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A Multiomics, Systems-Based Approach to Quantify the Response of Microbially-Mediated Carbon Turnover to Climate Change Manipulation in a Northern Peatland Forest


EMSL Project ID
49279

Abstract

Peatlands store 1/3 of all soil carbon (C) and currently act as net C sinks sequestering C as a complex mixture of organic compounds. The anoxic, water-logged, cool conditions of boreal peatlands slows decomposition of those organic compounds, thereby enhancing C storage rates and contributing to their function at net C stores. The ultimate products of organic matter decomposition in these anaerobic conditions are the potent greenhouses gases CO2 and CH4. CO2 is a widely recognized greenhouse gas, but CH4 actually has a much higher global warming potential than CO2 on short timescales. Thus, processes that speed decomposition or change the relative production of CO2 and CH4 could alter the global C cycle through a positive feedback between CO2/CH4 emissions and further warming. Boreal peatlands are predicted to experience significant warming under future climate change and are a focus area for climate research, yet the effects of temperature on the decomposition of peatland carbon stores and their net emission rates is uncertain. Increasing temperatures could increase the rate at which organic matter is converted to CO2 and CH4 via simple kinetic effects. However, decomposition is largely accomplished by microbes, whose response to temperature is very poorly constrained. To bridge this gap, we propose to use EMSL's ultra high-resolution mass spectrometry (21T FTICR MS and Q-exactive), GC MS and 1H-NMR capabilities -- uniquely and collectively available at EMSL -- to characterize the molecular composition of boreal peatland soil organic matter and microbial community proteomes critical for creating and testing a comprehensive metabolome model which we will use to generate a predictive framework for the response of microbially-mediated C-degradation at a peatland undergoing multifactorial temperature and CO2 experimental treatments (SPRUCE http://www.spruce.ornl.gov).

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2016-10-01
End Date
2021-03-31
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Rachel Wilson
Institution
Florida State University

Co-Investigator(s)

Joel Kostka
Institution
Georgia Institute of Technology

Team Members

Max Kolton
Institution
Georgia Institute of Technology

Konstantinos Konstantinidis
Institution
Georgia Institute of Technology

Jeffrey Chanton
Institution
Florida State University

William Cooper
Institution
Florida State University

Christopher Schadt
Institution
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Related Publications

Hopple A.M., L. Pfeifer-Meister, C.A. Zalman, J.K. Keller, M. Tfaily, R.M. Wilson, and J. Chanton, et al. 2019. "Does dissolved organic matter or solid peat fuel anaerobic respiration in peatlands?." Geoderma 349. PNNL-SA-145430. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.04.040
Wilson R.M., and M.M. Tfaily. 2018. "Advanced Molecular Techniques Provide New Rigorous Tools for Characterizing Organic Matter Quality in Complex Systems." Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences. PNNL-SA-135802. doi:10.1029/2018JG004525.
Wilson RM, MM Tfaily, V Rich, JK Keller, SD Bridgham, C Medvedeff, L Meredith, PJ Hanson, ME Hines, L Pfeifer-Meister, S Saleska, PM Crill, WT Cooper, J Chanton, and JE Kostka. 2017. "Hydrogenation of Organic Matter as a Terminal Electron Sink Sustains High CO2:CH4 Production Ratios During Anaerobic Decomposition." Organic Geochemistry 10. 1016/j. orggeochem. 2017. 06. 0(112):22-32.