Degradation Of Terrestrial Organic Matter Research Articles

Plastic and terrestrial organic matter degradation by the humic lake microbiome continues throughout the seasons.

Boreal freshwaters go through four seasons, however, studies about the decomposition of terrestrial and plastic compounds often focus only on summer. We compared microbial decomposition of 13C-polyethylene, 13C-polystyrene, and 13C-plant litter (Typha latifolia) by determining the biochemical fate of the substrate carbon and identified the microbial decomposer taxa in humic lake waters in four seasons. For the first time, the annual decomposition rate including separated seasonal variation was calculated for microplastics and plant litter in the freshwater system. Polyethylene decomposition was not detected, whereas polystyrene and plant litter were degraded in all seasons. In winter, decomposition rates of polystyrene and plant litter were fivefold and fourfold slower than in summer, respectively. Carbon from each substrate was mainly respired in all seasons. Plant litter was utilized efficiently by various microbial groups, whereas polystyrene decomposition was limited to Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria. The decomposition was not restricted only to the growth season, highlighting that the decomposition of both labile organic matter and extremely recalcitrant microplastics continues throughout the seasons.

Bacterial community responses to planktonic and terrestrial substrates in coastal northern Baltic Sea

Bacteria are major consumers of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic systems. In coastal zones, bacteria are exposed to a variety of DOM types originating from land and open sea. Climate change is expected to cause increased inflows of freshwater to the northern coastal zones, which may lead either to eutrophication or to increased inputs of refractory terrestrial compounds. The compositional and functional response of bacterial communities to such changes is not well understood. We performed a 2-day microcosm experiment in two bays in the coastal northern Baltic Sea, where we added plankton extract to simulate eutrophication and soil extract to simulate increased inputs of refractory terrestrial compounds. Our results showed that the bacterial communities responded differently to the two types of food substrates but responded in a similar compositional and functional way in both bays. Plankton extract addition induced a change of bacterial community composition, while no significant changes occurred in soil extract treatments. Gammaproteobacteria were promoted by plankton extract, while Alphaproteobacteria dominated in soil extract addition and in the non-amended controls. Carbohydrate metabolism genes, such as aminoglycan and chitin degradation, were enriched by plankton extract, but not soil extract. In conclusion, the coastal bacterial communities rapidly responded to highly bioavailable substrates, while terrestrial matter had minor influence and degraded slowly. Thus, in the northern Baltic Sea, if climate change leads to eutrophication, large changes of the bacterial community composition and function can be expected, while if climate change leads to increased inflow of refractory terrestrial organic matter the bacterial communities will not show fast compositional and functional changes. Degradation of terrestrial organic matter may instead occur over longer periods of time, e.g. years. These findings help to better understand the ability of bacterial communities to utilize different carbon sources and their role in the ecosystem.

Characterization of dissolved organic matter processing between surface sediment porewater and overlying bottom water in the Yangtze River Estuary

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) exchange in the sediment-water interface of estuaries is essential for the global elemental cycle. To clarify the interface DOM processing, this study applies optical techniques and ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry to assess DOM composition of surface sediment porewater and bottom (overlying) water across the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE). Results suggested that DOM exchange in the sediment-water interface mainly followed from sediment porewater to bottom water driven by a significant dissolved organic carbon concentration gradient and hydrodynamic force. We also characterized two porewater DOM sources, including microbial production and byproducts of processed sediments. High microbial activities resulted in the enrichment of protein-like fluorescent components and N-bearing compounds in porewater, potentially decreasing the oxygen concentration of bottom water due to the high lability. And the deamination of N-bearing compounds in the sediment-water interface could likely serve as a N-bearing nutrient source to bottom water. Moreover, due to sediment-specific features in different areas driven by hydrologic sorting and local phytoplankton supply, porewater DOM of muddy areas accumulated more aromatic substances from the degradation of terrestrial organic matter. The release and oxic transformation of oxygen-deficient aromatic compounds could contribute to the refractory carbon pool of estuarine water (carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules, CRAM), modulating the quality of organic carbon mobilized from the land to the coastal ocean. Considering strong hydrodynamic force in numerous estuaries worldwide, DOM exchange and processing at the sediment-water interface has a meaningful influence on the biogeochemistry of estuarine water columns, which warrants further studies.

Uncovering the genomic potential of the Amazon River microbiome to degrade rainforest organic matter

BackgroundThe Amazon River is one of the largest in the world and receives huge amounts of terrestrial organic matter (TeOM) from the surrounding rainforest. Despite this TeOM is typically recalcitrant (i.e. resistant to degradation), only a small fraction of it reaches the ocean, pointing to a substantial TeOM degradation by the river microbiome. Yet, microbial genes involved in TeOM degradation in the Amazon River were barely known. Here, we examined the Amazon River microbiome by analysing 106 metagenomes from 30 sampling points distributed along the river.ResultsWe constructed the Amazon River basin Microbial non-redundant Gene Catalogue (AMnrGC) that includes ~ 3.7 million non-redundant genes, affiliating mostly to bacteria. We found that the Amazon River microbiome contains a substantial gene-novelty compared to other relevant known environments (rivers and rainforest soil). Genes encoding for proteins potentially involved in lignin degradation pathways were correlated to tripartite tricarboxylates transporters and hemicellulose degradation machinery, pointing to a possible priming effect. Based on this, we propose a model on how the degradation of recalcitrant TeOM could be modulated by labile compounds in the Amazon River waters. Our results also suggest changes of the microbial community and its genomic potential along the river course.ConclusionsOur work contributes to expand significantly our comprehension of the world’s largest river microbiome and its potential metabolism related to TeOM degradation. Furthermore, the produced gene catalogue (AMnrGC) represents an important resource for future research in tropical rivers.5mC5z9F231eP-ddBjFuPssVideo abstract.

Distribution and degradation of terrestrial organic matter in the sediments of peat-draining rivers, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Abstract. Tropical peatlands are one of the largest pools of terrestrial organic carbon (OCterr); however, our understanding of the dynamics of OCterr in peat-draining rivers remains limited, especially in Southeast Asia. This study used bulk parameters and lignin phenol concentrations to investigate the characteristics of OCterr in a tropical peat-draining river system (the main channel of the Rajang and three smaller rivers: the Maludam, Simunjan, and Sebuyau) in the western part of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The depleted δ13C levels and lignin composition of the organic matter indicates that the most important plant source of the organic matter in these rivers is woody angiosperm C3 plants, especially in the three small rivers sampled. The diagenetic indicator ratio, i.e., the ratio of acid to aldehyde of vanillyl phenols ((Ad∕Al)V), increased with decreasing mean grain size of sediment from the small rivers. The selective sorption of acid relative to aldehyde phenols might explain the variations in the (Ad∕Al)V ratio. Elevated (Ad∕Al)V values observed from the Maludam's sediments may also be attributed to source plant variations. The (Ad∕Al)V ratio appears to be related to the C∕N ratio (the ratio of total organic carbon to total nitrogen) in the Rajang and small rivers. In small rivers, a quick decline of C∕N ratios is a response to the slower modification of (Ad∕Al)V ratios due to better preservation of lignin phenols. An accumulation of lignin phenols with higher total nitrogen percentages (TN%) in the studied systems was observed. Most of the OCterr discharged from the Rajang and small river systems was material derived from woody angiosperm plants with limited diagenetic alteration before deposition and thus could potentially provide significant carbon to the atmosphere after degradation.

Significance of sunlight for organic matter degradation in aquatic systems

Degradation of organic matter (OM) is generally considered to be primarily governed by biotic factors in aquatic environments. However, a number of abiotic processes also play key roles in mediating OM-degradation. Sunlight can act as a principal abiotic driver of the degradation of terrestrial organic matter, but its importance for freshwater ecosystems and possible interactions with biotic drivers remains poorly understood. We carried out two microcosm experiments which focused on the role of sunlight on microbial and invertebrate-mediated OM degradation using two species of plant leaves and the aquatic invertebrate Asellus aquaticus. Results indicated that sunlight was the primary driver of leaf mass loss during the early stages of decomposition, whereas microbial communities had a negligible effect. Sunlight was observed to strongly affect invertebrate behavior as invertebrates avoided direct illumination. This alteration of behavior resulted in a reduction in the consumption of a leaf surrogate (DECOTAB) by A. aquaticus. Together, these results indicate that sunlight has the potential to strongly influence structural and functional attributes of shallow freshwater systems, and hence serve as an appraisal to consider sunlight as a significant direct and indirect physical driver governing OM degradation in shallow aquatic systems.

Genomic evidence for the degradation of terrestrial organic matter by pelagic Arctic Ocean Chloroflexi bacteria

The Arctic Ocean currently receives a large supply of global river discharge and terrestrial dissolved organic matter. Moreover, an increase in freshwater runoff and riverine transport of organic matter to the Arctic Ocean is a predicted consequence of thawing permafrost and increased precipitation. The fate of the terrestrial humic-rich organic material and its impact on the marine carbon cycle are largely unknown. Here, a metagenomic survey of the Canada Basin in the Western Arctic Ocean showed that pelagic Chloroflexi from the Arctic Ocean are replete with aromatic compound degradation genes, acquired in part by lateral transfer from terrestrial bacteria. Our results imply marine Chloroflexi have the capacity to use terrestrial organic matter and that their role in the carbon cycle may increase with the changing hydrological cycle.

Hysteresis effects in organic matter turnover in a tropical floodplain during a flood cycle

Tropical inland waters are increasingly recognized for their role in the global carbon cycle, but uncertainty about the effects of such systems on the transported organic matter remains. The seasonal interactions between river, floodplain, and vegetation result in highly dynamic systems, which can exhibit markedly different biogeochemical patterns throughout a flood cycle. In this study, we determined rates and governing processes of organic matter turnover. Multi-probes in the Barotse Plains, a pristine floodplain in the Upper Zambezi River (Zambia), provided a high-resolution data set over the course of a hydrological cycle. The concentrations of oxygen, carbon dioxide, dissolved organic carbon, and suspended particulate matter in the main channel showed clear hysteresis trends with expanding and receding water on the floodplain. Lower oxygen and suspended matter concentrations prevailed at longer travel times of water in the floodplain, while carbon dioxide and dissolved organic carbon concentrations were higher when the water spent more time on the floodplain. Maxima of particulate loads occurred before highest water levels, whereas the maximum in dissolved organic carbon load occurred during the transition of flooding and flood recession. Degradation of terrestrial organic matter occurred mainly on the floodplain at increased floodplain residence times. Our data suggest that floodplains become more intense hotspots at prolonged travel time of the flood pulse over the floodplain.

Matrix association effects on hydrodynamic sorting and degradation of terrestrial organic matter during cross‐shelf transport in the Laptev and East Siberian shelf seas

AbstractThis study seeks an improved understanding of how matrix association affects the redistribution and degradation of terrigenous organic carbon (TerrOC) during cross‐shelf transport in the Siberian margin. Sediments were collected at increasing distance from two river outlets (Lena and Kolyma Rivers) and one coastal region affected by erosion. Samples were fractionated according to density, size, and settling velocity. The chemical composition in each fraction was characterized using elemental analyses and terrigenous biomarkers. In addition, a dual‐carbon‐isotope mixing model (δ13C and Δ14C) was used to quantify the relative TerrOC contributions from active layer (Topsoil) and Pleistocene Ice Complex Deposits (ICD). Results indicate that physical properties of particles exert first‐order control on the redistribution of different TerrOC pools. Because of its coarse nature, plant debris is hydraulically retained in the coastal region. With increasing distance from the coast, the OC is mainly associated with fine/ultrafine mineral particles. Furthermore, biomarkers indicate that the selective transport of fine‐grained sediment results in mobilizing high‐molecular weight (HMW) lipid‐rich, diagenetically altered TerrOC while lignin‐rich, less degraded TerrOC is retained near the coast. The loading (µg/m2) of lignin and HMW wax lipids on the fine/ultrafine fraction drastically decreases with increasing distance from the coast (98% and 90%, respectively), which indicates extensive degradation during cross‐shelf transport. Topsoil‐C degrades more readily (90 ± 3.5%) compared to the ICD‐C (60 ± 11%) during transport. Altogether, our results indicate that TerrOC is highly reactive and its accelerated remobilization from thawing permafrost followed by cross‐shelf transport will likely represent a positive feedback to climate warming.

In situ light and phosphorus manipulations reveal potential role of biofilm algae in enhancing enzyme‐mediated decomposition of organic matter in streams

Summary Biofilms play crucial roles in the carbon and nutrient dynamics of stream ecosystems. Measuring extracellular enzyme activities can reveal universal patterns in C, N and P dynamics at the microbial level and enhance our understanding of how microorganisms influence ecosystem‐level processes. Because algae may potentially enhance the activities of enzymes produced by heterotrophic microorganisms for degrading allochthonous organic matter, more work is needed to understand how factors that influence biofilm algae could in turn alter activities of these enzymes and how these influences alter the demand for inorganic nutrients. The purpose of this study was to use extracellular enzymes (alkaline or acid phosphatase, β‐glucosidase, β‐xylosidase, leucine aminopeptidase and phenol oxidase) to examine the response of biofilms to in situ shade and phosphorus manipulations in two streams with contrasting DOC quantity and quality. Despite the water column nutrient ratios indicating P limitation in both streams, shade had the biggest effect on algal and bacterial biomass. Enzyme results clearly demonstrated the positive effects of algae on the activities of both hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes in stream biofilms. In most cases, we observed at least a doubling in activities between the shaded and ambient treatments, with P additions indicating enhanced P demand under ambient light. Furthermore, similar phenol oxidase activities between the two streams suggests pH or enzyme inhibitors might have played a role or that a proportion of the measured enzyme activities was directed at the degradation of fine particulate organic matter embedded in the biofilm matrix in addition to water column DOC. This study provides further evidence that algae might contribute to the degradation of terrestrial organic matter through indirect influences on extracellular enzyme activities and possibly priming.

Carbon isotopes and lipid biomarker investigation of sources, transport and degradation of terrestrial organic matter in the Buor-Khaya Bay, SE Laptev Sea

Abstract. The world's largest continental shelf, the East Siberian Shelf Sea, receives substantial input of terrestrial organic carbon (terr-OC) from both large rivers and erosion of its coastline. Degradation of organic matter from thawing permafrost in the Arctic is likely to increase, potentially creating a positive feedback mechanism to climate warming. This study focuses on the Buor-Khaya Bay (SE Laptev Sea), an area with strong terr-OC input from both coastal erosion and the Lena river. To better understand the fate of this terr-OC, molecular (acyl lipid biomarkers) and isotopic tools (stable carbon and radiocarbon isotopes) have been applied to both particulate organic carbon (POC) in surface water and sedimentary organic carbon (SOC) collected from the underlying surface sediments. Clear gradients in both extent of degradation and differences in source contributions were observed both between surface water POC and surface sediment SOC as well as over the 100 s km investigation scale (about 20 stations). Depleted δ13C-OC and high HMW/LMW n-alkane ratios signaled that terr-OC was dominating over marine/planktonic sources. Despite a shallow water column (10–40 m), the isotopic shift between SOC and POC varied systematically from +2 to +5 per mil for δ13C and from +300 to +450 for Δ14C from the Lena prodelta to the Buor-Khaya Cape. At the same time, the ratio of HMW n-alkanoic acids to HMW n-alkanes as well as HMW n-alkane CPI, both indicative of degradation, were 5–6 times greater in SOC than in POC. This suggests that terr-OC was substantially older yet less degraded in the surface sediment than in the surface waters. This unusual vertical degradation trend was only recently found also for the central East Siberian Sea. Numerical modeling (Monte Carlo simulations) with δ13C and Δ14C in both POC and SOC was applied to deduce the relative contribution of – plankton OC, surface soil layer OC and yedoma/mineral soil OC. This three end-member dual-carbon-isotopic mixing model suggests quite different scenarios for the POC vs SOC. Surface soil is dominating (63 ± 10 %) the suspended organic matter in the surface water of SE Laptev Sea. In contrast, the yedoma/mineral soil OC is accounting for 60 ± 9 % of the SOC. We hypothesize that yedoma-OC, associated with mineral-rich matter from coastal erosion is ballasted and thus quickly settles to the bottom. The mineral association may also explain the greater resistance to degradation of this terr-OC component. In contrast, more amorphous humic-like and low-density terr-OC from surface soil and recent vegetation represents a younger but more bioavailable and thus degraded terr-OC component held buoyant in surface water. Hence, these two terr-OC components may represent different propensities to contribute to a positive feedback to climate warming by converting OC from coastal and inland permafrost into CO2.

A case of post-depositional aerobic degradation of terrestrial organic matter in turbidite deposits from the Madeira Abyssal Plain

A set of oxidized and unoxidized sediment intervals from the f-turbidite identified in two piston cores from the Madeira Abyssal Plain (MAP) was analyzed for calcium carbonate, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), stable carbon composition of TOC ( δ 13C toc ), total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA), total neutral sugars (TSUG), lignin phenols (LIG), two different lipid biomarkers of marine phytoplankton origin and vascular plantwax n-alkanes and n-acids. Comparison shows changes for all properties depicting the effect of post-depositional, aerobic oxidation. The oxidation process re-mineralized approximately 80% of the TOC and approximately 60% of the TN in the original deposit and left the residual organic matter depleted in 13C by 1.7–2.9‰ THAA and TSUG account for 10% or less of the TOC in all samples leaving approximately 90% of the TOC chemically unidentified. THAA, TSUG, LIG, marine phytoplankton biomarkers and plantwax n-acids were lost from the oxidized deposit to an extent as great as that for TOC. Two non-protein amino acids (β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid) and plant wax n-alkanes displayed much less degradation (9–37%) and concentrated 3.3–4.8 times relative to TOC by the oxidation process. These observations show that both marine and terrestrial components contribute to the re-mineralized TOC fraction. A binary mixing approach was used to model quantitatively the change in δ 13C toc and plantwax n-alkane concentration. Results suggest that terrestrial organic carbon contributes approximately 15% to the TOC content of the original turbidite, its abundance increases approximately 2–4 times as a consequence of the oxidation process and approximately 40 and 90% of the terrestrial and marine component of TOC in the original turbidite, respectively, was destroyed by the oxidation process. Although selective preservation of terrestrial relative to marine organic carbon is a well-documented phenomenon in sedimentary processes, this study represents the first attempt to assess the sensitivity of terrestrial organic matter to oxidative degradation in a sedimentary environment.

Biogenic aromatic hydrocarbon geochemistry in the Rhone river delta and in surface sediments from the open North-Western Mediterranean sea

The origin, evolution and transport of biogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were studied in the Rhone river delta and the Gulf of Lions (North-western Mediterranean). Sediments and riverborne suspended particulate matter were collected and analysed for PAH using a combination of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Special attention was given to aromatic hydrocarbons from natural sources: retene and its precursors related to abietic acid found in the resins of conifers, and pentacyclic triterpenoids derived from α - and β -amyrins, constituents of terrestrial plants. Retene concentrations varied in the following ranges: 15–59 ng g −1 in river-borne particulate material, 20–70 ng g −1 in deltaic sediments, 3–16 ng g −1 in open-sea sediments. Retene precursor concentrations were generally higher than those of retene in the delta, whereas the inverse was observed in open-sea sediments. In these sediments the low concentrations or the absence of precursors suggested a predominant transport of pre-formed retene by aerosols and fine particles issued from the Rhone river. In the deltaic area, both retene and its precursors are transported by river waters from the forest runoff of the drainage basin. Transformation of precursors to retene occurred during transport by river waters and/or fast after deposition in surface deltaic sediments. Pentacyclic triterpenoid concentrations varied from 54 to 296 ng g −1 in deltaic sediments and from 0 to 21 ng g −1 in open-sea sediments. Concentrations of tetrahydrochrysenes (3,3,7-THC and 3,4,7-THC) decreased with increasing distance from the Rhone river mouth. The presence of THC in the riverine particulate matter (10–105 ng g −1 ) indicated that the degradation of terrestrial organic matter by microbial activity had begun before the deposition of particulate matter in the surface sediment. A good correlation was observed between ΣTHC and δ 13 C ( r 2 = 0·89; n = 9), which suggests that the THC tracer information was representative of natural continental organic carbon inputs.