Biological Formation and Consumption of Methane

Abstract

Methane is an important product formed during the bacterial degradation of organic matter in environments such as flooded soils, wetlands, estuaries, marine and freshwater sediments, and the gastrointestinal tract of animals (Whitman et al., 1992). This chapter describes the conditions that lead to biogenic methane formation in natural environments, the metabolic pathways and interactions that lead to methanogenesis, and the implications of these factors on the biogeochemistry of methane.