Stormwater influences phytoplankton assemblages within the diverse, but impacted Sydney Harbour estuary.

ABSTRACT: Sydney Harbour is subjected to persistent stress associated with anthropogenic activity and global climate change, but is particularly subjected to pulse stress events associated with stormwater input during episodic periods of high rainfall. Photosynthetic microbes underpin metazoan diversity within estuarine systems and are therefore important bioindicators of ecosystem health; yet how stormwater input affects their occurrence and distribution in Sydney Harbour remains poorly understood. We utilised molecular tools (16S/18S rRNA and petB genes) to examine how the phytoplankton community structure (both prokaryotes and eukaryotes) within Sydney Harbour varies between high and low rainfall periods. The relative proportion of phytoplankton sequences was more abundant during the high rainfal

SUBMITTER: Varkey D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6306231 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature