Articles | Volume 23, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4821-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4821-2026
Research article
 | 
13 Jul 2026
Research article |  | 13 Jul 2026

Testing the precipitation-driven diffusion limitation hypothesis for declining methane uptake in forest soils

Victor Edmonds

Cited articles

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Ball, B. C., Dobbie, K. E., Parker, J. P., and Smith, K. A.: The influence of gas transport and porosity on methane oxidation in soils, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 102, 23301–23308, https://doi.org/10.1029/97JD00870, 1997. a
Battles, J. J., Fahey, T. J., Driscoll, C. T., Jr., Blum, J. D., and Johnson, C. E.: Restoring soil calcium reverses forest decline, Environ. Sci. Tech. Let., 1, 15–19, https://doi.org/10.1021/ez400033d, 2014. a
Bettez, N. D. and Groffman, P. M.: Nitrogen deposition in and near an urban ecosystem, Environ. Sci. Technol., 47, 6047–6051, https://doi.org/10.1021/es400664b, 2013. a
Bodelier, P. L. E. and Laanbroek, H. J.: Nitrogen as a regulatory factor of methane oxidation in soils and sediments, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 47, 265–277, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-6496(03)00304-0, 2004. a
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Short summary
Forest soils host bacteria that pull methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) from the air before it warms the planet. Over recent decades this natural filter has weakened sharply, and the standard explanation blames rising rainfall. Drawing on 27 years of field measurements, we show that rainfall cannot explain the loss. The timing and pattern trace the cause instead to the bacteria and the soil they live in. Such a breakdown may not heal on its own, leaving more methane in the air.
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