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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Conversion of Amazon rainforest to agriculture alters community traits of methane-cycling organisms

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Author(s):
Meyer, Kyle M. ; Klein, Ann M. ; Rodrigues, Jorge L. M. ; Nuesslein, Klaus ; Tringe, Susannah G. ; Mirza, Babur S. ; Tiedje, James M. ; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.
Total Authors: 8
Document type: Journal article
Source: Molecular Ecology; v. 26, n. 6, p. 1547-1556, MAR 2017.
Web of Science Citations: 17
Abstract

Land use change is one of the greatest environmental impacts worldwide, especially to tropical forests. The Amazon rainforest has been subject to particularly high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. A commonly observed response to cattle pasture establishment in the Amazon is the conversion of soil from a methane sink in rainforest, to a methane source in pasture. However, it is not known how the microorganisms that mediate methane flux are altered by land use change. Here, we use the deepest metagenomic sequencing of Amazonian soil to date to investigate differences in methane-cycling microorganisms and their traits across rainforest and cattle pasture soils. We found that methane-cycling microorganisms responded to land use change, with the strongest responses exhibited by methane-consuming, rather than methane-producing, microorganisms. These responses included a reduction in the relative abundance of methanotrophs and a significant decrease in the abundance of genes encoding particulate methane monooxygenase. We also observed compositional changes to methanotroph and methanogen communities as well as changes to methanotroph life history strategies. Our observations suggest that methane-cycling microorganisms are vulnerable to land use change, and this vulnerability may underlie the response of methane flux to land use change in Amazon soils. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 14/50320-4 - Dimensions US-BIOTA - São Paulo: collaborative research: integrating dimensions of microbial biodiversity across land use change in tropical forests
Grantee:Tsai Siu Mui
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants