Relief of Phosphate Limitation Stimulates Methane Oxidation

Aquatic ecosystems such as shallow lakes and wetlands are important emitters of the greenhouse gas methane (CH 4 ). Increased phosphorus (P) loading is expected to increase CH production in these ecosystems. This increased can potentially be mitigated by oxidation, but how P availability affects methane-oxidizing bacterial (MOB) community composition potential oxidation remains tested. Here, we incubated MOB from sediments four subtropical different trophic states for 7 days at phosphate (PO 3- ) concentrations determine effects on oxidation. We measured consumption daily compared during exponential growth phase. Furthermore, determined end incubations using qPCR pmoA gene. To test differences N uptake, biomass content. found that increases PO until 10 µM significantly also content, while content was not affected. affected more strongly correlated lake origin, likely due short duration incubations. Our results show only stimulate indirectly through production, directly increasing growth. Importantly, occur low concentrations, indicating high nutrient loads will mitigate production.