Articles | Volume 19, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022
Research article
 | 
24 Jun 2022
Research article |  | 24 Jun 2022

High peatland methane emissions following permafrost thaw: enhanced acetoclastic methanogenesis during early successional stages

Liam Heffernan, Maria A. Cavaco, Maya P. Bhatia, Cristian Estop-Aragonés, Klaus-Holger Knorr, and David Olefeldt

Related authors

Review article: Terrestrial dissolved organic carbon in northern permafrost
Liam Heffernan, Dolly N. Kothawala, and Lars J. Tranvik
The Cryosphere, 18, 1443–1465, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1443-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1443-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Wetlands
Spatial patterns of organic matter content in the surface soil of the salt marshes of the Venice Lagoon (Italy)
Alice Puppin, Davide Tognin, Massimiliano Ghinassi, Erica Franceschinis, Nicola Realdon, Marco Marani, and Andrea D'Alpaos
Biogeosciences, 21, 2937–2954, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2937-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2937-2024, 2024
Short summary
Sorption of colored vs. noncolored organic matter by tidal marsh soils
Patrick J. Neale, J. Patrick Megonigal, Maria Tzortziou, Elizabeth A. Canuel, Christina R. Pondell, and Hannah Morrissette
Biogeosciences, 21, 2599–2620, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2599-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2599-2024, 2024
Short summary
Peatland evaporation across hemispheres: contrasting controls and sensitivity to climate warming driven by plant functional types
Leeza Speranskaya, David I. Campbell, Peter M. Lafleur, and Elyn R. Humphreys
Biogeosciences, 21, 1173–1190, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1173-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1173-2024, 2024
Short summary
Patterns and drivers of organic matter decomposition in peatland open-water pools
Julien Arsenault, Julie Talbot, Tim R. Moore, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Henning Teickner, and Jean-François Lapierre
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-271,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-271, 2024
Short summary
Driving and limiting factors of CH4 and CO2 emissions from coastal brackish-water wetlands in temperate regions
Emilia Chiapponi, Sonia Silvestri, Denis Zannoni, Marco Antonellini, and Beatrice M. S. Giambastiani
Biogeosciences, 21, 73–91, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-73-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-73-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Adamczyk, M., Perez-Mon, C., Gunz, S., and Frey, B.: Strong shifts in microbial community structure are associated with increased litter input rather than temperature in High Arctic soils, Soil Biol. Biochem., 151, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.108054, 2020. 
Baltzer, J. L., Veness, T., Chasmer, L. E., Sniderhan, A. E., and Quinton, W. L.: Forests on thawing permafrost: fragmentation, edge effects, and net forest loss, Glob. Change Biol., 20, 824–834, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12349, 2014. 
Bartram, A. K., Lynch, M. D., Stearns, J. C., Moreno-Hegelsieb, G., and Neufeld, J. D.: Generation of multimillion-sequence 16S rRNA gene libraries from complex microbial communities by assembling paired-end illumina reads, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 77, 3846–3852, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02772-10, 2011. 
Bauer, I. E., Gignac, L. D., and Vitt, D. H.: Development of a peatland complex in boreal western Canada: Lateral site expansion and local variability in vegetation succession and long-term peat accumulation, Can. J. Bot., 81, 833–847, https://doi.org/10.1139/b03-076, 2003. 
Download
Short summary
Permafrost thaw in peatlands leads to waterlogged conditions, a favourable environment for microbes producing methane (CH4) and high CH4 emissions. High CH4 emissions in the initial decades following thaw are due to a vegetation community that produces suitable organic matter to fuel CH4-producing microbes, along with warm and wet conditions. High CH4 emissions after thaw persist for up to 100 years, after which environmental conditions are less favourable for microbes and high CH4 emissions.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint