Assessment of the methane mitigation potentials of alternative water regimes in rice fields using a process‐based biogeochemistry model

Abstract

AbstractRice production is a substantial source of atmospheric CH4, which is second only to CO2 as a contributor to global warming. Since CH4 is produced in anaerobic soil environments, water management is expected to be a practical measure to mitigate CH4 emissions. In this study, we used a process‐based biogeochemistry model (DNDC‐Rice) to assess the CH4 mitigation potentials of alternative water regimes (AWR) for rice fields at a regional scale. Before regional application, we tested DNDC‐Rice using site‐scale data from three rice fields in Japan with different water regimes. The observed CH4 emissions were reduced by drainage of the fields, but were enhanced by organic amendments. DNDC‐Rice gave acceptable predictions of variation in daily CH4 fluxes and seasonal CH4 emissions due to changes in the water regime. For regional application, we constructed a GIS database at a 1 × 1 km mesh scale that contained data on rice field area, soil properties, daily weather, and farming management of each cell in the mesh, covering 3.2% of the rice fields in Japan's Hokkaido region. We ran DNDC‐Rice to simulate CH4 emissions under five simulated water regimes: the conventional water regime and four AWR scenarios with gradually increasing drainage. We found that AWR can reduce CH4 emission by up to 41% compared with the emission under conventional water regime. Including the changes in CO2 and nitrous oxide emissions, potential mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) was 2.6 Mg CO2 Eq. ha−1 yr−1. If this estimate is expanded to Japan's total rice fields, expected GHG mitigation is 4.3 Tg CO2 Eq. yr−1, which accounts for 0.32% of total GHG emissions from Japan. For a reliable national‐scale assessment, however, databases on soil, weather, and farming management must be constructed at a national scale, as these factors are widely variable between regions in Japan.