Abstract
Recently, one study result, which reported to Nature, showed that whole amount of CH4 emissions from plants in the earth was larger than the amount of CO2 absorptions. The findings of this survey created a great sensation. In the case that this result is right, the operation of the Kyoto Protocol, which evaluated forests as a carbon dioxide sink, would fall into crisis. Therefore, in this study, we estimated an amount of CH4 emissions from vegetation region of temperate forests, by using the WDCGG(World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases) data about Neuglobsow in Germany, and applying GEP (Greenhouse gases Emission Presumption) Method which is capable of evaluating CH4 emission outside over a wide area. As a result, it was estimated that the amounts of CH4 emissions from vegetation region of temperate forests was 4.1 Tg CH4 yr-1. It was much less than 28.4 Tg CH4 yr-1 which was reported to Nature. As a result of examining the validity of the estimation method, the estimate value was 9.6% higher than the results estimated by using the IPCC's conversion factor, and it was 14.2% lower compared to the results of the impact evaluation of atmospheric dispersion. However, it could be considered to be within an acceptable range of error. Therefore, the estimate of this study was considered to be reasonable.
