Predominance of methanogens over methanotrophs in rewetted fens characterized by high methane emissions

Wen, Xi; Unger, Viktoria; Jurasinski, Gerald; Koebsch, Franziska; Horn, Fabian; Rehder, Gregor; Sachs, Torsten; Zak, Dominik; Lischeid, Gunnar; Knorr, Klaus-Holger; Böttcher, Michael E.; Winkel, Matthias; Bodelier, Paul L. E.; Liebner, Susanne

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018

Articles | Volume 15, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 21

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

06 Nov 2018

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 06 Nov 2018

Predominance of methanogens over methanotrophs in rewetted fens characterized by high methane emissions

Xi Wen, Viktoria Unger, Gerald Jurasinski, Franziska Koebsch, Fabian Horn, Gregor Rehder, Torsten Sachs, Dominik Zak, Gunnar Lischeid, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Michael E. Böttcher, Matthias Winkel, Paul L. E. Bodelier, and Susanne Liebner

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Final revised paper (published on 06 Nov 2018)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 26 Apr 2018)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'microbiology', Anonymous Referee #1, 14 May 2018
- AC1: 'Response to anonymous referee #1', Viktoria Unger, 23 Jun 2018
RC2: 'Predominance of methanogens .... in rewetted fans', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 May 2018
- AC2: 'Response to anonymous referee #2', Viktoria Unger, 23 Jun 2018
RC3: 'Review of Wen et al.', Anonymous Referee #3, 15 May 2018
- AC3: 'Response to anonymous referee #3', Viktoria Unger, 23 Jun 2018

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Reconsider after major revisions (13 Jul 2018) by Tina Treude

Dear Dr. Wen and Co-Workers,

thank you for submitting your responses to BG.

All three referees appreciated the study and believe it would make an important contribution to increase our understanding of methane emissions from fens. However, all referees expressed reservations with respect to some of the interpretations made from the data and suggested major revisions. For the revision of the manuscript I therefore strongly advise you to highlight the limitations of your approaches and adapt your interpretations accordingly.

Some detailed comments:
- I agree with the referees that "emissions" in the title is irritating without emission data but I understand such data are now available and will be added to the revised manuscript, which I think will make a great contribution to the study.
- I sensed that some referees had issues with the term "rewetted", since no data from the dry situation are available for comparison. I think you can move forward with this term, but I strongly advise you to highlight the limitations of your interpretations (see also my comment above).
- I sympathize with the recommendation of Referee #2 that it might be better to present the molecular data after the geochemistry has been introduced. It is a classical organization in many studies for good reasons, because it is easier to understand who is present, after we already learned how the habitat looks like. I believe it is worth a try to change the order.

After you uploaded the revised manuscript it will be send out for a second review. Please be aware that chances for publication in Biogeosciences are low should the overall recommendation after the second review again be "major revisions".

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.
With kind regards
Tina Treude
BG Associate Editor

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AR by Viktoria Unger on behalf of the Authors (14 Aug 2018) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (24 Aug 2018) by Tina Treude

RR by Anonymous Referee #3 (04 Sep 2018)

RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (27 Sep 2018)

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (27 Sep 2018) by Tina Treude

AR by Viktoria Unger on behalf of the Authors (04 Oct 2018) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (08 Oct 2018) by Tina Treude

AR by Viktoria Unger on behalf of the Authors (16 Oct 2018) Manuscript

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Short summary

Rewetting drained peatlands may lead to prolonged emission of the greenhouse gas methane, but the underlying factors are not well described. In this study, we found two rewetted fens with known high methane fluxes had a high ratio of microbial methane producers to methane consumers and a low abundance of methane consumers compared to pristine wetlands. We therefore suggest abundances of methane-cycling microbes as potential indicators for prolonged high methane emissions in rewetted peatlands.