Phosphorus alleviation of nitrogen‐suppressed methane sink in global grasslands

Grassland ecosystems account for more than 10% of the global CH4 sink in soils. A 4‐year field experiment found that addition of P alone did not affect CH4 uptake and experimental addition of N alone significantly suppressed CH4 uptake, whereas concurrent N and P additions suppressed CH4 uptake to a lesser degree. A meta‐analysis including 382 data points in global grasslands corroborated these findings. Global extrapolation with an empirical modelling approach estimated that contemporary N addition suppresses CH4 sink in global grassland by 11.4% and concurrent N and P deposition alleviates this suppression to 5.8%. The P alleviation of N‐suppressed CH4 sink is primarily attributed to substrate competition, defined as the competition between ammonium and CH4 for the methane mono‐oxygenase enzyme. The N and P impacts on CH4 uptake indicate that projected increases in N and P depositions might substantially affect CH4 uptake and alter the global CH4 cycle. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is believed to suppress the grassland's capability of oxidizing atmospheric methane, while this suppression is alleviated due to growing phosphorus deposition.