Teal, T.K., U. Levine, T.M. Schmidt
Presented at the GLBRC Sustainability Retreat (2010-02-10 to 2010-02-12 )
Understanding the magnitude and stability of ecosystem processes and how they correlate with species richness is important to determine how ecosystem processes are affected by microbial communities, in particular that of greenhouse gas fluxes. Methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide are three of the greenhouse gases contributing most significantly to atmospheric radiative forcing. Using molecular surveys of methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs), total bacterial diversity and in situ measurements of methane and carbon dioxide across a range of land uses at the Kellogg Biological Station LTER, we established that the rates of methane consumption were lowest and the variability highest in sites that harboured the least methanotroph diversity. Conversely, estimates of total bacterial diversity in soil were not related to the rate or stability of carbon dioxide emission. These combined results suggest that microbial diversity is a better predictor of the magnitude and variability of processes catalyzed by highly specialized microbes. Extending this model to biofuel crop type, we find that in prairie, switchgrass and corn plots in the Michigan GLBRC Extensive Sites methanotroph richness is higher in prairie and switchgrass sites than corn, suggesting that prairie and switchgrass may be more environmentally sustainable crops and that this variability in crop type may be an important factor for climate models of greenhouse gases.
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