Toward the development of microbial indicators for wetland assessment

Sims, Atreyee; Zhang, Yanyan; Gajaraj, Shashikanth; Brown, Pamela; Hu, Zhiqiang

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2013.01.023

Cited by 123 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 147 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This concentration is consistent with previous ecotoxicology investigations at Macquarie Island, where an EC 20 of 190 mg kg Ϫ1 was generated from an acute potential nitrification enzyme assay and a protective concentration between 50 and 200 mg kg Ϫ1 was recommended based on avoidance, survival, and reproduction tests of the endemic Macquarie Island earthworm (9,28). Within wetland assessments, community indices that relate to ecosystem-specific functionality, such as the AOB/AOA ratio, have likewise been identified as promising microbial indicators (10).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…With developments in sequencing technologies, the phylogenetic and functional understanding of environmental microbial communities is rapidly expanding and in turn promoting the development of molecular microbial indicators as integrated measures of ecosystem health (10,11). To date, the majority of studies assessing the impact of petroleum hydrocarbons on polar soil microbial populations have focused on the stimulated portion of the bacterial community, with the aim of establishing the natural attenuation capacity of a soil or the effects of active bioremediation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Bacterial Targets as Potential Indicators of Diesel Fuel Toxicity in Subantarctic Soils

Dorst

Siciliano

Winsley

et al. 2014

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

cAppropriate remediation targets or universal guidelines for polar regions do not currently exist, and a comprehensive understanding of the effects of diesel fuel on the natural microbial populations in polar and subpolar soils is lacking. Our aim was to investigate the response of the bacterial community to diesel fuel and to evaluate if these responses have the potential to be used as indicators of soil toxicity thresholds. We set up short-and long-exposure tests across a soil organic carbon gradient. Utilizing broad and targeted community indices, as well as functional genes involved in the nitrogen cycle, we investigated the bacterial community structure and its potential functioning in response to special Antarctic blend (SAB) diesel fuel. We found the primary effect of diesel fuel toxicity was a reduction in species richness, evenness, and phylogenetic diversity, with the resulting community heavily dominated by a few species, principally Pseudomonas. The decline in richness and phylogenetic diversity was linked to disruption of the nitrogen cycle, with species and functional genes involved in nitrification significantly reduced. Of the 11 targets we evaluated, we found the bacterial amoA gene indicative of potential ammonium oxidation, the most suitable indicator of toxicity. Dose-response modeling for this target generated an average effective concentration responsible for 20% change (EC 20 ) of 155 mg kg ؊1 , which is consistent with previous Macquarie Island ecotoxicology assays. Unlike traditional single-species tolerance testing, bacterial targets allowed us to simultaneously evaluate more than 1,700 species from 39 phyla, inclusive of rare, sensitive, and functionally relevant portions of the community.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Targets as Potential Indicators of Diesel Fuel Toxicity in Subantarctic Soils

Dorst

Siciliano

Winsley

et al. 2014

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Understanding the nature of these changes may help us identify a set of environmental conditions characteristic to particular groups of taxa (Feris et al, 2009;Logares et al, 2012). Ultimately, these relationships could be used to develop microbial indicators (Feris et al, 2009) and help predict microbial community responses to environmental conditions (Paerl et al, 2003;Sims et al, 2013). Communities of other organisms including macroinvertebrates and periphyton are widely and routinely used as bioindicators of localized chemical and physical conditions (Barbour et al, 1999;Hering et al, 2003;Solimini et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial community responses to a gradient of alkaline mountaintop mine drainage in Central Appalachian streams

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microbial community composition and diversity change along chemical gradients, leading to the expectation that microbial community information might provide new gradient characterizations. Here we examine stream bacteria composition and diversity along a strong chemical gradient in Central Appalachian streams. Coal mining in the region generates alkaline mine drainage (AlkMD), causing dramatic increases in conductivity, alkalinity, sulfate and metals sufficient to degrade stream macrobiota communities throughout the ecoregion. In this study, we examined the relationship between water and biofilm chemistry and biofilm bacteria taxonomic composition in streams where active and reclaimed surface coal mines occupied 0-96% of watershed surface area. We incubated wood veneers in each stream site for 4 months to develop biofilms on similar substrates. We sampled water chemistry at the time of deployment and collection, and after 1 month. Following incubation, we collected biofilms for microbial and chemical characterization. Microbial composition was determined by pyrosequencing 16S rRNA amplicons. Biofilm subsamples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine metal concentrations. Our results show that microbial community composition differed significantly between AlkMD-exposed and AlkMD-unexposed sites, and that compositional dissimilarity increased with AlkMD loading. Diversity was not correlated with pH or extent of upstream mining, but instead correlated with biofilm concentrations of Cd, Mn, Zn and Ni. Within mined sites, the extent of upstream mining was negatively correlated with taxonomic richness. Despite major compositional shifts, functional capacity predicted with PICRUSt (Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States) correlated with mining in only 3 of 43 level-2 KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) Orthology groups.

show abstract

“…Results obtained from several surveys have indicated significant correlations between enzyme activity rates and particulate organic matter or chlorophyll-a used as descriptors of the trophic state and productivity of aquatic ecosystems; consequently, the assay of LAP and AP has been suggested as a suitable and quick approach to discriminate different water bodies according to their trophic state. Furthermore, Sims et al [35] have recently proposed a multi-metric index which takes into account microbial indicators to assess wetland health condition and to set up appropriate management and restoration strategies.…”

Section: Editorialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Parameters as a Practical Tool for the Functional Characterization and Ecological Status Assessment of Transitional Areas

Caruso¹

2015

J Ecosys Ecograph

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Toward the development of microbial indicators for wetland assessment

Cited by 123 publications

References 147 publications

Bacterial Targets as Potential Indicators of Diesel Fuel Toxicity in Subantarctic Soils

Bacterial Targets as Potential Indicators of Diesel Fuel Toxicity in Subantarctic Soils

Bacterial community responses to a gradient of alkaline mountaintop mine drainage in Central Appalachian streams

Microbial Parameters as a Practical Tool for the Functional Characterization and Ecological Status Assessment of Transitional Areas

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About