Importance of root uptake of CO on C transfer to plants impacted by below-ground CH release

Ota, Masakazu  ; Tanaka, Taku*

CH released from deep underground radioactive waste disposal facilities can be a belowground source of CO owing to microbial oxidation of CH to CO in soils. Environmental C models assume that the transfer of CO from soil to plant occurs via foliar uptake of CO. Nevertheless, the importance of CO root uptake is not well understood. In the present study, belowground transport and oxidation of CH were modeled and incorporated into an existing land surface CO model (SOLVEG-II) to assess the importance of root uptake on CO transfer to plants. Performance of the model in calculating the belowground dynamics of CH was validated by simulating a field experiment of CH injection into subsoil. The model was then applied to C transfer in a hypothetical ecosystem impacted by continuous CH input from the water table (bottom of one-meter thick soil). In a shallowly rooted ecosystem with rooting depth of 11 cm, foliar uptake of CO was significant, accounting for 80% of the C accumulation in the leaves. In a deeply rooted ecosystem (rooting depth of 97 cm), where the root penetrated to depths close to the water-table, more than half (63%) the C accumulated in the leaves was transferred by the root uptake. We found that CO root uptake in this ecosystem depended on the distribution of methane oxidation in the soil; all C accumulated in the leaves was transferred by the root uptake when methane oxidation occurred at considerable depths (e-folding depths of 20 cm, or 80 cm). These results indicate that CO root uptake contributes significantly to CO transfer to plants if CH oxidation occurs at great depths and roots penetrate deeply into the soil.