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MICROBIAL BIOFILMS AS INDICATORS OF ESTUARINE CONDITION
Citation:
Snyder, R. A., J. E. Lepo, AND M A. Lewis. MICROBIAL BIOFILMS AS INDICATORS OF ESTUARINE CONDITION. Presented at Estuarine Indicator Workshop, Sanibel, FL, Oct 29-31, 2003.
Description:
Microbial biofilms are complex communities of bacteria, protozoa, microalgae, and micrometazoa which exist in a polymer matrix on submerged surfaces. Their development is integrative of environmental conditions and is affected by local biodiversity, the availability of organic matter and inorganic nutrients, and the presence or absence of grazers and anthropogenic contaminants. Standard methods for the use of periphyton as an environmental indicator have centered on the algal component of these communities. Consequently, there is a need to focus more on the non-algal or microbial component to evaluate their utility as an indicator of environmental condition. Microbial biofilms will exhibit habitat specificity as a result of the quality and quantity of resources available and grazers controlling community structure and function. In addition, temporal and spatial variability within biofilms will reflect changes in system status, including nutrient and organic loading and the presence of contaminants. Various potentially useful endpoints of biofilm community structure and function are available to measure. These include bulk chemical characterization for dry weight, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content and stable isotope signatures of accumulated elements. Biofilms also concentrate waterborne contaminants and thus can serve as indicators of their bioavailability. Process oriented analysis can obtain estimates for total heterotrophic activity, phosphatase activity, nitrogen fixation/denitrification rates using well established methodologies. In addition to the traditional microscopic analysis of diatom community structure, phospholipid methyl ester profiles and molecular probing for diversity of organisms and expression patterns of genes coding for enzymes associated with biogeochemical cycling can also be accomplished.
Will be oral presentation. Former title:Microbial Biofilms as Indicators of Estuarine Condition.