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Microorganisms inhabit highly localized spaces known as microenvironments, which are defined by distinct physical and chemical characteristics. These include oxygen concentration, pH, temperature, light availability, and nutrient levels. The conditions within a microenvironment can differ markedly from those in the surrounding area and significantly influence microbial growth, metabolism, and community structure.Microenvironments often display sharp physicochemical gradients over small spatial...
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Microbial communities forming biofilms and mats represent complex, spatially structured ecosystems where metabolic processes are stratified according to light, oxygen, and nutrient gradients. Biofilms are initial colonization stages, only a few millimeters thick, while mature microbial mats can reach centimeter-scale thickness and display intricate vertical organization. Their structural and functional heterogeneity allows microorganisms to occupy distinct ecological niches within a few...
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The deep ocean and its underlying sediments represent vast, largely unexplored microbial habitats that extend far beyond the sunlit photic zone. The photic (euphotic) zone typically spans the upper ~100–200 meters of pelagic waters in the open ocean, but its depth varies geographically and seasonally, where sufficient light supports photosynthetic life. Below this lies the deep sea, spanning roughly 1000–6000 meters (bathypelagic to abyssal zones), with deeper hadal trenches...
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Area of Science:

  • Marine Ecology
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Anthropogenic disturbance causes sediment resuspension, a growing threat to marine coastal ecosystems.
  • While effects on pelagic and macro/meiobenthic communities are known, benthic microbial impacts are understudied.
  • Benthic microbial loops are crucial for nutrient cycling in marine environments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of sediment resuspension on benthic microbial components.
  • To assess impacts on bacterial abundance, biomass, activity, and heterotrophic nanobenthos.
  • To differentiate effects based on disturbance intensity and timescale.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental microcosms simulating sediment resuspension at two disturbance levels.
  • Quantification of benthic bacterial abundance, biomass, and activity.
  • Enumeration of heterotrophic nanobenthos abundance.

Main Results:

  • Sediment resuspension decreased overall benthic microbial abundance, including metabolically active bacteria and nanobenthos.
  • Disturbance intensity had short-term differential effects on the benthic microbial loop structure and function (within 36 hours).
  • Surviving bacteria showed increased activity, leading to higher sediment organic carbon turnover rates.

Conclusions:

  • Sediment resuspension negatively impacts benthic microbial communities.
  • Increased microbial activity and carbon turnover suggest enhanced nutrient availability.
  • These changes may have significant consequences for the trophic state of coastal marine ecosystems.