Biosphere–atmosphere exchange of methane in India as influenced by multiple environmental changes during 1901–2010

Abstract It is highly uncertain on how human and natural environmental factors have altered methane (CH 4 ) emissions from terrestrial ecosystems in India. Using a process-based, Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM) driven by climate, land cover and land use change (LCLUC), atmospheric nitrogen deposition (NDEP), atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration, and tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) pollution, we examined CH 4 flux from terrestrial in India during 1901–2010. The DLEM simulations have shown that total CH 4 flux over the country ranged from 2.9 Tg C year −1 to 6.5 Tg C year −1 with significant inter-annual variations driven by climate during 1901–2010. Contemporary CH 4 emissions have primarily occurred from rice fields (3.9 ± 0.9 Tg C year −1 ) while wetlands contributed to 2.1 ± 0.6 Tg C year −1 in the 2000s. During 1901–2010, total CH 4 emission from the terrestrial biosphere has increased by ∼2.1 Tg C year −1 . LCLUC has increased CH 4 emissions by 2.3 Tg C year −1 primarily due to increase in the rice-based cropping systems as well as irrigation expansion during the study period. Elevated CO 2 concentration stimulated plant biomass production in both rice fields and wetlands that increased CH 4 emissions by 0.7 Tg C year −1 . On the contrary, climate change decreased net CH 4 emissions by ∼1.2 Tg C year −1 due to negative effects of extreme high temperature as well as occurrences of extreme drought events on plant growth. Our study suggests that LCLUC and elevated CO 2 concentration have significantly increased CH 4 emissions from terrestrial ecosystems in India.