Although CH
4 flux micrometeorological observation data are limited
[76][62], recent studies on the community structures of methanogens and methanotrophs have revealed the biological processes common to interior wetlands and as unique characteristics in coastal wetlands. Previous studies on CH
4 metabolism have indicated that CH
4 emission in natural ecosystems is largely driven by microorganisms, especially methanogens and methanotrophs
[34,77,78,79,80][63][64][65][66][67]. Highly diverse methanogenic and methanotrophic communities can promote CH
4 production and oxidation
[81,82][68][69]. However, different types of methanogens and methanotrophs have preferable growing conditions, which further affect CH
4 emissions in natural ecosystems
[77,83,84][64][70][71]. Methanogens include hydrogenotrophic, acetoclastic, and methylotrophic methanogens
[84,85][71][72]. Methanotrophs exist under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Aerobic methanotrophs are phylogenetically divided into two main groups: type I (
Gammaproteobacteria, e.g.,
Methylococcaceae) and type II (
Alphaproteobacteria, e.g.,
Methylocystaceae)
[86,87[73][74][75][76],
88,89], nitrate- or nitrite-dependent
[90,91][77][78] and metal-dependent
[92][79] CH
4 oxidizers, respectively. Type I methanotrophs tend to be dominant in natural environments with sufficient nutrients and substrates (i.e., relatively high O
2 concentration, low CH
4 concentration)
[39[34][44][80],
58,93], whereas type II methanotrophs tend to be abundant in resource-limited environments with a high affinity for their nutrients and substrates (i.e., relatively low O
2 concentration, high CH
4 concentration)
[84,87,94,95][71][74][81][82]. Of note, methanogens and methanotrophs in coastal wetland soils have unique characteristics that are rarely found in interior wetland soils. Hydrogenotrophic and acetoclastic methanogens are considered dominant in natural freshwater wetland soils. However, methylotrophic methanogens are dominant in hypersaline and sulphate-rich environments including coastal wetlands, and they make different contributions to CH
4 production
[82,96,97][69][83][84]. In coastal wetlands, anaerobic methanotrophs include sulphate-dependent methanotrophs
[39,98][34][85], which might have an important role in controlling low coastal CH
4 fluxes. Furthermore, several reports have described the possibility of active CH
4 production under aerobic conditions in mangrove forests based on laboratory incubation experiments and field observations
[39,99][34][86].