ERAnet-LAC, METHAnogenic Biodiversity and activity in Arctic and Subantarctic Ecosystems affected by climate change. (METHABASE) (DCC-92)

Emissions of greenhouse gas methane from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems play a crucial role in global warming, which particularly affects ecosystems at high latitudes. The activity of microorganisms that produce methane and those that consume methane is crucial for the amount of methane emitted from soil and water to the atmosphere. The key question in the project is: how will climate change affect diversity and activity of these methane microbes? To gain knowledge of this we have studied fields in Patagonia, Alaska and Siberia. Our knowledge of these areas is linked to studies in Svalbard in other projects. As a whole, the studies represent Arctic, sub-Arctic and sub-Antarctic ecosystems and areas with and without permafrost as well as occasional permafrost. The fields include fresh water, wetlands and soil. In fields we have measured methane emissions and taken samples for analyzes and molecular studies as well as samples for experiments under controlled conditions in the laboratory. The project is a multidisciplinary team, including experts from Europe (France, Belgium, Norway) and South America (Chile, Uruguay), as well as local partners in Siberia, Alaska and Patagonia for field expeditions. The METANOBASE project was funded through the ERANET LAC program: The Network of EU, Latin America and the Caribbean countries on joint innovation and research activities. Website: https://www5.obs-mip.fr/methanobase/

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Methane emissions from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems play a crucial role in global warming, which is affecting high-latitude ecosystems in particular. As major contributors to methane emissions in natural environments, the microbial communities involved in methane production and oxidation deserve a special attention. Microbial diversity and activity are expected to be strongly affected by the already observed (and further predicted) temperature increase in high-latitude ecosystems, eventually resulting in disrupted feedback methane emissions. The METHANOBASE project has been designed to investigate the intricate relations between microbial diversity and methane emissions in Arctic, Sub Arctic and Sub Antarctic ecosystems, under natural (baseline) conditions and in response to simulated temperature increments. To achieve this highly challenging purpose, the METHANOBASE project relies on the use of state-of-the-art molecular tools and on a pluridisciplinary team including experts from Europe (France, Belgium, Norway) and South America (Chile, Uruguay), as well as local partners in Siberia (Russia), Alaska (USA) and Patagonia (Chile) for field expedition support.