Spatial variability in airborne bacterial communities across land-use types and their relationship to the bacterial communities of potential source environments.

ABSTRACT: Although bacteria are ubiquitous in the near-surface atmosphere and they can have important effects on human health, airborne bacteria have received relatively little attention and their spatial dynamics remain poorly understood. Owing to differences in meteorological conditions and the potential sources of airborne bacteria, we would expect the atmosphere over different land-use types to harbor distinct bacterial communities. To test this hypothesis, we sampled the near-surface atmosphere above three distinct land-use types (agricultural fields, suburban areas and forests) across northern Colorado, USA, sampling five sites per land-use type. Microbial abundances were stable across land-use types, with ∼10(5)-10(6) bacterial cells per m(3) of air, but the concentrations of biological ice n

SUBMITTER: Bowers RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3105744 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature