Exploring the mechanisms by which reindeer droppings induce fen peat methane production

• DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108318
• Publication Date: 2021-06-01T12:55:07Z
• Authors: Hannu Fritze; Timo Penttilä; Päivi Mäkiranta; Raija Laiho; Tero Tuomivirta; Jukka Forsman; Jouko Kumpula; Heli Juottonen; Krista Peltoniemi
• Keywords: Methane Emissions

Peatlands, especially fens, are known to emit methane. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) use mires mainly as spring and summer pastures. In this work we observed that adding reindeer droppings fen peat increased the potential methane production by 40%. This became apparent when originating from kept in pen or pasture winter were added methanogenic samples. The introduced Methanobacteriaceae (Methanobrevibacter; > 90% of mcrA MiSeq reads) peat, which was originally populated Methanosarcinaceae, Methanosaetaceae, Methanoregulaceae, Methanobacteriaceae, Methanomassiliicoccaceae, Methanocellaceae Methanomicrobiaceae. original community structure did not explain induced neither origin droppings. Instead, increment explained abundance, measured qPCR, due addition result confirms methanogens rumen participate production. finding suggests grazing may increase emissions northern fens.