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Different diversity-functioning relationship in lake and stream bacterial communities.

Irene Ylla1, Hannes Peter, Anna M Romaní

  • 1Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain. irene.ylla@gmail.com

FEMS Microbiology Ecology
|March 1, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Reducing bacterial diversity in freshwater ecosystems negatively impacts ecosystem functions. Stream bacterial communities showed a greater loss of function compared to lake communities when diversity decreased, highlighting the importance of microbial diversity for ecosystem health.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbial ecology
  • Freshwater ecosystems
  • Biogeochemistry

Background:

  • Biodiversity is linked to ecosystem functions, with microbial communities potentially offering functional redundancy.
  • Extracellular enzyme activities are crucial for degrading dissolved organic carbon (DOC).
  • Freshwater bacterial communities from different environments may possess distinct functional capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of bacterial diversity reduction on extracellular enzyme activities involved in DOC degradation.
  • To compare the effects of diversity loss on stream and lake bacterial communities.
  • To understand how community assembly influences diversity-functioning relationships in aquatic bacteria.

Main Methods:

  • Manipulation of bacterial diversity in stream and lake water column cultures.
  • Assay of extracellular enzyme activities to determine substrate utilization.
  • Comparison of enzyme activities between diverse and low-diversity communities.

Main Results:

  • Stream and lake bacterial communities exhibited distinct enzyme activities, indicating differential substrate use.
  • Stream communities preferentially degraded plant-derived materials (cellulose, hemicellulose).
  • Lake communities showed higher efficiency in degrading lignin-like material and peptides.
  • Decreasing bacterial diversity had a more pronounced negative effect on ecosystem multifunctionality in stream communities compared to lake communities.
  • Lake bacterial cultures demonstrated higher multifunctional redundancy than stream cultures.

Conclusions:

  • Community assembly processes, such as those influenced by environmental factors like water residence time, shape diversity-functioning relationships in freshwater bacteria.
  • Lake bacterial communities possess greater multifunctional redundancy, potentially due to longer organic matter aging.
  • Maintaining microbial diversity is crucial for preserving ecosystem functions, particularly in stream environments.