Chapter 12 - Microbial diversity and functional potential in wetland ecosystems

Abstract

Wetlands are the most productive ecosystems on the earth, forms in the transition between terrestrial and aquatic environments with fast nutrient (re)cycling capacities due to the action of aerobic and anaerobic microbial activities and largely contributes to global green house gas emissions. Microorganisms presents in these environments play an important role in the decomposition of dead organic matter and in the biogeochemical cycle. Although many ecological studies are carried out on various wetlands around the world, the aspects of microbial communities and their functional attributes are largely ignored. The recent advancement in molecular methods opens up a new horizon for characterizing these communities and, thus, broadens our view of microbial diversity and functions in the wetlands. In addition, a proper understanding of the microbial communities of wetlands associated with the various biogeochemical cycles could support to develop promising strategies for sustainable water treatment and energy recovery. In this chapter, the current knowledge of wetland microbial communities were reviewed, with particular emphasis on their functional attributes in association with different biogeochemical cycle of the wetland ecosystem.