Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland
The dynamics of methane (CH _4 ) cycling in high-latitude peatlands through different pathways of methanogenesis and methanotrophy are still poorly understood due to the spatiotemporal complexity of microbial activities and biogeochemical processes. Additionally, long-term in situ measurements withi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf44 |
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| author | Shuai Yang Jinyun Tang Zhen Li Kunxiaojia Yuan Qiong Wu Kuang-Yu Chang Suzanne B Hodgkins Rachel M Wilson Qing Zhu Robert F Grant William J Riley Scott R Saleska Virginia I Rich Ruth K Varner |
| author_facet | Shuai Yang Jinyun Tang Zhen Li Kunxiaojia Yuan Qiong Wu Kuang-Yu Chang Suzanne B Hodgkins Rachel M Wilson Qing Zhu Robert F Grant William J Riley Scott R Saleska Virginia I Rich Ruth K Varner |
| author_sort | Shuai Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The dynamics of methane (CH _4 ) cycling in high-latitude peatlands through different pathways of methanogenesis and methanotrophy are still poorly understood due to the spatiotemporal complexity of microbial activities and biogeochemical processes. Additionally, long-term in situ measurements within soil columns are limited and associated with large uncertainties in microbial substrates (e.g. dissolved organic carbon, acetate, hydrogen). To better understand CH _4 cycling dynamics, we first applied an advanced biogeochemical model, ecosys , to explicitly simulate methanogenesis, methanotrophy, and CH _4 transport in a high-latitude fen (within the Stordalen Mire, northern Sweden). Next, to explore the vertical heterogeneity in CH _4 cycling, we applied the PCMCI/PCMCI+ causal detection framework with a bootstrap aggregation method to the modeling results, characterizing causal relationships among regulating factors (e.g. temperature, microbial biomass, soil substrate concentrations) through acetoclastic methanogenesis, hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, and methanotrophy, across three depth intervals (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–30 cm). Our results indicate that temperature, microbial biomass, and methanogenesis and methanotrophy substrates exhibit significant vertical variations within the soil column. Soil temperature demonstrates strong causal relationships with both biomass and substrate concentrations at the shallower depth (0–10 cm), while these causal relationships decrease significantly at the deeper depth within the two methanogenesis pathways. In contrast, soil substrate concentrations show significantly greater causal relationships with depth, suggesting the substantial influence of substrates on CH _4 cycling. CH _4 production is found to peak in August, while CH _4 oxidation peaks predominantly in October, showing a lag response between production and oxidation. Overall, this research provides important insights into the causal mechanisms modulating CH _4 cycling across different depths, which will improve carbon cycling predictions, and guide the future field measurement strategies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8b4309545a24f99a7332658c7c493e6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-e8b4309545a24f99a7332658c7c493e62025-02-11T07:42:35ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120303400510.1088/1748-9326/adaf44Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatlandShuai Yang0https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7442-4826Jinyun Tang1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4792-1259Zhen Li2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9511-3670Kunxiaojia Yuan3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1336-5768Qiong Wu4https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8696-0437Kuang-Yu Chang5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7859-5871Suzanne B Hodgkins6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0489-9207Rachel M Wilson7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5770-9614Qing Zhu8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2441-944XRobert F Grant9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8890-6231William J Riley10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4615-2304Scott R Saleska11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4974-3628Virginia I Rich12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0558-102XRuth K Varner13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3571-6629Climate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America; Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, CA 94550, United States of AmericaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaDepartment of Microbiology, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, United States of America; Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University , Tallahassee, FL 32306, United States of AmericaEarth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Florida State University , Tallahassee, FL 32306, United States of AmericaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , Edmonton, CanadaClimate Sciences Department, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721, United States of AmericaDepartment of Microbiology, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth Sciences and Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire , Durham, NH, United States of AmericaThe dynamics of methane (CH _4 ) cycling in high-latitude peatlands through different pathways of methanogenesis and methanotrophy are still poorly understood due to the spatiotemporal complexity of microbial activities and biogeochemical processes. Additionally, long-term in situ measurements within soil columns are limited and associated with large uncertainties in microbial substrates (e.g. dissolved organic carbon, acetate, hydrogen). To better understand CH _4 cycling dynamics, we first applied an advanced biogeochemical model, ecosys , to explicitly simulate methanogenesis, methanotrophy, and CH _4 transport in a high-latitude fen (within the Stordalen Mire, northern Sweden). Next, to explore the vertical heterogeneity in CH _4 cycling, we applied the PCMCI/PCMCI+ causal detection framework with a bootstrap aggregation method to the modeling results, characterizing causal relationships among regulating factors (e.g. temperature, microbial biomass, soil substrate concentrations) through acetoclastic methanogenesis, hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, and methanotrophy, across three depth intervals (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–30 cm). Our results indicate that temperature, microbial biomass, and methanogenesis and methanotrophy substrates exhibit significant vertical variations within the soil column. Soil temperature demonstrates strong causal relationships with both biomass and substrate concentrations at the shallower depth (0–10 cm), while these causal relationships decrease significantly at the deeper depth within the two methanogenesis pathways. In contrast, soil substrate concentrations show significantly greater causal relationships with depth, suggesting the substantial influence of substrates on CH _4 cycling. CH _4 production is found to peak in August, while CH _4 oxidation peaks predominantly in October, showing a lag response between production and oxidation. Overall, this research provides important insights into the causal mechanisms modulating CH _4 cycling across different depths, which will improve carbon cycling predictions, and guide the future field measurement strategies.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf44methanogenesismethanotrophycausalityvertical heterogeneity |
| spellingShingle | Shuai Yang Jinyun Tang Zhen Li Kunxiaojia Yuan Qiong Wu Kuang-Yu Chang Suzanne B Hodgkins Rachel M Wilson Qing Zhu Robert F Grant William J Riley Scott R Saleska Virginia I Rich Ruth K Varner Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland Environmental Research Letters methanogenesis methanotrophy causality vertical heterogeneity |
| title | Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland |
| title_full | Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland |
| title_fullStr | Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland |
| title_short | Unraveling the depth-dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high-latitude fen peatland |
| title_sort | unraveling the depth dependent causal dynamics of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in a high latitude fen peatland |
| topic | methanogenesis methanotrophy causality vertical heterogeneity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf44 |
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