TY - JOUR
T1 - Rainforest-to-pasture conversion stimulates soil methanogenesis across the Brazilian Amazon
AU - Kroeger, Marie E.
AU - Meredith, Laura K.
AU - Meyer, Kyle M.
AU - Webster, Kevin D.
AU - de Camargo, Plinio Barbosa
AU - de Souza, Leandro Fonseca
AU - Tsai, Siu Mui
AU - van Haren, Joost
AU - Saleska, Scott
AU - Bohannan, Brendan J.M.
AU - Rodrigues, Jorge L.Mazza
AU - Berenguer, Erika
AU - Barlow, Jos
AU - Nüsslein, Klaus
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding This project was supported by the National Science Foundation—Dimensions of Biodiversity (DEB 1442183), NSF-FAPESP 446 (2014/50320-4), by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant 2009-447 35319-05186 from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute through the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC02-442 05CH11231. Assistance fieldwork in Pará was in part supported by NERC NE/K016431/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - The Amazon rainforest is a biodiversity hotspot and large terrestrial carbon sink threatened by agricultural conversion. Rainforest-to-pasture conversion stimulates the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The biotic methane cycle is driven by microorganisms; therefore, this study focused on active methane-cycling microorganisms and their functions across land-use types. We collected intact soil cores from three land use types (primary rainforest, pasture, and secondary rainforest) of two geographically distinct areas of the Brazilian Amazon (Santarém, Pará and Ariquemes, Rondônia) and performed DNA stable-isotope probing coupled with metagenomics to identify the active methanotrophs and methanogens. At both locations, we observed a significant change in the composition of the isotope-labeled methane-cycling microbial community across land use types, specifically an increase in the abundance and diversity of active methanogens in pastures. We conclude that a significant increase in the abundance and activity of methanogens in pasture soils could drive increased soil methane emissions. Furthermore, we found that secondary rainforests had decreased methanogenic activity similar to primary rainforests, and thus a potential to recover as methane sinks, making it conceivable for forest restoration to offset greenhouse gas emissions in the tropics. These findings are critical for informing land management practices and global tropical rainforest conservation.
AB - The Amazon rainforest is a biodiversity hotspot and large terrestrial carbon sink threatened by agricultural conversion. Rainforest-to-pasture conversion stimulates the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The biotic methane cycle is driven by microorganisms; therefore, this study focused on active methane-cycling microorganisms and their functions across land-use types. We collected intact soil cores from three land use types (primary rainforest, pasture, and secondary rainforest) of two geographically distinct areas of the Brazilian Amazon (Santarém, Pará and Ariquemes, Rondônia) and performed DNA stable-isotope probing coupled with metagenomics to identify the active methanotrophs and methanogens. At both locations, we observed a significant change in the composition of the isotope-labeled methane-cycling microbial community across land use types, specifically an increase in the abundance and diversity of active methanogens in pastures. We conclude that a significant increase in the abundance and activity of methanogens in pasture soils could drive increased soil methane emissions. Furthermore, we found that secondary rainforests had decreased methanogenic activity similar to primary rainforests, and thus a potential to recover as methane sinks, making it conceivable for forest restoration to offset greenhouse gas emissions in the tropics. These findings are critical for informing land management practices and global tropical rainforest conservation.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41396-020-00804-x
DO - 10.1038/s41396-020-00804-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 33082572
AN - SCOPUS:85092912731
VL - 15
SP - 658
EP - 672
JO - ISME Journal
JF - ISME Journal
SN - 1751-7362
IS - 3
ER -