MICROBES & THE

CARBON CYCLE

INTRODUCTION
We have classified microorganisms based on their
sources of energy and carbon.
The cycling of carbon between carbon dioxide and
organic compounds is of considerable ecological
importance.
In addition to eukaryotes (such as plants and algae),
autotrophic bacteria (such as cyanobacteria) play an
important role in the fixation of carbon dioxide into
organic compounds.
Consumers, in turn, use organic compounds and release
carbon dioxide.
Decomposition
ofplants
and
animalsand
their
constituent organic compounds is carried out by a large
number of bacteria and fungi.

 What is taking place in a swamp

where you see marsh gas
bubbling up though the ooze?

METHANE- A CARBON
CYCLE

A carbon cycle, based on one-carbon compounds,

is taking place in the sediments and overlaying
water of such freshwater environments.
The anoxic sediments harbor archaea, which
produce methane as a byproduct of energy
metabolism.
The methane rises from thesediment and moves
into the zone above it.
This upper area contains enough oxygen to
support methane oxidizers, bacteria that use
methane as a source of carbon as well as an
energy source.

 Methane (CH4) is agreenhouse gasand,

according to international agreement, its
emissions are controlled.
Although it is produced by burning fossil
fuel, most enters the atmosphere
because of microbial action.
How can the latter be limited?
One strategy is to drain rice paddies
more often, limiting the action of
methane producers.
Another is to add a layer of soil to
landfills to encourage methane-oxidizers.

 The global carbon cycle is heavily dependent on

microbial communities that fix atmospheric carbon,
promote plant growth, and degrade or transform
organic material in the environment.
Large amounts of organic carbon are currently locked
in high-latitude permafrost, grassland soils, tropical
forests, and other ecosystems, and microbes play key
roles in determining the longevity and stability of this
carbon and whether or not it is released into the
atmosphere as greenhouse gas (GHG).
Yet in many cases, these microbial mediated processes
are only minimally represented in carbon cycle models,
thus limiting their predictive capability.
The following example describe one of the many
different microbial activities for which a greater
understanding is needed to improve carbon cycle and
climate modeling.

Microbial Carbon
Transformations in Soils
Representing the largest and most stable reservoir of
carbon in terrestrial ecosystems, soils contain more than
twice as much carbon as the atmosphere.
Soil microbial communities mediate the multistep
conversion of dead plant tissue and organic compounds
exuded from plant roots into CO or soil organic matter.
The heterogeneous array of carbon compounds in soil
can reside in terrestrial ecosystems for decades to
thousands of years.
Understanding the microbial community reactions and
environmental conditions controlling the transformation
of organic carbon in soil could lead to opportunities for
sequestering vast quantities of carbon in ways that
improve soil quality and benefit the environment.