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Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
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Temporal patterns of microbial community structure in the Mid-Atlantic Bight
Joshua D Nelson1, Susan E Boehme, Clare E Reimers
1Pt Pleasant High School, Pt Pleasant, NJ, USA.
FEMS Microbiology Ecology
|July 30, 2008
Summary
Coastal bacterioplankton communities exhibit distinct seasonal patterns, not spatial ones. Unmeasured environmental factors, not traditional oceanographic data, appear to drive microbial community structure.
Area of Science:
- Marine microbiology
- Coastal ecosystem dynamics
- Bacterioplankton community analysis
Background:
- Limited understanding of coastal bacterioplankton population dynamics on kilometer and seasonal scales.
- Open ocean time-series sites are well-studied, but coastal environments remain less explored.
- Need for research on microbial community variability in coastal zones.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate bacterioplankton community variability in the coastal ocean.
- To understand spatial and temporal patterns of microbial populations.
- To identify factors influencing coastal microbial community structure.
Main Methods:
- Monthly sampling of bacterial biomass along a 34-km transect near LEO-15 (1995-1996).
- Surface and bottom water sampling at seven stations (1-35 m depth).
- Microbial population fingerprinting using 16S rRNA genes and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis.
Main Results:
- Cluster analysis revealed distinct temporal patterns in bacterioplankton communities, overriding spatial or depth-related groupings.
- Principal components analysis supported the observed temporal variability.
- Partial least squares regression showed no significant correlation between traditional oceanographic parameters (physical, nutrient) and bacterial community variability.
Conclusions:
- Bacterioplankton communities in the Mid-Atlantic Bight exhibit strong seasonal structuring.
- Traditional oceanographic factors do not appear to be the primary drivers of coastal microbial community variability.
- Unmeasured environmental factors likely play a significant role in structuring coastal microbial ecosystems.
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