Distinct methanotrophic communities exist in habitats with different soil water contents

Abstract

Aerobic methane oxidizing bacteria play a key role in controlling global climate by reducing methane (CH ₄ ) emissions in natural ecosystems. We studied the community assembly processes and co-occurrence interactions of soil methanotrophs in three habitats (an alpine meadow, a marsh meadow, and a marsh) from Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Methanotrophic communities and CH ₄ oxidation potentials varied considerably between the habitats, and the diversity of methanotrophs was significantly lower in marsh meadow than in the other two soils (P < 0.001). Methanotrophic bacterial diversity was significantly correlated with soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pH, total carbon (TC), and total nitrogen (TN), while methanotrophic community structure was mostly correlated with soil C/N, TC, soil moisture, and TN. Stochasticity dominated methanotrophic community assembly, and increased from 67.6% in the alpine meadow and 68.0% in the marsh meadow to 98.2% in the marsh. The natural connectivity of co-occurrence network was greater in the alpine meadow than in the other two habitats, suggesting a more stable network in the alpine meadow. Methanotroph diversity contributed to the sub-network topological differences and keystone species were identified such as USCγ, Methylobacter, and RPC-1. The results suggest the existence of distinct community assembly processes and co-occurrence patterns of soil methanotrophs among different habitats, which may ultimately enhance the understanding of factors influencing CH ₄ oxidation rates.

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