The importance of plants for methane emission at the ecosystem scale

Methane (CH4), one of the key long-lived atmospheric greenhouse gases, is primarily produced from organic matter. Accordingly, net primary production matter sets boundaries for CH4 emissions. Plants, being dominant producers, are thereby indirectly sustaining most global emissions, albeit with delays in time and spatial offsets between plant subsequent emission. In addition, communities can enhance or hamper ecosystem production, oxidation, transport multiple ways, e.g., by shaping carbon, nutrient, redox gradients, representing a physical link zones extensive anoxic sediments soils atmosphere. This review focuses on how plants other producers influence emissions consequences at scales. We outline mechanisms interactions discuss flux regulation, quantification, knowledge gaps across examples. Some recently proposed plant-related fluxes difficult to reconcile budget enigmas related these highlighted. Overall, strongly linked producer communities, directly indirectly, properly quantifying magnitudes regulation links predicting future rapidly changing world.