Wang, Yufang ， Cai, Yuanfeng ， Hou, Fujiang ， Jia, Zhongjun
2024-03-01 APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY 2024 195(卷), null(期), (null页)
High-affinity methanotrophs in upland soils are responsible for the well-known biological sink of atmospheric methane. However, the vertical distribution pattern of their abundance and activity remains largely unknown. Here, we collected soil samples in 2 cm intervals from the surface to a depth of 40 cm in a typical semiarid steppe in the Loess Plateau of China. We found a bell-shaped distribution of the atmospheric methane-oxidizing potential (atmMOP) along the soil depth, and its peak appeared in the 10-20 cm soil layers. The abundance of methanotrophs (dominated by the upland soil cluster gamma, USC gamma) showed a similar vertical distribution pattern and was well correlated with the atmMOP (P < 0.01). Pearson correlation analysis and the structural equation model showed that pH and inorganic nitrogen concentration were the main environmental factors that affecting atmMOP and USC gamma abundance.