Soil methane flux and microbial community dynamics in a sub-alpine Utah forest

Soil in sub-alpine forests provides a unique environment to study the drivers of biogenic methane flux. We measured the variation in methane flux and collected soil from riparian and upland areas within the Red Butte Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah. This pristine natural area is subject to ongoing atmospheric and hydrological data monitoring. Our objective was to determine the connection between environmental variables, soil methane flux, and the soil microbial community. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing of gDNA and cDNA libraries to describe the microbial communities from June and October 2021, highlighting the bacterial guilds associated with methane cycling.