Microbial diversity and community respiration in freshwater sediments influenced by artificial light at night.

ABSTRACT: An increasing proportion of the Earth's surface is illuminated at night. In aquatic ecosystems, artificial light at night (ALAN) may influence microbial communities living in the sediments. These communities are highly diverse and play an important role in the global carbon cycle. We combined field and laboratory experiments using sediments from an agricultural drainage system to examine how ALAN affects communities and alters carbon mineralization. Two identical light infrastructures were installed parallel to a drainage ditch before the start of the experiment. DNA metabarcoding indicated that both sediment communities were similar. After one was lit for five months (July-December 2012) we observed an increase in photoautotroph abundance (diatoms, Cyanobacteria) in ALAN-exposed sediments

SUBMITTER: Holker F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4375370 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature