A five-year study of the impact of nitrogen addition on methane uptake in alpine grassland

It remains unclear how nitrogen (N) deposition affects soil methane (CH(4)) uptake in semiarid and arid zones. An in situ field experiment was conducted from 2010 to 2014 to systematically study the effect of various N application rates (0, 10, 30, and 90 kg N ha(−1) yr(−1)) on CH(4) flux in alpine grassland in the Tianshan Mountains. No significant influence of N addition on CH(4) uptake was found. Initially the CH(4) uptake rate increased with increasing N application rate by up to 11.5% in 2011 and then there was gradual inhibition by 2014. However, the between-year variability in CH(4) uptake was very highly significant with average uptake ranging from 52.9 to 106.6 μg C m(−2) h(−1) and the rate depended largely on seasonal variability in precipitation and temperature. CH(4) uptake was positively correlated with soil temperature, air temperature and to a lesser extent with precipitation, and was negatively correlated with soil moisture and NO(3)(−)-N content. The results indicate that between-year variability in CH(4) uptake was impacted by precipitation and temperature and was not sensitive to elevated N deposition in alpine grassland.