Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau
Glacier foreland soils have long been considered as methane (CH4) sinks. However, they are flooded by glacial meltwater annually during the glacier melting season, altering their redox potential. The impacts of this annual flooding on CH4 emission dynamics and methane-cycling microorganisms are not...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.862242/full |
| _version_ | 1818775215384035328 |
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| author | Tingting Xing Tingting Xing Pengfei Liu Mukan Ji Yongcui Deng Yongcui Deng Keshao Liu Wenqiang Wang Yongqin Liu Yongqin Liu |
| author_facet | Tingting Xing Tingting Xing Pengfei Liu Mukan Ji Yongcui Deng Yongcui Deng Keshao Liu Wenqiang Wang Yongqin Liu Yongqin Liu |
| author_sort | Tingting Xing |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Glacier foreland soils have long been considered as methane (CH4) sinks. However, they are flooded by glacial meltwater annually during the glacier melting season, altering their redox potential. The impacts of this annual flooding on CH4 emission dynamics and methane-cycling microorganisms are not well understood. Herein, we measured in situ methane flux in glacier foreland soils during the pre-melting and melting seasons on the Tibetan Plateau. In addition, high-throughput sequencing and qPCR were used to investigate the diversity, taxonomic composition, and the abundance of methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic bacteria. Our results showed that the methane flux ranged from −10.11 to 4.81 μg·m−2·h−1 in the pre-melting season, and increased to 7.48–22.57 μg·m−2·h−1 in the melting season. This indicates that glacier foreland soils change from a methane sink to a methane source under the impact of glacial meltwater. The extent of methane flux depends on methane production and oxidation conducted by methanogens and methanotrophs. Among all the environmental factors, pH (but not moisture) is dominant for methanogens, while both pH and moisture are not that strong for methanotrophs. The dominant methanotrophs were Methylobacter and Methylocystis, whereas the methanogens were dominated by methylotrophic Methanomassiliicoccales and hydrogenotrophic Methanomicrobiales. Their distributions were also affected by microtopography and environmental factor differences. This study reveals an alternative role of glacier foreland meadow soils as both methane sink and source, which is regulated by the annual glacial melt. This suggests enhanced glacial retreat may positively feedback global warming by increasing methane emission in glacier foreland soils in the context of climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T10:53:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6c967e0907f94867a6a8d83509a28d20 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T10:53:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6c967e0907f94867a6a8d83509a28d202022-12-21T21:10:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2022-03-011310.3389/fmicb.2022.862242862242Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan PlateauTingting Xing0Tingting Xing1Pengfei Liu2Mukan Ji3Yongcui Deng4Yongcui Deng5Keshao Liu6Wenqiang Wang7Yongqin Liu8Yongqin Liu9State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCenter for the Pan-Third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, ChinaCenter for the Pan-Third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, ChinaSchool of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, ChinaJiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCenter for the Pan-Third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCenter for the Pan-Third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, ChinaGlacier foreland soils have long been considered as methane (CH4) sinks. However, they are flooded by glacial meltwater annually during the glacier melting season, altering their redox potential. The impacts of this annual flooding on CH4 emission dynamics and methane-cycling microorganisms are not well understood. Herein, we measured in situ methane flux in glacier foreland soils during the pre-melting and melting seasons on the Tibetan Plateau. In addition, high-throughput sequencing and qPCR were used to investigate the diversity, taxonomic composition, and the abundance of methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic bacteria. Our results showed that the methane flux ranged from −10.11 to 4.81 μg·m−2·h−1 in the pre-melting season, and increased to 7.48–22.57 μg·m−2·h−1 in the melting season. This indicates that glacier foreland soils change from a methane sink to a methane source under the impact of glacial meltwater. The extent of methane flux depends on methane production and oxidation conducted by methanogens and methanotrophs. Among all the environmental factors, pH (but not moisture) is dominant for methanogens, while both pH and moisture are not that strong for methanotrophs. The dominant methanotrophs were Methylobacter and Methylocystis, whereas the methanogens were dominated by methylotrophic Methanomassiliicoccales and hydrogenotrophic Methanomicrobiales. Their distributions were also affected by microtopography and environmental factor differences. This study reveals an alternative role of glacier foreland meadow soils as both methane sink and source, which is regulated by the annual glacial melt. This suggests enhanced glacial retreat may positively feedback global warming by increasing methane emission in glacier foreland soils in the context of climate change.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.862242/fullmethane fluxmethanogensmethanotrophsglacier forelandTibetan Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Tingting Xing Tingting Xing Pengfei Liu Mukan Ji Yongcui Deng Yongcui Deng Keshao Liu Wenqiang Wang Yongqin Liu Yongqin Liu Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau Frontiers in Microbiology methane flux methanogens methanotrophs glacier foreland Tibetan Plateau |
| title | Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Sink or Source: Alternative Roles of Glacier Foreland Meadow Soils in Methane Emission Is Regulated by Glacier Melting on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | sink or source alternative roles of glacier foreland meadow soils in methane emission is regulated by glacier melting on the tibetan plateau |
| topic | methane flux methanogens methanotrophs glacier foreland Tibetan Plateau |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.862242/full |
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