Function of the methanogenic community in mangrove soils as influenced by the chemical properties of the hydrosphere

Abstract

ABSTRACTCoastal ecosystems represent a potential additional source of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4) that has been insufficiently quantified. Thus, to understand the mechanisms controlling greenhouse gas emissions in these ecosystems, this study investigated CH4 emissions from and the related microbial properties of mangrove soils. Soil and gas samples were collected from several plots at different distances from the seashore in Soc Trang and Ca Mau in Vietnam, and the Sundarbans in India. Soil samples were incubated under different conditions, i.e., anaerobic or aerobic, and the microbial properties of each soil sample with the addition of different amounts of seawater were analyzed. Relatively high CH4 fluxes and production were detected during the aerobic incubation of samples from the seashore plots in Soc Trang and Ca Mau. However, CH4 production was reduced under anaerobic conditions [soil electrical conductivity (EC): 179–289 mS m−1, pH (H2O): 7.45–8.10] compared with aerobic conditions [water content: 38.9–109.2%, EC: 187–299 mS m−1, pH (H2O): 6.86–7.72], but it increased with increasing sulfate concentration, soil EC and cellulase activity and lowering soil pH under anaerobic conditions. Furthermore, mangrove soil with a relatively high level of total organic carbon (C) exhibited relatively high CH4 production when diluted 4-fold with seawater under anaerobic conditions [water content: 38.9–109.2%, EC: 533 mS m−1, pH (H2O): 6.67]. Nearly all of the DNA bands excised from polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis contained identical sequences related to archaea from the class Halobacteria. The high potential of the seashore plot for CH4 emissions could be due to the enhancement of cellulase activity under the intermittent oxygen supply, which promotes polysaccharide depolymerization and subsequently increases anaerobic methanogenic activities during tidal flooding. This study also indicates that the major archaea responsible for CH4 production require a particular hydrospheric salt concentration and soil pH.