Spatial variability overwhelms seasonal patterns in bacterioplankton communities across a river to ocean gradient.

ABSTRACT: Few studies of microbial biogeography address variability across both multiple habitats and multiple seasons. Here we examine the spatial and temporal variability of bacterioplankton community composition of the Columbia River coastal margin using 16S amplicon pyrosequencing of 300 water samples collected in 2007 and 2008. Communities separated into seven groups (ANOSIM, P<0.001): river, estuary, plume, epipelagic, mesopelagic, shelf bottom (depth<350 m) and slope bottom (depth>850 m). The ordination of these samples was correlated with salinity (ρ=-0.83) and depth (ρ=-0.62). Temporal patterns were obscured by spatial variability among the coastal environments, and could only be detected within individual groups. Thus, structuring environmental factors (for example, salinity, depth) domina

SUBMITTER: Fortunato CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3280145 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature