| 1. |
- Juottonen, Heli, et al.
(author)
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Distinct Anaerobic Bacterial Consumers of Cellobiose-Derived Carbon in Boreal Fens with Different CO2/CH4 Production Ratios
- 2017
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In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - 0099-2240 .- 1098-5336. ; 83:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Northern peatlands in general have high methane (CH4) emissions, but individual peatlands show considerable variation as CH4 sources. Particularly in nutrient-poor peatlands, CH4 production can be low and exceeded by carbon dioxide (CO2) production from unresolved anaerobic processes. To clarify the role anaerobic bacterial degraders play in this variation, we compared consumers of cellobiose-derived carbon in two fens differing in nutrient status and the ratio of CO2 to CH4 produced. After [C-13] cellobiose amendment, the mesotrophic fen produced equal amounts of CH4 and CO2. The oligotrophic fen had lower CH4 production but produced 3 to 59 times more CO2 than CH4. RNA stable-isotope probing revealed that in the mesotrophic fen with higher CH4 production, cellobiose-derived carbon was mainly assimilated by various recognized fermenters of Firmicutes and by Proteobacteria. The oligotrophic peat with excess CO2 production revealed a wider variety of cellobiose-C consumers, including Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, but also more unconventional degraders, such as Telmatobacter-related Acidobacteria and subphylum 3 of Verrucomicrobia. Prominent and potentially fermentative Planctomycetes and Chloroflexi did not appear to process cellobiose-C. Our results show that anaerobic degradation resulting in different levels of CH4 production can involve distinct sets of bacterial degraders. By distinguishing cellobiose degraders from the total community, this study contributes to defining anaerobic bacteria that process cellulose-derived carbon in peat. Several of the identified degraders, particularly fermenters and potential Fe(III) or humic substance reducers in the oligotrophic peat, represent promising candidates for resolving the origin of excess CO2 production in peatlands. IMPORTANCE Peatlands are major sources of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4), yet in many peatlands, CO2 production from unresolved anaerobic processes exceeds CH4 production. Anaerobic degradation produces the precursors of CH4 production but also represents competing processes. We show that anaerobic degradation leading to high or low CH4 production involved distinct sets of bacteria. Well-known fermenters dominated in a peatland with high CH4 production, while novel and unconventional degraders could be identified in a site where CO2 production greatly exceeds CH4 production. Our results help identify and assign functions to uncharacterized bacteria that promote or inhibit CH4 production and reveal bacteria potentially producing the excess CO2 in acidic peat. This study contributes to understanding the microbiological basis for different levels of CH4 emission from peatlands.
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| 2. |
- Korrensalo, Aino, et al.
(author)
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Species-specific temporal variation in photosynthesis as a moderator of peatland carbon sequestration
- 2017
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In: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 14:2, s. 257-269
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In boreal bogs plant species are low in number, but they differ greatly in their growth forms and photosynthetic properties. We assessed how ecosystem carbon (C) sink dynamics were affected by seasonal variations in the photosynthetic rate and leaf area of different species. Photosynthetic properties (light response parameters), leaf area development and areal cover (abundance) of the species were used to quantify species-specific net and gross photosynthesis rates (PN and PG, respectively), which were summed to express ecosystem-level PN and PG. The ecosystem-level PG was compared with a gross primary production (GPP) estimate derived from eddy covariance (EC) measurements. Species areal cover, rather than differences in photosynthetic properties, determined the species with the highest PG of both vascular plants and Sphagna. Species-specific contributions to the ecosystem PG varied over the growing season, which, in turn, determined the seasonal variation in ecosystem PG. The upscaled growing season PG estimate, 230 g C m-2, agreed well with the GPP estimated by the EC (243 g C m-2). Sphagna were superior to vascular plants in ecosystem-level PG throughout the growing season but had a lower PN. PN results indicated that areal cover of the species, together with their differences in photosynthetic parameters, shape the ecosystem-level C balance. Species with low areal cover but high photosynthetic efficiency appear to be potentially important for the ecosystem C sink. Results imply that functional diversity, i.e., the presence of plant groups with different seasonal timing and efficiency of photosynthesis, may increase the stability of C sinks of boreal bogs.
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| 3. |
- Raivonen, Maarit, et al.
(author)
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HIMMELI v1.0 : HelsinkI Model of MEthane buiLd-up and emIssion for peatlands
- 2017
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In: Geoscientific Model Development. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1991-959X .- 1991-9603. ; 10:12, s. 4665-4691
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wetlands are one of the most significant natural sources of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. They emit CH4 because decomposition of soil organic matter in waterlogged anoxic conditions produces CH4, in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2). Production of CH4 and how much of it escapes to the atmosphere depend on a multitude of environmental drivers. Models simulating the processes leading to CH4 emissions are thus needed for upscaling observations to estimate present CH4 emissions and for producing scenarios of future atmospheric CH4 concentrations. Aiming at a CH4 model that can be added to models describing peatland carbon cycling, we composed a model called HIMMELI that describes CH4 build-up in and emissions from peatland soils. It is not a full peatland carbon cycle model but it requires the rate of anoxic soil respiration as input. Driven by soil temperature, leaf area index (LAI) of aerenchymatous peatland vegetation, and water table depth (WTD), it simulates the concentrations and transport of CH4, CO2, and oxygen (O2) in a layered one-dimensional peat column. Here, we present the HIMMELI model structure and results of tests on the model sensitivity to the input data and to the description of the peat column (peat depth and layer thickness), and demonstrate that HIMMELI outputs realistic fluxes by comparing modeled and measured fluxes at two peatland sites. As HIMMELI describes only the CH4-related processes, not the full carbon cycle, our analysis revealed mechanisms and dependencies that may remain hidden when testing CH4 models connected to complete peatland carbon models, which is usually the case. Our results indicated that (1) the model is flexible and robust and thus suitable for different environments; (2) the simulated CH4 emissions largely depend on the prescribed rate of anoxic respiration; (3) the sensitivity of the total CH4 emission to other input variables is mainly mediated via the concentrations of dissolved gases, in particular, the O2 concentrations that affect the CH4 production and oxidation rates; (4) with given input respiration, the peat column description does not significantly affect the simulated CH4 emissions in this model version.
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