In:
Functional Ecology, Wiley, Vol. 37, No. 10 ( 2023-10), p. 2634-2651
Abstract:
Coastal blue carbon (C) ecosystems are recognized as efficient natural C sinks and play key roles in mitigating global climate change. Microbially driven C, nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) cycles are crucial for ecosystem functioning, but how microorganisms drive C sink formation and C sequestration in coastal sediments remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of amino sugars, C, N and S cycling genes/pathways and their associated taxa in coastal sediments of native ( Cyperus malaccensis and Kandelia obovata ) and alien ( Spartina alterniflora and Sonneratia apetala ) vegetation. Compared to the alien‐vegetated coastal sediment, the native‐vegetated coastal sediment had significantly ( p 〈 0.05) higher microbial necromass C and higher functional potentials of chemoautotrophic C fixation, C degradation, methane cycling, N 2 fixation, S oxidation and sulphate reduction. Also, our analysis of coastal sediment microbiomes showed that S oxidation could be coupled with C fixation and/or nitrate/nitrite reduction. S oxidation, C degradation and C fixation were found to be key functional pathways for predicting sediment microbial necromass C. Additionally, the sulphur‐oxidizing Burkholderiales metagenome‐assembled genomes (MAGs) were a key functional group that dominated chemoautotrophic C fixation in coastal sediments. These results suggested that chemoautotrophic S oxidizers, in particular Burkholderiales with a novel lineage, might be the key microbial group that dominates microbial necromass C formation in coastal sediments through microbial anabolism (C fixation);the coupling of microbially driven C, N and S cycling processes; and the deposition of microbially derived C. This study provides novel insights into the importance of chemoautotrophic S oxidizers for microbial necromass formation and shed new light on the microbial mechanism of C sink formation in coastal ecosystems, which also has important implications for enhancing C sequestration in coastal wetlands. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0269-8463
,
1365-2435
DOI:
10.1111/1365-2435.14417
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2020307-X
detail.hit.zdb_id:
619313-4
SSG:
12
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