From
left to right: Kate Chanton, Jeff Chanton, Khrys Duddleston,
Juliette
Rooney-Varga, and Mark Hines
Acetate
biogeochemistry in northern wetlands: Implications for methane formation during
climate change
National Science Foundation
Recent research in several arctic wetlands has revealed that the dominant terminal
product of anaerobic decomposition in these systems is acetate and not methane.
This finding represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of anaerobic decomposition,
which currently assumes that acetate is a transient intermediate that, in the
absence of other terminal electron acceptors, is consumed by acetotrophic methanogenesis.
In addition, if the lack of acetotrophic methanogenesis in arctic wetlands is
due to low temperatures, then climate warming would increase acetotrophic methanogenesis
and thereby cause even greater methane production than what might occur due
to warming alone.
Research
goals:
Assess
the ubiquity of the acetate-accumulating phenomenon and delineate the types
of systems that favor acetate accumulation and their characteristics
Determine
the effects of physical and chemical parameters on terminal electron accepting
processes and their effects on acetate cycling.
Determine
if the Archaea and Bacteria communities in northern wetland peats are distinct
from other wetlands and anaerobic habitats.
Collaborators:
Mark
E. Hines, lead PI University of Alaska Anchorage
