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Updated: Jan 15, 2026

Visualizing Methane-Cycling Microbial Dynamics in Coastal Wetlands
Published on: January 31, 2025
Temperature dependency of methane emissions from alkaline wetlands under warming: Synergistic effects of soil
Dawen Gao1, Xiaofei Gong1, Feng Li1
1Centre for Urban Environmental Remediation, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, 100044, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Energy Conservation & Emission Reduction and Sustainable Urban-Rural Development in Beijing, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, 100044, China.
Abstract:
Alkaline wetlands, experienced large temperature changes seasonally and were sensitive to global climate changes. Climate warming altered biochemical cycling and further threatened ecosystem imbalance, affecting methane (CH4) emissions budget. To reveal the complex interplay of soil properties and microbial communities governing CH4 emissions responding to temperature changes in alkaline wetland, 60-day incubation experiments with temperature gradients (5 °C, 18 °C, 25 °C, 35 °C) were conducted using soil collected from Zhalong wetland in northern China. The results showed that CH4 emission increased along with elevated temperature and peaked at 35 °C with 169.10 ± 65.42 mg C kg-1 dry soil, 343.7-fold higher than that at 5 °C. Increased NH4+-N and dissolved organic carbon concentrations induced by elevated temperatures significantly regulated CH4 emission (p < 0.05). Hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanobacterium) exhibited greater sensitivity to temperature fluctuations than acetoclastic methanogens (Methanosarcina, Methanosaeta), and dominated in archaeal communities with proportion of 21.8 % under low and moderate temperature. Moreover, the accelerated Fe reduction process stimulated enrichment of methanogen (Methanobacterium, 8.8 %→9.3 %) while suppressing methanotrophs (Candidatus _Methanoperedens, 5.0 %→4.2 %), thereby contributing to higher CH4 emissions under rising temperature. Besides, upregulated methanogenic genes (mcrA, fwdA, cdhC, mtrH) contributed to increased CH4 production at 35 °C. This study deepened our understandings of CH4 dynamics and microbial responses to temperature changes in Zhalong wetland, highlighting its potential role as microbe-driven CH4 emission source under warming scenarios.
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