Dung application increases CH4 production potential and alters the composition and abundance of methanogen community in restored peatland soils from Europe

Peatland restoration via rewetting aims to recover biological communities and biogeochemical processes typical to pristine peatlands. While rewetting promotes recovery of C accumulation favorable for climate mitigation, it also promotes methane (CH4) emissions. The potential for exceptionally high emissions after rewetting has been measured for Central European peatland sites previously grazed by cattle. We addressed the hypothesis that these exceptionally high CH4 emissions result from the previous land use. We analyzed the effects of cattle dung application to peat soils in a short- (2 weeks), a medium- (1 year) and a long-term (grazing) approach. We measured the CH4 production potentials, determined the numbers of methanogens by mcrA qPCR, and analyzed the methanogen community by mcrA T-RFLP-cloning-sequencing. Dung application significantly increased the CH4 production potential in the short- and the medium-term approach and non-significantly at the cattle-grazed site. The number of methanogens correlated with the CH4 production in the short- and the long-term approach. At all three time horizons, we found a shift in methanogen community due to dung application and a transfer of rumen methanogen sequences (Methanobrevibacter spp.) to the peatland soil that seemed related to increased CH4 production potential. Our findings indicate that cattle grazing of drained peatlands changes their methanogenic microbial community, may introduce rumen-associated methanogens and leads to increased CH4 production. Consequently, rewetting of previously cattle-grazed peatlands has the potential to lead to increased CH4 emissions. Careful consideration of land use history is crucial for successful climate mitigation with peatland rewetting.