Widespread non-microbial methane production by organic compounds and the impact of environmental stresses

Abstract

Non-microbial methane (CH4) production is more pervasive in nature than previously thought, but it has received less attention than microbial CH4 production. Non-microbial CH4 is produced commonly by an instantaneous reaction involving organic compounds under environmental stresses, without enzymatic catalysis by methanogenic archaea. In addition to the widely known sources of non-microbial CH4, i.e., energy usage, biomass burning, and geological emissions, non-microbial CH4 emissions from plants, animals, fungi, soils, and surface waters of oceans have been recently reported. In most ecosystems, microbial and non-microbial CH4 production co-occur and/or alternate depending on the conditions, and thus CH4 emission in terrestrial ecosystems represents a mixture of microbial and non-microbial CH4 production. Global CH4 emission was estimated at 582Tgyr−1 over the 2000–2004 period, where geological sources of non-microbial CH4 were not included. When geological sources are included, total emissions will likely not increase but its partition among the individual sources would change, and emissions of non-microbial CH4 might account for approximately 40% of the global total. This fraction would slightly increase if non-microbial CH4 emissions of plants, animals, fungi and soils in terrestrial ecosystems and surface waters of oceans are considered, although no global estimates for those fractions currently exist. The stable isotope signatures of C and H in CH4 may be a useful tool for identifying the source of CH4. Based on this review of the literature, we conclude that non-microbial CH4 production may occur in any organism or dead organic matter when organic compounds are exposed to environmental stresses.