2019 Engineering Sustainable Development
Invited Talk: DOC Release from Peatlands By Reduction in Acid Deposition
Author
Hojeong Kang - Presenter, Yonsei University
Increases in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams have been recorded at locations across the world. A large proportion of DOC originates from watersheds with organic soils such as peatlands, which store over a third of global soil organic carbon. One suggested mechanism for the enhanced decomposition of peat and the releases of DOC is recovery from acidiï¬cation. However, no biological role in the process has yet been identiï¬ed. Here, we report extracellular enzyme activities and microbial composition in peatlands of Korea, the UK, Japan and Indonesia, and ï¬nd higher pH to promote phenol oxidase activities, greater abundances in Actinobacteria and fungi, and enhanced pore-water DOC concentrations. Our pH manipulation experiments also showed that increase in pH enhanced phenol oxidase activity and DOC production with greater Actinobacterial and fungal abundances. Finally, knockout or addition of phenol oxidase dramatically changed DOC and phenolic production, indicating the central role of phenol oxidase in DOC mobilization.