CAREER: Geochemical and functional controls of methane-mediating microbes in Amazon peatlands

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This CAREER project will examine how microorganisms influence the production and consumption of methane gas in Amazon peatlands. The research will fill an important knowledge gap in the study of tropical ecosystems and is important for a better understanding of regional to global environmental change. Creating a predictive model to understand methane cycling in ecosystems will impact environmental sciences, ecosystem management and regional atmospheric predictions. Also, this research has key educational goals and outreach efforts that will bridge research, education and societal participation. Building on Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) teaching and training approaches, this project will generate continuous training and research activity tools centered on studying microorganisms. All education products will be broadly accessible via online platforms. The project will also increase participation of undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in research and biological science activities. Finally, the project will promote international collaboration and participation of the public in environmental studies involving microorganisms, including the research process and sharing of scientific results on tropical environments. Amazon peatlands are key regional contributors of methane flux currently and in the past, however little is known about the activity of their methane-mediating microbes or how the geochemical characteristics of seasonal flooding events affect methane flux rates. The hypotheses to be tested in this study include: i) methane flux is a process where the strength and predictiveness of biological and environmental controls vary according to the spatial scale in study; and ii) trait based microbial modeling increases accuracy in CH4 flux predictions at variable spatial scales and variable Amazon flood periods. These hypotheses will be addressed by linking the microbial distribution and the determination of peatland soil geochemical niches before and after Amazon annual floods, by isolating and testing the functional capacities of CH4-mediating microbes at standard or simulated "flood" conditions, and by developing a trait-based model to integrate geochemical and microbe functional limits on CH4 flux at local (meter) or broader (kilometer) spatial scales. Multiple products including geospatial mapping of microbes and niches, catalogs of functional traits in Amazon microbes, and trait based modeling will be integrated in a site-specific model inclusive of the physiological and geochemical controls on methane cycling microbes from contrasting Amazon peatlands. Educational Inquiry-based learning products for undergraduate education and broad society participation will also be developed and be made publicly available to further the contribution and dissemination of results from this work. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.