The effect of pretreatment [thermo-lime with 0.09 g Ca(OH)(2)/g total solid (TS) of biomass at 120 degrees C for 4 h and hot water at 120 degrees C for 4 h] and TS content on the thermophilic anaerobic digestion of Spartina alterniflora was assessed in six batch reactors and three leaching bed reactors. The componential change in solid biomass was analyzed to understand the changes in biogas production. The biogas production rate but not the biogas yield of the sample pretreated with thermo-lime was improved compared with that of raw and hot-water pretreated samples. The biogas yield (206.8 mL/g TS) and production rate constant (k; 0.052 d(-1)) of the hot-water pretreated sample were obviously higher than those of the thermo-lime-pre-treated sample (168.3 mL/g TS and 0.028 d(-1)) because more biodegradable matter were preserved in the former sample. Dry anaerobic digestion at high TS content caused a high componential reduction. However, the digestion also led to organic metabolite accumulation because of mass transfer limitations, which decreased biogas yield and production rate. A decrease in TS content from 20.8% to 17.9% increased 29.6% of biogas yield and 67.9% of k values. Process stability was enhanced with decreasing TS content. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.