Seasonal changes in fluxes of methane and volatile sulfur compounds from rice paddies and their concentrations in soil water

Abstract

Rice paddies emit not only methane but also several volatile sulfur compounds such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS: CH3SCH3). However, little is known about DMS emission from rice paddies. Fluxes of methane and DMS, and the concentrations of methane and several volatile sulfur compounds including hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbonyl disulfide (CS2), methyl mercaptan (CH3SH) and DMS in soil water and flood water were measured in four lysimeter rice paddies (2.5 × 4 m, depth 2.0 m) once per week throughout the entire cultivation period in 1995 in Tsukuba, Japan. The addition of exogenous organic matter (rice straw) was also examined for its influence on methane or DMS emissions. Methane fluxes greatly differed between treatments in which rice straw had been incorporated into the paddy soil (rice straw plot) and plots without rice straw (mineral fertilizer plot). The annual methane emission from the rice straw plots (37.7 g m-2) was approximately 8 times higher than that from the mineral fertilizer plots (4.8 g m-2). Application of rice straw had little influence on DMS fluxes. Significant diurnal and seasonal changes in DMS fluxes were observed. Peak DMS fluxes were found around noon. DMS was emitted from the flood water in the early growth stage of rice and began to be emitted from rice plants during the middle stage. DMS fluxes increased with the growth of rice plants and the highest flux, 15.1 µg m-2 h-1, was recorded before heading. DMS in the soil water was negligible during the entire cultivation period. These facts indicate that the DMS emitted from rice paddies is produced by metabolic processes in rice plants. The total amount of DMS emitted from rice paddies over the cultivated period was estimated to be approximately 5–6 mg m-2. CH3SH was emitted only from flood water during the first month after flooding.