Dark aerobic methane emission associated to leaf factors of two Acacia and five Eucalyptus species

We sought the biological factors determining variations in the methane emission rates from leaves of different plant species under aerobic conditions. Accordingly, we studied relations between the methane emission rate and leaf traits of two Acacia and five Eucalyptus species. We grew seedlings of each species in a glasshouse and measured the methane emission rate of the detached leaves under dark conditions at 30 °C. At the same time we measured the leaf mass per area (LMA), water content, and concentrations of carbon and nitrogen. There was no correlation between the leaf nitrogen concentration and the methane emission rate. This is consistent with previous findings that enzymatic processes do not influence methane emission. We found a significant negative correlation between LMA and the methane emission rate. Our results suggest that leaf structure is primarily responsible for differences in the rates of aerobic methane emission from leaves of different species.

► Factors explaining variations between species in leaf methane emission were studied.
► We measured the rate of methane emission by detached leaves under dark conditions.
► There was a negative correlation between LMA and the methane emission rate.
► Leaf structure is an important in variations of methane emission rate between species.