundance and soil CH4 uptake. Our developed Functional Gene Abundance-Based Methanotrophy Model (FGA-MeMo) incorporates pmoA as a proxy for CH4 oxidation capacity, significantly improving model simulations. FGA-MeMo estimates global upland soil CH4 uptake at 45.74 ± 0.26 Tg year-1, which is 56%-58% higher than MeMo model. Under SSP5-8.5 scenario, this increases to 64.68 ± 0.35 Tg year-1 by 2100, with mid- and high-latitude regions showing enhanced CH4 oxidation due to greater pmoA abundance. These findings highlight the importance of integrating microbial functional genes into Earth system models for improved CH4 cycle predictions.
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