Methane emission fluxes from rice paddies and the methane productive potential in the soils

We estimated the productive potential of methane in paddy soils by anaerobically incubating soils in the laboratory. In addition, we determined the emission fluxes from the rice paddies through rice plants during the whole growth period, according to the methods suggested by Cicerone & Shetter (1981). The results showed that the total amounts of methane emission from rice paddies were very close to the productive potential of the soils and suggested that the large parts of methane emitted from rice paddies originated from the productive potential of methane. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.