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Sediment characteristics and microbial communities associated with methane production in a eutrophic reservoir
Citation:
Berberich, M. Sediment characteristics and microbial communities associated with methane production in a eutrophic reservoir. Presented at Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, December 12 - 17, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, is known to be produced and emitted from freshwater systems. Recently, extensive efforts have been directed toward quantifyingmethane emissions fromthese ecosystems, while additional research has focused on factors that may influence emissions. Methanogenesis, the biological production of methane,is the dominant source of methane in freshwater ecosystems, and commonly occurs via two metabolic pathways: acetate fermentation and reduction of carbon dioxide (cite). Ingeneral, the acetate-utilizing pathway is more prevalent under conditions of high OMavailability (cite). In natural settings, methane production can have high spatial variability andis dependent on a number of environmental variables, including OM quantity and quality (cite). Previous laboratory-based studies demonstrate that algal-derived carbon canstimulate methane production (cite). In this project we aimto evaluate if algal productivity determines methane production rates both within and among reservoirs.To establish the link between within reservoir algal productivity and methane production rates, we measured sediment methane production, microbial community composition,and sediment characteristics across an algal productivity gradient in Harsha Lake (Figure 1), a eutrophic reservoir located in southwest Ohio.• We hypothesized that methane production rates, methanogen abundance, and relative abundance of acetoclastic (acetate-utilizing) methanogens would exhibit a gradient thatclosely aligns with the CH4 emission and algal abundance gradients. Specifically, we expect the methane production and microbial community trends to be higher in the easternportion of the reservoir where algal productivity is greatest (Figure 1).• We expected that sediment characteristics such as organic matter content and bulk density would correlate with CH4 production.
URLs/Downloads:
http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2016/scientific-program-guidelines/
https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm16/meetingapp.cgi/Person/536710