Multiple microbial guilds mediate soil methane cycling along a wetland salinity gradient.

ABSTRACT: Estuarine wetlands harbor considerable carbon stocks, but rising sea levels could affect their ability to sequester soil carbon as well as their potential to emit methane (CH₄). While sulfate loading from seawater intrusion may reduce CH₄ production due to the higher energy yield of microbial sulfate reduction, existing studies suggest other factors are likely at play. Our study of 11 wetland complexes spanning a natural salinity and productivity gradient across the San Francisco Bay and Delta found that while CH₄ fluxes generally declined with salinity, they were highest in oligohaline wetlands (ca. 3-ppt salinity). Methanogens and methanogenesis genes were weakly correlated with CH₄ fluxes but alone did not explain the highest rates observed. T

SUBMITTER: Hartman WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10804969 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature