In:
PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS), Vol. 15, No. 11 ( 2020-11-24), p. e0242339-
Abstract:
In coastal aquatic ecosystems, prokaryotic communities play an important role in regulating the cycling of nutrients and greenhouse gases. In the coastal zone, estuaries are complex and delicately balanced systems containing a multitude of specific ecological niches for resident microbes. Anthropogenic influences (i.e. urban, industrial and agricultural land uses) along the estuarine continuum can invoke physical and biochemical changes that impact these niches. In this study, we investigate the relative abundance of methanogenic archaea and other prokaryotic communities, distributed along a land use gradient in the subtropical Burnett River Estuary, situated within the Great Barrier Reef catchment, Australia. Microbiological assemblages were compared to physicochemical, nutrient and greenhouse gas distributions in both pore and surface water. Pore water samples from within the most urbanised site showed a high relative abundance of methanogenic Euryarchaeota (7.8% of all detected prokaryotes), which coincided with elevated methane concentrations in the water column, ranging from 0.51 to 0.68 μM at the urban and sewage treatment plant (STP) sites, respectively. These sites also featured elevated dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations (0.66 to 1.16 mM), potentially fuelling methanogenesis. At the upstream freshwater site, both methane and DOC concentrations were considerably higher (2.68 μM and 1.8 mM respectively) than at the estuarine sites (0.02 to 0.66 μM and 0.39 to 1.16 mM respectively) and corresponded to the highest relative abundance of methanotrophic bacteria. The proportion of sulfate reducing bacteria in the prokaryotic community was elevated within the urban and STP sites (relative abundances of 8.0%– 10.5%), consistent with electron acceptors with higher redox potentials (e.g. O 2 , NO 3 - ) being scarce. Overall, this study showed that ecological niches in anthropogenically altered environments appear to give an advantage to specialized prokaryotes invoking a potential change in the thermodynamic landscape of the ecosystem and in turn facilitating the generation of methane–a potent greenhouse gas.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1932-6203
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.g007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.t001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.s008
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.r001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.r002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.r003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242339.r004
Language:
English
Publisher:
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Publication Date:
2020
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2267670-3
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