What is it about?
We measured methane emissions from soil cores extracted from coastal wetlands along the salinity gradient of the San Francisco Bay-Delta and characterized the microbial communities in the cores by DNA sequencing. We observed unusually high methane emissions in restored oligohaline wetlands that appeared to be linked to lower methane consumption by methanotrophs.
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Why is it important?
Salinity intrusion due to sea level rise is generally expected to decrease methane emissions in freshwater coastal wetlands due to repression of methanogenesis by sulfate reduction, but this study suggests this effect could be outweighed by decreased methane consumption leading to increased methane flux.
Perspectives
Better predictions of greenhouse gas cycling in wetlands could help us predict where sea level rise will have the most harmful impacts and where wetland restoration could lead to effective carbon sequestration.
Dr Susannah Green Tringe
E O Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Multiple microbial guilds mediate soil methane cycling along a wetland salinity gradient, mSystems, January 2024, ASM Journals,
DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00936-23.
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