Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
178,033 studies31 sourcesUpdated 34 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNature communications

Methane oxidation in African lakes increases with phytoplankton and outweighs photosynthesis-driven oxic methane production.

  • Alberto V Borges1
  • Cédric Morana2,3
  • Loris Deirmendjian2
  • William Okello4,5
  • Pascal Isumbisho6
  • Patrick Omeja7
  • Ismael A Kimirei8
  • Jean-Pierre Descy2
  • Willy Champenois2
  • Steven Bouillon3
8 affiliations
  1. 1Chemical Oceanography Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. [email protected].
  2. 2Chemical Oceanography Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
  3. 3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
  4. 4Department of Limnology, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jinja, Uganda.
  5. 5Department of Graduate Studies, Research and Innovations, Soroti University, Soroti, Uganda.
  6. 6Laboratoire des Milieux Aquatiques, Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de la Gombe, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  7. 7Makerere University Biological Field Station, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
  8. 8General Directorate, Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Lakes are large natural sources of methane (CH₄), a potent greenhouse gas, resulting from the net balance of inputs from anaerobic and oxic methane production (OMP) and removal by methane oxidation (MOX). Here we investigate spatial patterns and causes of MOX variability in 79 African lakes. MOX is highest in the most productive lakes presumably due to methanotrophs attached to phytoplankton, as well as in lakes draining the wetlands of the Congo basin presumably due to inputs of methanotrophs from flooded forest soils. MOX represents the largest sink of dissolved CH₄ in the mixed layer (>70%) compared to the diffusive emission to the atmosphere (FCH₄). Photosynthesis-driven OMP estimated from literature data represents a small fraction of both MOX and FCH₄, and this fraction decreases with lake productivity and FCH₄ intensity. Available evidence suggests that photosynthesis-driven OMP increase supported by eutrophication can be compensated by a stronger increase in MOX.

Related

  1. An anoxygenic photosynthesis-inspired dual biohybrid for light-enhanced chemical production
    Ying Yang, Xin Wang, Tao Zhou +4
    Science AdvancesPeer-reviewedCC BY-NCEnvironmental science & pollutionCrossref
  2. Diversified cropping rotation increases soil carbon sequestration via fungal-mediated necromass production and mineral association
    Cheng Ji, Xinhu Guo, Kevin Z. Mganga +10
    Communications Earth & EnvironmentPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0General earth scienceNatureCrossref
  3. Boundary-layer scheme selection outweighs microphysics in WRF simulations of the August 2018 Kerala extreme rainfall event
    Satyam Kumar, Akshay Sunil, Rashad PE
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textAtmospheric science & meteorologyarXiv
  4. Physicochemical Protection Outweighs Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency in Regulating Soil Organic Carbon Across an Aridity Gradient
    Junxiao Pan, Xianjin He, Jinsong Wang +9
    Global Change BiologyPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textEnvironmental science & pollutionOceanography & cryosphereHAL
  5. Nitrogen fertilization outweighs plant species loss in shaping bacterial belowground diversity in an alpine meadow on the central Tibetan Plateau.
    Dongmei Wu, CiRen Quzong, Zhongjun Jia +5
    FEMS microbiology ecologyPeer-reviewedCC BYFull text1 citedHydrology & soilsEurope PMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{borges2026methane,
  title = {{Methane oxidation in African lakes increases with phytoplankton and outweighs photosynthesis-driven oxic methane production.}},
  author = {Alberto V Borges and Cédric Morana and Loris Deirmendjian and William Okello and Pascal Isumbisho and Patrick Omeja and Ismael A Kimirei and Jean-Pierre Descy and Willy Champenois and Steven Bouillon},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78255-9},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957751},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Methane oxidation in African lakes increases with phytoplankton and outweighs photosynthesis-driven oxic methane production.
AU  - Alberto V Borges
AU  - Cédric Morana
AU  - Loris Deirmendjian
AU  - William Okello
AU  - Pascal Isumbisho
AU  - Patrick Omeja
AU  - Ismael A Kimirei
AU  - Jean-Pierre Descy
AU  - Willy Champenois
AU  - Steven Bouillon
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/29
JO  - Nature communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-78255-9
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957751
AB  - Lakes are large natural sources of methane (CH₄), a potent greenhouse gas, resulting from the net balance of inputs from anaerobic and oxic methane production (OMP) and removal by methane oxidation (MOX). Here we investigate spatial patterns and causes of MOX variability in 79 African lakes. MOX is highest in the most productive lakes presumably due to methanotrophs attached to phytoplankton, as well as in lakes draining the wetlands of the Congo basin presumably due to inputs of methanotrophs from flooded forest soils. MOX represents the largest sink of dissolved CH₄ in the mixed layer (>70%) compared to the diffusive emission to the atmosphere (FCH₄). Photosynthesis-driven OMP estimated from literature data represents a small fraction of both MOX and FCH₄, and this fraction decreases with lake productivity and FCH₄ intensity. Available evidence suggests that photosynthesis-driven OMP increase supported by eutrophication can be compensated by a stronger increase in MOX.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -