Genetic survey of eukaryotic plankton 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.

已有研究表明，高海拔生态系统尤其易受气候变化的影响，但目前针对高海拔水生系统微生物群落的相关研究仍较为匮乏。因此，本研究旨在加深对科罗拉多落基山脉前缘带高海拔湖泊微生物群落的组成、稳定性及其调控因子的认识。本研究于2014至2017年的四年间，对高山湖泊内多个采样点位（入水口、出水口及水柱中三个深度层）的细菌（16S rDNA）与真核生物（18S rDNA）微生物群落的季节及年际变化开展了调查。不同采样日期下，湖泊入水口与全湖整体的微生物群落均存在显著差异。调控16S和18S群落组成的最显著变量为湖泊泄水速率，表明水体停留时间在群落结构的构建过程中发挥了关键作用。