Physical and chemical factors affecting microbial biomass and activity in contaminated subsurface riverine sediments

Over 80 years of direct discharge of industrial effluents into the Mahoning River, located in northeastern Ohio, USA, has led to the accumulation of a wide variety of pollutants within its sediments. This study examined the physical and chemical parameters, including lipophilic pollutants, affecting microbial activity and biomass in subsurface (10-40 cm horizon) sediments. Microbial biomass was higher in anthropogenically contaminated sediments, and step-wise linear regression showed that approximately 82% of the variation in microbial biomass could be explained by total hexane extractable hydrocarbons, sediment particle size, and water content. There was no correlation between microbial activity and biomass. Independent variables influencing anaerobic activity were temperature and water holding capacity. The results of this study indicate that freshwater, sedimentary anaerobic microbial communities respond to a range of environmental parameters, many of which influence subsurface river sediments, and that lipophilic pollutants, when present, can cause increases in total microbial biomass.