Soil methane oxidation in both dry and wet temperate eucalypt forests show near identical relationship with soil air-filled porosity

Well-drained, aerated soils are important sinks for atmospheric methane (CH4) via the process of CH4 oxidation by methane oxidising bacteria (MOB). This terrestrial CH4 sink may contribute towards climate change mitigation, but the impact of changing soil moisture and temperature regimes on CH4 uptake is not well understood in all ecosystems. Temperate eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia are predicted to experience rapid and extreme changes in rainfall patterns, temperatures and wild fires. To investigate the influence of environmental drivers on seasonal and inter-annual variation of soil-atmosphere CH4 exchange we measured soil-atmosphere CH4 exchange at high temporal resolution (