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Ammonia nitrogen affects the methane fermentation of chicken manure, both the process resilience and the functional microbial community dynamics. In this study, a mesophilic continuous stirred‐tank reactor (CSTR) was investigated with total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) varied from 2000 mg L⁻¹ to 16000 mg L⁻¹.

16S‐rDNA cloning and TRFLP results revealed that the microbial community shifts significantly responding to TAN. Aceticlastic Methanosarcina acetivorans increased gradually from 17% in the steady stage to 72% in the recovered stage with high resistance compared with aceticlastic Methanosaeta, which almost disappeared at high TAN. In contrast, hydrogenotrophic Methanoculleus increased from 2% in the steady stage to 30% in the inhibited stage and decreased to 13% in the recovered stage. The abundances of the dominant Firmicutes were 74% and 92%, with and …