Microbial Community Dynamics and Functional Implications in Two Central European Peatlands Characterized by Different Atmospheric Nitrogen Inputs
Changes in organic matter accumulation in wetlands affect globaly the dynamics of climate change. Distinct nitrogen (N) inputs into Sphagnum bogs may lead to different accumulation rates of organic carbon (C) and N affcecting emission rates of greenhouse gases. We explored how N deposition shapes microbial community structure and function in two Sphagnum-dominated peat bogs in the Czech Republic, where atmospheric N levels differed twofold.Special attention was paid to biological N fixation (BNF) as main biogenic input of N to wetlands. Our objective was to corroborate inferences from the microbial study of diazotrophs by laboratory 15N2 incubations of Spagnum fuscum and compare the measured BNF rates at the more polluted site VJ with those at the less poluted site CB.