DOI: 10.5061/dryad.jq2bvq8cp
title: Data from: Microbial activity contributes to spatial heterogeneity of wetland methane fluxes

description: The emission of methane from wetlands is spatially heterogeneous, as
 concurrently measured surface fluxes can vary by orders of magnitude
 within the span of a few meters. Despite extensive study and the
 climatic significance of these greenhouse gas emissions, it remains
 unclear what drives these large within-site variations, creating a
 knowledge-gap that impedes a mechanistic understanding of wetland fluxes.
 While geophysical variables including water table depth (WTD) and soil
 temperature are known to correlate with CH4 flux, measurable
 variance in these parameters declines as spatial and temporal scales
 become finer. Here, we leveraged depth-stratified gene abundance and gene
 expression measurements of methanogenesis and methanotrophy to
 investigate CH4 flux variance at an ombrotrophic peat bog. Our
 results show that the flux variance was strongly correlated to methanogen
 abundance and that peat depth also exerted significant control
 over CH4 flux, methanogen abundance, and the relationship between
 the two. Correlations between CH4 flux and either WTD or soil temperature
 were absent or minimal. These findings suggest that microbial factors
 likely underlie localized variance in wetland CH4 flux, and that
 a greater reliance on biological predictors could improve our ability to
 understand wetland methane fluxes at finer scales than is currently
 possible.
description: The majority of the data consists of RNA and DNA abundances of
 specific genes (mcrA,  pmoA, mmoX) quantified via the digital droplet
 polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) method. Relatedly, dsDNA abundance for
 corresponding samples was quantified using fluorometric methods on a
 Qubit. Additionally, there is accompanying environmental data from the
 study site, including soil temperature (measured via in-ground probe),
 water table depth (measured from surface using constructed wells), and
 refusal depth (measured as a distance with an in-ground depth probe).
 Lastly, there is methane flux data for our study site, quantified via
 cavity ring-down spectroscopy using a closed chamber method. All data has
 been processed in R Studio, using the packages specified in the
 accompanying manuscript. 
description: All datafiles can be opened in Excel or an equivalent CSV editor.
 The main script is in the form of an R markdown document. 
description: # Data from: Microbial Activity Contributes to Spatial Heterogeneity of
 Wetland Methane Fluxes *** The majority of the data consists of RNA and
 DNA abundances of specific genes (mcrA, pmoA, mmoX) quantified via the
 digital droplet polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) method. Relatedly, dsDNA
 abundance for corresponding samples were quantified using fluorometric
 methods on a Qubit. Additionally, there is accompanying environemntal data
 from the study site, including soil temperature (measure via in-ground
 probe), water table depth (measured from surface using constructed wells),
 and refusal depth (measured as a distance with an in-ground depth probe).
 Ferrous iron, total iron, and dissolved oxygen concenreated using Hach
 kits. Lastly, there is methane flux data for our study site, quantified
 via cavity ring down spectroscopy using a closed chamber method. All data
 has been processed in R Studio, using the packages specified in the
 accompanying manuscript. ## Description of the Data and file structure CSV
 with raw data: * Identity: Refers to a unique sample location at the field
 site * Time.Period: Refers to which sampling campaign sample was collected
 during * Depth: Sample depth from surface (inches) * Extraction.Mass.g:
 Mass used for nucleic acid extraction (g) * qubit\_RNA: RNA concentration
 in eluant (ng/ul) * qubit\_DNA: DNA concentration in eluant (ng/ul) *
 Peat\_depth: refusal depth for sample location (feet) * flux\_level:
 Classification of plot as high or low-fluxing site * Soil\_temp: Soil
 temperature (C) * WTD: Water table depth (cm from surface) * Flux: methane
 flux in ug/m2/hr * Reco: CO2 flux in mg/m2/hr * Fe\_2\_6: ferrous iron at
 6" from surface (mg/l) * Fe\_2\_12: ferrous iron at 12" from
 surface (mg/l) * Fe\_2\_18: ferrous iron at 18" from surface (mg/l) *
 Fe\_T\_6: total iron at 6" from surface (mg/l) * Fe\_T\_12: total
 iron at 12" from surface (mg/l) * Fe\_T\_18: total iron at 6"
 from surface (mg/l) * DO\_6: dissolved oxygen 6" from surface (mg/l)
 * DO\_12: dissolved oxygen 12" from surface (mg/l) * DO\_18:
 dissolved oxygen 18" from surface (mg/l) * mcrA\_full\_norm: gene
 count of mcrA RNA * pmoA\_full\_norm: gene count of pmoA RNA *
 mmoX\_full\_norm: gene count of mmoX RNA * mcrA\_DNA\_full\_norm: gene
 count of mcrA DNA * pmoA\_DNA\_full\_norm: gene count of pmoA DNA *
 mmoX\_DNA\_full\_norm: gene count of mmoX DNA