Soil Redox and pH Effects on Methane Production in a Flooded Rice Soil

摘要

Methane formation in soil is a microbiological process controlled by manyfactors. Of them soil redox potential (Eh) and soil pH are considered as critical controls. A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to study the critical initiation soil Eh, the optimum soil pH, and the interaction of Eh and pH on methane production. A small decrease in pH resulting from the introduction of acidic materials significantly decreased methane production. However, a slight increase in soil pH (about 0.2 unit higher than the natural soil suspension pH) resulted in an enhancement of methane production by 11-20 percent and 24-25 percent at controlled Eh of -250 mV and -200 mV, respectively. Results suggest that decrease in methane emission could be obtained by a small reduction in soil pH in Crowley soil.