More and more studies indicate that, nitrogen deposition inhibites forest soil methane (CH₄) uptake. Consequently, nitrogen (N) deposition increases atmospheric CH₄ concentration due to weaken the function of forest soil as CH₄ sink. This standpoint has been supported by Dr. ZHANG Wei (Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 2008, 113, D11116), who was guided by Prof. MO Jiangming from ecosystem management group of South China Botanical Garden (SCBG).

Recently, Dr. ZHANG Tao and LIU Lei from SCBG investigated the responses of soil CH₄ uptake to N or/and phosphorus (P) addition in an old-growth tropical forests. They confirmed the result from previous study of that N deposition decreased soil CH₄ uptake and found that increased phosphorus availability mitigates the inhibition of N deposition on CH₄ uptake in an old-growth tropical forest, which was N saturated. This work was guided by Prof. MO Jiangming from ecosystem management group of SCBG and Prof. ZHU Weixing from State University of New York – Binghamton University. This finding firstly revealed the effects of N/P interaction on soil CH₄ uptake in tropical and subtropical forests and also indicated that negative effects of N deposition on greenhouse gases (e g. CH₄) could be regulated by forest management. It is of concern to explore the regulations on greenhouse gases under elevated N deposition.

This study was founded by National Key Basic Research 973 Program, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China. This paper has been published on Biogeosciences (2011, 8(9): 2805-2813).