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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2007, p. 5153-5161, Vol. 73, No. 16
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00620-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Afforestation and Reforestation of Pastures on the Activity and Population Dynamics of Methanotrophic Bacteria{triangledown}

Brajesh K. Singh,1* Kevin R. Tate,2 Gokul Kolipaka,1 Carolyn B. Hedley,2 Catriona A. Macdonald,3 Peter Millard,1 and J. Colin Murrell4

Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, United Kingdom,1 Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand,2 Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Private Bag 50 348, Porirua, New Zealand,3 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom4

Received 19 March 2007/ Accepted 8 June 2007

We investigated the effect of afforestation and reforestation of pastures on methane oxidation and the methanotrophic communities in soils from three different New Zealand sites. Methane oxidation was measured in soils from two pine (Pinus radiata) forests and one shrubland (mainly Kunzea ericoides var. ericoides) and three adjacent permanent pastures. The methane oxidation rate was consistently higher in the pine forest or shrubland soils than in the adjacent pasture soils. A combination of phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and stable isotope probing (SIP) analyses of these soils revealed that different methanotrophic communities were active in soils under the different vegetations. The C18 PLFAs (signature of type II methanotrophs) predominated under pine and shrublands, and C16 PLFAs (type I methanotrophs) predominated under pastures. Analysis of the methanotrophs by molecular methods revealed further differences in methanotrophic community structure under the different vegetation types. Cloning and sequencing and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the particulate methane oxygenase gene (pmoA) from different samples confirmed the PLFA-SIP results that methanotrophic bacteria related to type II methanotrophs were dominant in pine forest and shrubland, and type I methanotrophs (related to Methylococcus capsulatus) were dominant in all pasture soils. We report that afforestation and reforestation of pastures caused changes in methane oxidation by altering the community structure of methanotrophic bacteria in these soils.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Macaulay Institute, Environmental Sciences, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, United Kingdom. Phone: 44-1224-498200. Fax: 44-1224-498207. E-mail: b.singh{at}macaulay.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 June 2007.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2007, p. 5153-5161, Vol. 73, No. 16
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00620-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Jugnia, L.-B., Ait-Benichou, S., Fortin, N., Cabral, A. R., Greer, C. W. (2009). Diversity and Dynamics of Methanotrophs within an Experimental Landfill Cover Soil. Soil Sci. 73: 1479-1487 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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