Abstract
Soil methanotrophic bacteria constitute the only globally relevant biological sink for atmospheric methane (CH4). Nitrogen (N) fertilizers as well as soil moisture regime affect the activity of these organisms, but the mechanisms involved are not well understood to date. In particular, virtually nothing is known about the spatial distribution of soil methanotrophs within soil structure and how this regulates CH4 fluxes at the ecosystem scale. We studied the spatial distribution of CH4 assimilation and its response to a factorial drought