Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Microbiomes from Mangrove Habitats, a Blue Carbon Ecosystem vs Terrestrial Forest using Amplicon Sequencing

Mangrove ecosystems are crucial Blue Carbon Ecosystems. In spite of only 0.7% global area of coverage, these ecosystems can act as a potential storage ground for huge amount of carbon, for millions of years. Hence, these ecosystems are important in mitigating climate change and global warming. Functioning of mangrove ecosystems as carbon reservoirs is largely controlled by the soil microbiome. This study aims at comparing the soil microbial communities of mangrove ecosystems with the microbial communities of mature terrestrial forest soil, to understand the overall microbial diversity and predict their differential potential in carbon utilization and storage. 16S V3-V4 amplicon sequencing method was used for microbial diversity analysis and PICRUSt for functional prediction of microbial communities.