Paper No. 174-4
Presentation Time: 8:50 AM
HYDROGEOLOGY, MACRO- AND MICROFAUNA IN ISOLATED DESERT SPRINGS. ARE THERE SIMILAR PATTERNS IN THE BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION?
PORDEL, Khaled1, FRIEL, Ariel D.2, MEYERS, Zachary P.3, SADA, Donald W.4, UMEK, John5, FRISBEE, Marty D.3, RADEMACHER, Laura K.6 and HEDLUND, Brian P.7, (1)Natural Resource and Environmental Science, University of Nevada Reno, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Fleischmann Agriculture, Room 217, Reno, NV 89557, (2)School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4004, (3)Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, (4)Desert Research Institute, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV 89512, (5)Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Pkwy, Reno, NV 89512-1095, (6)Geological and Environmental Science, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211, (7)Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine, Las Vegas, NV 89154
The goal of this study was finding a relationship between macrobial and microbial community compositions to determine to find potential drivers of biological processes in desert spring ecosystems. Recently, there is increasing interest in multi-disciplinary studies to understand relationships between integrated earth systems. To identify the factors controlling the BMI and microbial community compositions, 12 mountain front springs as well as one regional spring were sampled for general chemistry, benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs), and microbes in Owens Valley, CA. All sampled springs were classified as “reference” springs defined as springs that were naturalized from the past human or natural disturbances. We hypothesized that consistent co-occurrence patterns of macrobial and microbial communities were driven by the hydrological and geochemical processes influencing the biological organization.
Results suggest that aqueous geochemistry, which originates in part from interaction with the aquifer rocks, is the main factor governing BMI community composition in these springs. Additionally, there are similar ordination trends exhibited by both microbial and BMI communities. For example, the phylum Cyanobacteria is strongly associated with BMI taxa abundant in springs with high [Mg2+], [SO42-], [Sr2+], temperature, and specific conductivity (e.g., Microcylloepus). In contrast, the phylum Proteobacteria is associated with BMIs that are abundant in springs with high Ca+2/Na+ ratios associated with the influence of carbonate roof pendants (e.g., Malenka, Lepidostoma, and Hesperoperla). Therefore, this study highlights hydrochemistry as a significant factor controlling the composition of biological communities (micro- and macrofauna). Due to the distinct co-occurrence patterns of micro- and macro-organisms in desert springs, we suggest microbial community composition may be useful as a potential indicator of the hydrochemistry of spring ecosystems.
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