In-depth analysis of core methanogenic communities from high elevation permafrost-affected wetlands

The organic carbon of permafrost affected soils is receiving particular attention with respect to its fate and potential feedback to global warming. The structural and activity changes of methanogenic communities in the degrading permafrost-affected wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau can serve as funda...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Main Authors: Yang, Sizhong, Liebner, Susanne, Winkel, Matthias, Alawi, Mashal, Horn, Fabian, Doerfer, Corina, Ollivier, Julien, He, Jin-Sheng, Jin, Huijun, Kuehn, Peter, Schloter, Michael, Scholten, Thomas, Wagner, Dirk
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Methanogenic Archaea
Wetland
Mcta Gene
Frozen Ground
Tibetan Plateau
Biogeography
Methanoregula
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU
METHANE EMISSIONS
MICROBIAL COMMUNITY
THAWING PERMAFROST
POLYGONAL TUNDRA
ZOIGE WETLAND
LENA DELTA
PEAT BOG
CARBON
ECOSYSTEMS
Agriculture
Soil Science
lena delta
Peat
permafrost
Tundra
Online Access:http://210.75.249.4/handle/363003/7087
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.03.007
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Summary:The organic carbon of permafrost affected soils is receiving particular attention with respect to its fate and potential feedback to global warming. The structural and activity changes of methanogenic communities in the degrading permafrost-affected wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau can serve as fundamental elements for modelling feedback interaction of ecosystems to climate change. Hence, we aimed at anticipating if and how the rapid environmental changes occurring especially on the high altitude Tibetan platform will affect methanogenic communities. We identified methanogenic community composition, activity and abundance in wetland soils with different hydrological settings, permafrost extent and soil properties and pinpoint the environmental controls. We show that despite a pronounced natural gradient, the Tibetan high elevation wetland soils host a large methanogenic core microbiome. Hydrogenotrophic methanogens, in particular Methanoregula, and H2-dependent methanogenesis were overall dominant although acetoclastic methanogens in addition to hydrogenotrophs were among the dominating taxa in a minerotrophic fen. Tracing the Methanoregula community of the Tibetan Plateau using public databases revealed its global relevance in natural terrestrial habitats. Unlike the composition, the activity and abundance of methanogens varied strongly in the studied soils with higher values in alpine swamps than in alpine meadows. This study indicates that in the course of current wetland and permafrost degradation and the loss in soil moisture, a decrease in the methane production potential is expected on the high Tibetan Plateau but it will not lead to pronounced changes within the methanogenic community structure. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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