Organic matter and metal loadings influence the spatial gradient of the benthic bacterial community in a temperate estuary
Eric J. Raes
A B * , Bronwyn H. Holmes A , Kristen Karsh A , Katie E. Hillyer C , Mark Green A , Jodie van de Kamp A , Levente Bodrossy A , Sam Whitehead D , Bernadette Proemse D , Ursula Taylor D , Akira Weller-Wong D , Andrew T. Revill A , Elizabeth A. Brewer A and Andrew Bissett A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO, Hobart, Tas. 7004, Australia.
B Flourishing Oceans, Minderoo Foundation, PO Box 3155, Broadway, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
C Land and Water, CSIRO, Ecoscience Precinct, Dutton Park, Brisbane, Qld 4102, Australia.
D Derwent Estuary Program, Hobart, Tas. 7000, Australia.
Marine and Freshwater Research 73(4) 428-440 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF21225
Submitted: 2 August 2021 Accepted: 6 December 2021 Published: 18 January 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Omics-based monitoring using bacterial marker genes can provide valuable mechanistic insights into the functioning of ecosystems. Here, we present a 2.5-year dataset with monthly sampling of sediment genomic bacterial DNA (n = 160) in a temperate, urbanised estuary in Tasmania, Australia. Molecular data were collected with physical and biochemical bottom water data, sediment organic matter and metal concentrations. Our study supports evidence that sediment-specific variables (organic matter composition) have a larger influence over the sediment bacterial community than do large-scale environmental conditions (seasonal water changes). The observed spatial and temporal differences are interesting, given the significant seasonal variation in bottom water data (e.g. temperature differences of up to 10°C and 3-fold increases for NOx concentrations in the bottom water between summer and winter months). Whereas bottom water parameters changed seasonally, metal concentrations in the sediments did not show seasonal variations. Metal concentrations explained a larger variance in the bacterial community among sites but not on an estuary-wide scale. The disconnect between environmental bottom water conditions and the sediment bacterial communities has important ramifications, because it indicates that seasonal changes have little effect on the compositional dynamics of sediment microbes and may, therefore, be difficult to trace with marker-gene surveys.
Keywords: 16S rRNA gene, bacteria, bacterial eDNA, environmental monitoring, functional diversity, metals, organic matter, temporal change, temperate estuary, urban.
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