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Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity
Climate change scenarios anticipate decreased spring snow cover in boreal and subarctic regions. Forest lakes are abundant in these regions and substantial contributors of methane emissions. To investigate the effect of reduced snow cover, we experimentally removed snow from an anoxic frozen lake. W...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
American Society for Microbiology
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6327105/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30626619 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00626-18 |
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author | Garcia, Sarahi L. Szekely, Anna J. Bergvall, Christoffer Schattenhofer, Martha Peura, Sari |
author_facet | Garcia, Sarahi L. Szekely, Anna J. Bergvall, Christoffer Schattenhofer, Martha Peura, Sari |
author_sort | Garcia, Sarahi L. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Climate change scenarios anticipate decreased spring snow cover in boreal and subarctic regions. Forest lakes are abundant in these regions and substantial contributors of methane emissions. To investigate the effect of reduced snow cover, we experimentally removed snow from an anoxic frozen lake. We observed that the removal of snow increased light penetration through the ice, increasing water temperature and modifying microbial composition in the different depths. Chlorophyll a and b concentrations increased in the upper water column, suggesting activation of algal primary producers. At the same time, Chlorobiaceae, one of the key photosynthetic bacterial families in anoxic lakes, shifted to lower depths. Moreover, a decrease in the relative abundance of methanotrophs within the bacterial family Methylococcaceae was detected, concurrent with an increase in methane concentration in the water column. These results indicate that decreased snow cover impacts both primary production and methane production and/or consumption, which may ultimately lead to increased methane emissions after spring ice off. IMPORTANCE Small lakes are an important source of greenhouse gases in the boreal zone. These lakes are severely impacted by the winter season, when ice and snow cover obstruct gas exchange between the lake and the atmosphere and diminish light availability in the water column. Currently, climate change is resulting in reduced spring snow cover. A short-term removal of the snow from the ice stimulated algal primary producers and subsequently heterotrophic bacteria. Concurrently, the relative abundance of methanotrophic bacteria decreased and methane concentrations increased. Our results increase the general knowledge of microbial life under ice and, specifically, the understanding of the potential impact of climate change on boreal lakes. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6327105 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63271052019-01-11 Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity Garcia, Sarahi L. Szekely, Anna J. Bergvall, Christoffer Schattenhofer, Martha Peura, Sari mSphere Research Article Climate change scenarios anticipate decreased spring snow cover in boreal and subarctic regions. Forest lakes are abundant in these regions and substantial contributors of methane emissions. To investigate the effect of reduced snow cover, we experimentally removed snow from an anoxic frozen lake. We observed that the removal of snow increased light penetration through the ice, increasing water temperature and modifying microbial composition in the different depths. Chlorophyll a and b concentrations increased in the upper water column, suggesting activation of algal primary producers. At the same time, Chlorobiaceae, one of the key photosynthetic bacterial families in anoxic lakes, shifted to lower depths. Moreover, a decrease in the relative abundance of methanotrophs within the bacterial family Methylococcaceae was detected, concurrent with an increase in methane concentration in the water column. These results indicate that decreased snow cover impacts both primary production and methane production and/or consumption, which may ultimately lead to increased methane emissions after spring ice off. IMPORTANCE Small lakes are an important source of greenhouse gases in the boreal zone. These lakes are severely impacted by the winter season, when ice and snow cover obstruct gas exchange between the lake and the atmosphere and diminish light availability in the water column. Currently, climate change is resulting in reduced spring snow cover. A short-term removal of the snow from the ice stimulated algal primary producers and subsequently heterotrophic bacteria. Concurrently, the relative abundance of methanotrophic bacteria decreased and methane concentrations increased. Our results increase the general knowledge of microbial life under ice and, specifically, the understanding of the potential impact of climate change on boreal lakes. American Society for Microbiology 2019-01-09 /pmc/articles/PMC6327105/ /pubmed/30626619 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00626-18 Text en Copyright © 2019 Garcia et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Research Article Garcia, Sarahi L. Szekely, Anna J. Bergvall, Christoffer Schattenhofer, Martha Peura, Sari Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity |
title | Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity |
title_full | Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity |
title_fullStr | Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity |
title_full_unstemmed | Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity |
title_short | Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity |
title_sort | decreased snow cover stimulates under-ice primary producers but impairs methanotrophic capacity |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6327105/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30626619 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00626-18 |
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