Interactions between hydrology and water chemistry shape bacterioplankton biogeography across boreal freshwater networks.

ABSTRACT: Disentangling the mechanisms shaping bacterioplankton communities across freshwater ecosystems requires considering a hydrologic dimension that can influence both dispersal and local sorting, but how the environment and hydrology interact to shape the biogeography of freshwater bacterioplankton over large spatial scales remains unexplored. Using Illumina sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, we investigate the large-scale spatial patterns of bacterioplankton across 386 freshwater systems from seven distinct regions in boreal Québec. We show that both hydrology and local water chemistry (mostly pH) interact to shape a sequential structuring of communities from highly diverse assemblages in headwater streams toward larger rivers and lakes dominated by fewer taxa. Increases in water resid

SUBMITTER: Nino-Garcia JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4918434 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature