Multiple Stressors Determine Community Structure and Estimated Function of River Biofilm Bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Freshwater ecosystems are exposed to multiple stressors, but their individual and combined effects remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigated the response of stream biofilm bacterial communities to warming, hydrological stress, and pesticide exposure. We used 24 artificial streams on which epilithic (growing on coarse sediments) and epipsammic (growing on fine sediments) stream biofilms were maintained. Bacterial community composition and estimated function of biofilms exposed during 30 days to individual and combined stressors were assessed using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. Among the individual effects by stressors, hydrological stress (i.e., a simulated low-flow situation) was the most relevant, since it significantly altered 57% of the most abundant bacterial taxa (n = 28)

SUBMITTER: Romero F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7267204 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature