Genetic survey of bacterioplankton communities of aquatic habitats in Green Lakes Valley, 2014 - 2017

Previous work has shown high-elevation ecosystems are especially
susceptible to the effects of climate change, but little work has been
done on microbial communities in high-elevation aquatic systems.
Therefore, my research aimed to improve our understanding of the
composition, stability, and factors controlling microbial communities
in high-elevation lakes in the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky
Mountains. I studied seasonal and inter-annual variations in bacterial
(16S rDNA) and eukaryotic (18S rDNA) microbial communities at multiple
locations (inlet, outlet, three depths in the water column) within
alpine lakes over four years (2014-2017). Communities significantly
differed between lake inlets and the lakes as a whole across sampling
dates. The most significant variable controlling 16S and 18S community
composition was lake discharge rate, indicating that water residence
times play a strong role in structuring communities.