Seasonal variations and co-occurrence networks of bacterial communities in the water and sediment of artificial habitat in Laoshan Bay, China

Abstract

Marine bacteria in the seawater and seafloor are essential parts of Earth’s biodiversity, as they are critical participants of the global energy flow and the material cycles. However, their spatial-temporal variations and potential interactions among varied biotopes in artificial habitat are poorly understood. In this study, we profiled the variations of bacterial communities among seasons and areas in the water and sediment of artificial reefs using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and analyzed the potential interaction patterns among microorganisms. Distinct bacterial community structures in the two biotopes were exhibited. The Shannon diversity and the richness of phyla in the sediment were higher, while the differences among the four seasons were more evident in the water samples. The seasonal variations of bacterial communities in the water were more distinct, while significant variations among four areas were only observed in the sediment. Correlation analysis revealed that nitrite and mud content were the most important factors influencing the abundant OTUs in the water and sediment, respectively. Potential interactions and keystone species were identified based on the three co-occurrence networks. Results showed that the correlations among bacterial communities in the sediment were lower than in the water. Besides, the abundance of the top five abundant species and five keystone species had different changing patterns among four seasons and four areas. These results enriched our understanding of the microbial structures, dynamics, and interactions of microbial communities in artificial habitats, which could provide new insights into planning, constructing and managing these special habitats in the future.

Functional and Seasonal Changes in the Structure of Microbiome Inhabiting Bottom Sediments of a Pond Intended for Ecological King Carp Farming

“…Lee, et al [ 12 ] identified the presence of Proteobacteria, followed by Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, and Firmicutes in sediments in the Yellow Sea. In the sediments originating from Laoshan Bay (China), the bacterial community was dominated (>10%) by the phyla Proteobacteria, Desulfobacterota, and Acidobacteria [ 13 ]. It was also emphasized that the biodiversity of urban ponds, expressed by species richness, appears to be generally lower than in rural ponds [ 14 ].…”

“…What is more, it was suggested that ponds are highly diverse but understudied systems that could benefit from eDNA monitoring [ 15 ]. Usually, assessment of pond biodiversity is regarded as costly, time-consuming, and dependent on taxonomic expertise [ 13 , 16 ]. Nevertheless, a culture-independent technique was used in this study to identify the highest possible number of bacteria capable of living in the bottom sediments of a pond intended for organic king carp culture.…”