Microbial communities from six sediment cores collected along the St. Maurice River

The Saint-Maurice River is affected by multiple human disturbances, such as run-of-river dam construction, artifical wetland construction, logging and wildfires. These disturbances lead to the deposition of organic matter and trapped inorganic mercury (Hg) from the watershed into the river, potentially resulting in increased Hg methylation activity. We sampled sediments from this river, which has the potential to harbour Hg methylating microorganisms, to expand our current knowledge on their diversity and ecology.