Global distribution of microbial abundance and biomass in subseafloor sediment
- The global geographic distribution of subseafloor sedimentary microbes and the cause(s) of that distribution are largely unexplored. Here, we show that total microbial cell abundance in subseafloor sediment varies between sites by ca. five orders of magnitude. This variation is strongly correlated with mean sedimentation rate and distance from land. Based on these correlations, we estimate global subseafloor sedimentary microbial abundance to be 2.9 center dot 10(29) cells [corresponding to 4.1 petagram (Pg) C and similar to 0.6% of Earth's total living biomass]. This estimate of subseafloor sedimentary microbial abundance is roughly equal to previous estimates of total microbial abundance in seawater and total microbial abundance in soil. It is much lower than previous estimates of subseafloor sedimentary microbial abundance. In consequence, we estimate Earth's total number of microbes and total living biomass to be, respectively, 50-78% and 10-45% lower than previous estimates.
Author details: | Jens KallmeyerORCiDGND, Robert Pockalny, Rishi Ram AdhikariORCiDGND, David C. Smith, Steven D'Hondt |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1203849109 |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 |
Title of parent work (English): | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Publisher: | National Acad. of Sciences |
Place of publishing: | Washington |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2012 |
Publication year: | 2012 |
Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
Tag: | cell enumeration; deep biosphere; global microbial biomass; subsurface life |
Volume: | 109 |
Issue: | 40 |
Number of pages: | 4 |
First page: | 16213 |
Last Page: | 16216 |
Funding institution: | Forschungsverbund GeoEnergie; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Ocean Drilling Program; Biological Oceanography Program of the US National Science Foundation [OCE-0527167, OCE-0752336]; National Science Foundation [OCE-0527167, OCE-0752336, OCE-0939564] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |