Interpretations of the abundance and distribution of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (brGDGT) lipids have been increasingly applied to infer changes in paleoenvironment and to estimate terrigenous organic matter inputs into estuarine and marine sediments. However, only preliminary information is known regarding the ecology and physiology of the source organisms of these biomarkers. We assessed the production rates of brGDGTs under different redox conditions in peat, where these lipids are found in high concentrations, particularly at greater depths below the fluctuating water table. The incorporation of hydrogen relative to carbon into lipids observed in our dual stable isotope probing assay indicates that brGDGTs were produced by heterotrophic bacteria. Unexpectedly, incubations with stable isotope tracers of the surface horizon (5-20 cm) initiated under oxic conditions before turning suboxic and eventually anoxic exhibited up to one order of magnitude higher rates of brGDGT production (16-87 ng cm–3 y-1) relative to the deeper, anoxic zone (20- 35 cm; ca. 7 ng cm–3 y-1), and anoxic incubations of the surface horizon (