Abundance of fecal indicator bacteria and diversity of Escherichia coli associated with poultry farms and pasture land cover in streams of northwestern South Carolina.

ABSTRACT: Livestock can contribute fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) to waterbodies. However, few studies have examined the relationship between watershed land use or land cover involving livestock production and the genetic diversity of Escherichia coli in freshwater ecosystems. Our major goal was to determine if FIB abundance and E. coli phylogenetic group distributions in headwater streams are related to livestock production in rural watersheds in South Carolina. In both 2017 and 2018, grab samples were collected from streams at summer baseflow. In 2017, we collected samples from watersheds with or without poultry rearing facilities (PRFs). In 2018, we collected samples from streams draining watersheds with mixed forest and pasture cover and from streams in mostly forested watersheds. In both summer

SUBMITTER: Britt VH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11618215 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature