| Publisher Information: |
Uppsala universitet, Limnologi; Univ Innsbruck, Dept Microbiol, Innsbruck, Austria.; Univ Innsbruck, Dept Ecol, Innsbruck, Austria.; WasserCluster Lunz, Lunz Am See, Austria.; Catalan Inst Water Res ICRA, Girona, Spain.;Univ Girona UdG, Girona, Spain.; Senckenberg Res Inst, Gelnhausen, Germany.;Nat Hist Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany.;Umeå Univ, Hist Philosoph & Religious Studies, Umeå, Sweden.; Bournemouth Univ, Bournemouth, Dorset, England.; Univ Koblenz Landau, Landau, Germany.; Univ Turin, DBIOS, Via Accademia Albertina 13, I-10123 Turin, Italy.;ALPSTREAM, Turin, Italy.; Irstea Ctr Lyon Villeurbanne, Riverly Lab, St Martin Dheres, France.; Ctr Freshwater & Environm Studies CFES, Dundalk Inst Technol, Dundalk, Ireland.; Humboldt Univ, Inst Geog, Climatol Grp, Berlin, Germany.;Univ Massachusetts, Dept Geosci, Amherst, MA 01003 USA.; Leibniz Inst Freshwater Ecol & Inland Fisheries I, Berlin, Germany.; Palacky Univ, Dept Ecol & Environm Sci, Olomouc, Czech Republic.; Umeå Univ, Dept Ecol & Environm Sci, Umeå, Sweden.; Univ Highlands & Isl, Thurso, Scotland.; Sofia Univ St Kliment Ohridski, Fac Biol, Sofia, Bulgaria.; Univ Turin, DBIOS, Via Accademia Albertina 13, I-10123 Turin, Italy.; Bulgarian Acad Sci, Inst Biodivers & Ecosyst Res, Sofia, Bulgaria.; Marine Inst, Newport, Ireland.; Bournemouth Univ, Bournemouth, Dorset, England.;South African Inst Aquat Biodivers, Makhanda, South Africa.; Univ Basel, Basel, Switzerland.; Univ Koblenz Landau, Landau, Germany.;Univ Quebec, Dept Sci Biol, Grp Rech Interuniv Limnol, Montreal, PQ, Canada.; WILEY |
| Description: |
Aim: Although running waters are getting recognized as important methane sources, large-scale geographical patterns of microorganisms controlling the net methane balance of streams are still unknown. Here we aim at describing community compositions of methanogenic and methanotrophic microorganisms at large spatial scales and at linking their abundances to potential sediment methane production (PMP) and oxidation rates (PMO). Location: The study spans across 16 European streams from northern Spain to northern Sweden and from western Ireland to western Bulgaria. Taxon: Methanogenic archaea and methane-oxidizing microorganisms. Methods: To provide a geographical overview of both groups in a single approach, microbial communities and abundances were investigated via 16S rRNA gene sequencing, extracting relevant OTUs based on literature; both groups were quantified via quantitative PCR targeting mcrA and pmoA genes and studied in relation to environmental parameters, sediment PMP and PMO, and land use. Results: Diversity of methanogenic archaea was higher in warmer streams and of methanotrophic communities in southern sampling sites and in larger streams. Anthropogenically altered, warm and oxygen-poor streams were dominated by the highly efficient methanogenic families Methanospirillaceae, Methanosarcinaceae and Methanobacteriaceae, but did not harbour any specific methanotrophic organisms. Contrastingly, sediment communities in colder, oxygen-rich waters with little anthropogenic impact were characterized by methanogenic Methanosaetaceae, Methanocellaceae and Methanoflorentaceae and methanotrophic Methylococcaceae and Cd. Methanoperedens. Representatives of the methanotrophic Crenotrichaceae and Methylococcaceae as well as the methanogenic Methanoregulaceae were characteristic for environments with larger catchment area and higher discharge. PMP increased with increasing abundance of methanogenic archaea, while PMO rates did not show correlations with abundances of methane-oxidizing bacteria. Main conclusions: ... |