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Methane dynamics regulated by microbial community response to permafrost thaw
Carmody K McCalley1, Ben J Woodcroft2, Suzanne B Hodgkins3
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
Nature
|October 25, 2014
Summary
Permafrost thaw alters microbial communities, shifting methane production pathways and isotopic signatures. This microbial shift is key to predicting greenhouse gas emissions and climate feedback from thawing permafrost.
Area of Science:
- Environmental microbiology
- Biogeochemistry
- Climate science
Background:
- Permafrost stores vast soil carbon, vulnerable to thaw and greenhouse gas release.
- Microbial roles in regulating carbon emissions from thawing permafrost are poorly understood.
- Greenhouse gas feedback from permafrost thaw is a critical uncertainty in climate change projections.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate microbial community dynamics in regulating methane cycling during permafrost thaw.
- Determine if microbial community knowledge improves carbon emission predictions.
- Assess the impact of microbial shifts on methane isotopic signatures and climate feedback.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a natural permafrost thaw gradient in northern Sweden as a model system.
- Analyzed changes in vegetation and methane emissions.
- Quantified microbial community composition, focusing on methanogen abundance.
- Measured methane's stable carbon isotope (δ(13)C) signatures.
Main Results:
- Observed a shift from hydrogenotrophic to acetoclastic methanogenesis with permafrost thaw.
- Linked increasing methane emissions to this metabolic pathway shift.
- Demonstrated that the abundance of Candidatus 'Methanoflorens stordalenmirensis' predicts methane isotopic shifts.
- Showed microbial community dynamics predict the ratio of methane to carbon dioxide emissions.
Conclusions:
- Microbial community composition is a critical factor in regulating greenhouse gas fluxes from thawing permafrost.
- Abundance of specific microbial lineages can predict ecosystem-scale isotope dynamics.
- Understanding microbial ecology is essential for accurate climate feedback modeling of permafrost thaw.
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