Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum
The thawing of ice-rich permafrost soils in northern peatlands leads to the formation of thermokarst ponds, surrounded by organic-rich soils. These aquatic ecosystems are sites of intense microbial activity, and CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> emissions. Many of the pond sy...
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doaj-fded05f199a64a339d4043bd46131e8b2020-11-24T22:10:24ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072019-10-0171148610.3390/microorganisms7110486microorganisms7110486Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland ContinuumAdrien Vigneron0Perrine Cruaud1Najat Bhiry2Connie Lovejoy3Warwick F. Vincent4Centre d’études Nordiques (CEN), Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaInstitut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaCentre d’études Nordiques (CEN), Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaCentre d’études Nordiques (CEN), Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaCentre d’études Nordiques (CEN), Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaThe thawing of ice-rich permafrost soils in northern peatlands leads to the formation of thermokarst ponds, surrounded by organic-rich soils. These aquatic ecosystems are sites of intense microbial activity, and CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> emissions. Many of the pond systems in northern landscapes and their surrounding peatlands are hydrologically contiguous, but little is known about the microbial connectivity of concentric habitats around the thermokarst ponds, or the effects of peat accumulation and infilling on the microbial communities. Here we investigated microbial community structure and abundance in a thermokarst pond-peatland system in subarctic Canada. Several lineages were ubiquitous, supporting a prokaryotic continuum from the thermokarst pond to surrounding peatlands. However, the microbial community structure shifted from typical aerobic freshwater microorganisms (<i>Betaproteobacteria</i> and <i>Alphaproteobacteria</i>) in the pond towards acidophilic and anaerobic lineages (<i>Acidobacteria</i> and <i>Choroflexi</i>) in the connected peatland waters, likely selected by the acidification of the water by <i>Sphagnum</i> mosses. Marked changes in abundance and community composition of methane cycling microorganisms were detected along the thermokarst pond-peatland transects, suggesting fine tuning of C-1 carbon cycling within a highly connected system, and warranting the need for higher spatial resolution across the thermokarst landscape to accurately predict net greenhouse gas emissions from northern peatlands.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/7/11/486archaeaarcticlakesmethanemethanogensmethanotrophspermafrostwetlands |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Adrien Vigneron Perrine Cruaud Najat Bhiry Connie Lovejoy Warwick F. Vincent |
spellingShingle |
Adrien Vigneron Perrine Cruaud Najat Bhiry Connie Lovejoy Warwick F. Vincent Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum Microorganisms archaea arctic lakes methane methanogens methanotrophs permafrost wetlands |
author_facet |
Adrien Vigneron Perrine Cruaud Najat Bhiry Connie Lovejoy Warwick F. Vincent |
author_sort |
Adrien Vigneron |
title |
Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum |
title_short |
Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum |
title_full |
Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum |
title_fullStr |
Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbial Community Structure and Methane Cycling Potential along a Thermokarst Pond-Peatland Continuum |
title_sort |
microbial community structure and methane cycling potential along a thermokarst pond-peatland continuum |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Microorganisms |
issn |
2076-2607 |
publishDate |
2019-10-01 |
description |
The thawing of ice-rich permafrost soils in northern peatlands leads to the formation of thermokarst ponds, surrounded by organic-rich soils. These aquatic ecosystems are sites of intense microbial activity, and CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> emissions. Many of the pond systems in northern landscapes and their surrounding peatlands are hydrologically contiguous, but little is known about the microbial connectivity of concentric habitats around the thermokarst ponds, or the effects of peat accumulation and infilling on the microbial communities. Here we investigated microbial community structure and abundance in a thermokarst pond-peatland system in subarctic Canada. Several lineages were ubiquitous, supporting a prokaryotic continuum from the thermokarst pond to surrounding peatlands. However, the microbial community structure shifted from typical aerobic freshwater microorganisms (<i>Betaproteobacteria</i> and <i>Alphaproteobacteria</i>) in the pond towards acidophilic and anaerobic lineages (<i>Acidobacteria</i> and <i>Choroflexi</i>) in the connected peatland waters, likely selected by the acidification of the water by <i>Sphagnum</i> mosses. Marked changes in abundance and community composition of methane cycling microorganisms were detected along the thermokarst pond-peatland transects, suggesting fine tuning of C-1 carbon cycling within a highly connected system, and warranting the need for higher spatial resolution across the thermokarst landscape to accurately predict net greenhouse gas emissions from northern peatlands. |
topic |
archaea arctic lakes methane methanogens methanotrophs permafrost wetlands |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/7/11/486 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT adrienvigneron microbialcommunitystructureandmethanecyclingpotentialalongathermokarstpondpeatlandcontinuum AT perrinecruaud microbialcommunitystructureandmethanecyclingpotentialalongathermokarstpondpeatlandcontinuum AT najatbhiry microbialcommunitystructureandmethanecyclingpotentialalongathermokarstpondpeatlandcontinuum AT connielovejoy microbialcommunitystructureandmethanecyclingpotentialalongathermokarstpondpeatlandcontinuum AT warwickfvincent microbialcommunitystructureandmethanecyclingpotentialalongathermokarstpondpeatlandcontinuum |
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1725808451978788864 |