Impact of hydrologic boundaries on microbial planktonic and biofilm communities in shallow terrestrial subsurface environments.

ABSTRACT: Subsurface environments contain a large proportion of planetary microbial biomass and harbor diverse communities responsible for mediating biogeochemical cycles important to groundwater used by human society for consumption, irrigation, agriculture and industry. Within the saturated zone, capillary fringe and vadose zones, microorganisms can reside in two distinct phases (planktonic or biofilm), and significant differences in community composition, structure and activity between free-living and attached communities are commonly accepted. However, largely due to sampling constraints and the challenges of working with solid substrata, the contribution of each phase to subsurface processes is largely unresolved. Here, we synthesize current information on the diversity and activity of shallow

SUBMITTER: Smith HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6192502 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature