Wildland fire smoke alters the composition, diversity, and potential atmospheric function of microbial life in the aerobiome.

ABSTRACT: The atmosphere contains a diverse reservoir of microbes but the sources and factors contributing to microbial aerosol variability are not well constrained. To advance understanding of microbial emissions in wildfire smoke, we used unmanned aircraft systems to analyze the aerosols above high-intensity forest fires in the western United States. Our results show that samples of the smoke contained ~four-fold higher concentrations of cells (1.02 ± 0.26 × 10⁵ m^-3) compared to background air, with 78% of microbes in smoke inferred to be viable. Fivefold higher taxon richness and ~threefold enrichment of ice nucleating particle concentrations in smoke implies that wildfires are an important source of diverse bacteria and fungi as well as meteorologically relevant aerosols. W

SUBMITTER: Kobziar LN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9723787 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature