Soil moisture and microbiome explain greenhouse gas exchange in global peatlands
Earth's climate is tightly connected to carbon and nitrogen exchange between the atmosphere and ecosystems. Wet peatland ecosystems take up carbon dioxide in plants and accumulate organic carbon in soil but release methane. Man-made drainage releases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide from peat soils. Carbon and nitrous gas exchange and their relationships with environmental conditions are poorly understood. Here, we show that open peatlands in both their wet and dry extremes are greenhouse gas sinks while peat carbon/nitrogen ratios are high and prokaryotic (bacterial and archaeal) abundances are low. Conversely, peatlands with moderate soil moisture levels emit carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, while prokaryotic abundances are high. The results challenge the current assumption of a uniform effect of drainage on greenhouse gas emissions and show that the peat microbiome of greenhouse-gas sources differs fundamentally from sinks.
Authors
- Kaido Soosaar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1261-6326)
- Mikk Espenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0469-6394)
- Kristina Sohar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0828-3450)
- Ülo Niinemets (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3078-2192)
- Ülo Mander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2340-6989)
- Ivika Ostonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9043-6083)
- John Davison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0161-6195)
- Jaan Pärn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6507-8894)
- Maarja Öpik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8025-7460)
- Martin Maddison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4069-5831)
- Mohammad Bahram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9539-3307)
- Leho Tedersoo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1635-1249)
- Sandeep Thayamkottu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8846-8243)
- Kuno Kasak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0810-2154)
- Martin Zobel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7957-6704)
Institutions
- Estonian University of Life Sciences (EE)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- University of Tartu (EE)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-03-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92891-z
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.87
Funders
- European Commission
- Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
- Eesti Teadusagentuur
- Vetenskapsrådet
- European Research Council
- European Regional Development Fund
- European Social Fund