Inter- and intra-varietal variation in aerobic methane emissions from environmentally stressed pea plants

Abstract

Environmental stress factors can influence methane (CH4) emissions from plants. There are a few studies on the interactive effects of stress factors on plant aerobic CH4, but none on the comparative evaluation of CH4 emissions between and among plant varieties. We examined the effects of temperature, UVB radiation, and watering regime on CH4 emissions from 10 pea (Pisum sativum L.) varieties first and then selected two varieties with the highest (237J Sundance; var. 1) and lowest (422 Ho Lan Dow; var. 2) emissions for further studies. Plants were grown in controlled-environment growth chambers under two temperature regimes (22 °C / 18 °C and 28 °C / 24 °C, 16 h light / 8 h dark), two UVB levels (0 and 5 kJ·m−2·d−1), and two watering regimes (well-watered and water-stressed) for 14 days, after one week of growth under 22 °C / 18 °C. Higher temperatures and water stress increased CH4 emissions, and increased emission was associated with stress. Pea varieties varied in growth and CH4 emissions; var. 1 was more stressed and had higher emission than var. 2. In the stressed variety, the water-stressed plants grown under higher temperatures at UVB5 had the highest CH4 emission, whereas the well-watered plants grown under lower temperatures at UVB5 had the lowest emission. We conclude that climatic stress conditions increase CH4 emissions, which vary with plant varieties.