Page 100 - Microbial methane cycling in a warming world From biosphere to atmosphere Michiel H in t Zandt

Chapter 5. Early Holocene carbon storage and microbial activity in North Sea peats Abstract
Northern latitude peatlands act as important carbon sources and sinks on geological time scales but little is known about the greenhouse gas budget of peatlands submerged beneath the North Sea during the last glacial-interglacial transition.
We found that whilst peat formation was diachronous, commencing between 13,680 and 8,360 calibrated years before the present, stratigraphic layering and local vegetation succession were consistent across a large study area. The CH4 concentrations of the sediment pore waters were low at most sites, with the exception of two locations, while the stored carbon levels were high. Heterotrophic Bathyarchaeia dominated the archaeal communities and bacterial populations were dominated by candidate phylum JS1 bacteria.
Although in situ CH4 levels were low, incubation and 16S rRNA gene-based experiments revealed molecular signatures and CH4 producing potential of in situ methanogenic populations, with the remarkable absence of methanotrophic prokaryotes.
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