Wetland peat Targeted Locus (Loci). soil metagenome

Restoration of wetlands has a great potential to reverse land subsidence on peat islands previously drained for agriculture, thereby reducing risk of levee failure. In addition, the high primary production and slow decomposition rates found in restored wetlands may result in a net atmospheric CO2 sequestration. However, one major concern is the emission of CH4 that could potentially offset the carbon captured due to primary production. In wetland ecosystems, microorganisms play key roles in governing greenhouse gas flux. In this study, we collected belowground samples from a restored wetland largely vegetated with cattails and tules from a pilot-scale restoration project. We selected sites that exhibited gradients in physicochemical conditions, peat accretion rates and CH4 emission. From each site, we collected samples from the bulk peat, cattail rhizomes and tule rhizomes. Pyrosequencing of amplified V8 regions of 16S rRNA genes was used to generate microbial community profiles in order to to identify community patterns and indicator species that are associated with biogeochemistry and CH4 emission along the gradients.