Wetland mangroves are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, generating a substantial amount of methane each year. Researchers know very little about how the microbial communities responsible for methanogenesis respond to climatic shifts. Since these communities experience strong subtropical seasonal and diurnal changes in light and temperature, the team aims to track temporal shifts in transcriptional activities. Ultimately, this project will resolve the full biodiversity, metabolic capabilities, and ecological functioning of mangrove microbial communities.
Proposer: Brandi Reese, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Proposal: Dynamics of seasonal and diurnal fluctuations in a wetland mangrove ecosystem