16S rRNA gene amplicons of Lake Ellesmere sediments (NZ) - raw sequence reads. freshwater sediment metagenome

The increase in dairy farming and the ongoing intensification of agriculture near waterways has resulted in the steady decline of water quality in New Zealand. N wastes are of particular concern as they lead to eutrophication of aquatic environments such as Lake Ellesmere. In this study, we examine the spatial variation in the physico-chemical parameters, the denitrification enzyme potential, the denitrifier community abundance (q-PCR) and total microbial community structure (16S rRNA gene sequencing) of Lake Ellesmere. We demonstrate that Lake Ellesmere is influenced by freshwater inflows and that these can affect the nutrient status of the lake. We also highlight that , in the absence of a strong ‘pulse’ disturbance, ‘press’ disturbances (in the form of physical gradients) dominate correlations associated to microbial community response both at the functional (potential [N cycling gene abundance]) and phylogenetic (16S based community profiles) level.