MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS

MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carrino-Kyker, Sarah Rose
Language:English
Published: Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK 2010
Subjects:
Ecology
microbial ecology
community structure
richness
diversity
ecosystem function
environmental change
vernal pools
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1275499406
id ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-case1275499406
record_format oai_dc
spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-case12754994062021-08-03T05:33:33Z MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS Carrino-Kyker, Sarah Rose Ecology microbial ecology community structure richness diversity ecosystem function environmental change vernal pools The effects of environmental perturbations on microbial community structure may strongly influence ecosystem functioning, as microorganisms play a dominant role in nutrient and carbon cycling. Vernal pools are an interesting model system for studying environmental effects on microbial structure and function, due to a physicochemical environment that is highly variable in space and time. In a field study, we found that changes in eukaryotic microbial communities of vernal pools were correlated with differences in a number of parameters, including dissolved oxygen, conductivity, urban land-use, and substrate quality. These results indicated that both landscape-level influences on vernal pool chemistry as well as local inputs of leaf litter are important for structuring microbial communities and further suggested that microbes may respond to multiple levels of environmental change.<p>In a microcosm study, we investigated the relationship between microbial community structure and function under different levels of environmental change: pH manipulation and nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) addition. We found that bacterial and fungal communities were altered by pH, which corresponded with differences in respiration and suggested that broad changes can affect both structure and function. Denitrification, a microbial process which utilizes NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> as an electron acceptor, was not detected in the absence of NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>. This large change in function was independent of community structure changes, as NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> addition had little effect on community structure of bacteria, fungi, or denitrifying organisms or on denitrifier relative abundance or population size, indicating that narrow changes may not affect community dynamics, even of functional groups. The microbial communities in the microcosms were further characterized with a metagenomic approach, which showed no difference in bacterial richness or diversity with NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> addition and reaffirmed previous conclusions that changes in denitrification could occur without altered microbial community structure. The metagenomes further revealed high metabolic diversity, suggesting that denitrifiers and other groups of vernal pool microbes may rely on physiological plasticity for growth when certain resources are limiting. Overall, our results suggest that microbial community stability and effects on function are highly context-dependent, driven by the nature of the environmental perturbation and the physiological plasticity of the communities affected.</p> 2010-07-30 English text Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1275499406 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1275499406 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Ecology
microbial ecology
community structure
richness
diversity
ecosystem function
environmental change
vernal pools
spellingShingle Ecology
microbial ecology
community structure
richness
diversity
ecosystem function
environmental change
vernal pools
Carrino-Kyker, Sarah Rose
MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS
author Carrino-Kyker, Sarah Rose
author_facet Carrino-Kyker, Sarah Rose
author_sort Carrino-Kyker, Sarah Rose
title MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS
title_short MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS
title_full MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS
title_fullStr MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS
title_full_unstemmed MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN INVESTIGATION IN VERNAL POOLS
title_sort microbial community responses to environmental change: an investigation in vernal pools
publisher Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK
publishDate 2010
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1275499406
work_keys_str_mv AT carrinokykersarahrose microbialcommunityresponsestoenvironmentalchangeaninvestigationinvernalpools
_version_ 1719421745396449280

Similar Items