The Response of Nitrogen Deposition to Methane Oxidation Availability and Microbial Enzyme Activities in Forest Soils

Abstract

Forest soils are often nitrogen-limited, and nitrogen input to forest soils can cause substantial changes in the structure and functions of a soil ecosystem. To determine the effects of nitrogen input on methane oxidation and the microbial enzyme activities, manipulation experiments were conducted using nitrogen addition to soil samples from Mt. Jumbong. Our findings suggested that the addition of nitrogen to the soil system of Mt. Jumbong did not affect the microbial enzyme activities. Conversely, the addition of nitrogen affected the rate of methane oxidation. Inorganic nitrogen in soils can inhibit methane oxidation via several mechanisms, such as substrate competition, toxic effects, and competition with other microbes, but the inhibitory effects are not always the same. In this research, seasonal changes were found to produce different inhibitory factors, and these different responses may be caused from differences in the methantrophic bacteria community structure.