Meanders as a scaling motif for understanding of floodplain soil microbiome and biogeochemical potential at the watershed scale
Abstract
Abstract Biogeochemical exports of C, N, S and H 2 from watersheds are modulated by the activity of microorganisms that function over micron scales. This disparity of scales presents a substantial challenge for development of predictive models describing watershed function. Here, we tested the hypothesis that meander-bound regions exhibit patterns of microbial metabolic potential that are broadly predictive of biogeochemical processes in floodplain soils along a river corridor. We intensively sampled floodplain soils located in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the East River in Colorado and reconstructed 248 draft quality genomes representative at a sub-species level. Approximately one third of the representative genomes were detected across all three locations with similar levels of abundance, and despite the very high microbial diversity and complexity of the soils, ~15% of species were detected in two consecutive years. A core floodplain microbiome was enriched in bacterial capacities for aerobic respiration, aerobic CO oxidation, and thiosulfate oxidation with the formation of elemental sulfur. We did not detect systematic patterns of gene abundance based on sampling position relative to the river. However, at the watershed scale meander-bound floodplains appear to serve as scaling motifs that predict aggregate capacities for biogeochemical transformations in floodplain soils. Given this, we conducted a transcriptomic analysis of the middle site. Overall, the most highly transcribed genes were amoCAB and nxrAB (for nitrification) followed by genes involved in methanol and formate oxidation, and nitrogen and CO 2 fixation. Low soil organic carbon correlated with high activity of genes involved in methanol, formate, sulfide, hydrogen, and ammonia oxidation, nitrite oxidoreduction, and nitrate and nitrite reduction. Thus, widely represented genetic capacities did not predict in situ activity at one time point, but rather they define a reservoir of biogeochemical potential available as conditions change.
Local Knowledge Graph (28 entities)
Related Works
Items connected by shared entities, co-authorship, citations, or semantic similarity.
Microbial communities across a hillslope-riparian transect shaped by proximity to the stream, groundwater table, and weathered bedrock
Geochemical exports to river from the intra-meander hyporheic zone under transient hydrologic conditions: East River Mountainous Watershed, Colorado
The East River, Colorado, Watershed: A mountainous community testbed for improving predictive understanding of multiscale hydrological-biogeochemical dynamics
Genome-resolved metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of microbial communities in three meander-bound floodplain soils along the East River, Colorado.
Genome-resolved metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of microbial communities in three meander-bound floodplain soils along the East River, Colorado.
Metagenome-assembled genomes from East River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (June to September 2019)
Methane and Bacteria
Riparian Restoration Using Hydrologic Manipulation and Physical Disturbance
Effect of Keystone Mine Effluent on Colonization of Stream Benthos
Cited By (10 times, 5 in Knowledge Hub)
A tale of two catchments: causality analysis and isotope systematics reveal mountainous watershed traits that regulate the retention and release of nitrogen
From legacy contamination to watershed systems science: a review of scientific insights and technologies developed through DOE-supported research in water and energy security
The Colorado East River Community Observatory Data Collection
Modeling the Impact of Riparian Hollows on River Corridor Nitrogen Exports
The East River Community Observatory Data Collection: Diverse, multiscale data from a mountainous watershed in the East River, Colorado
References (56)
7 in Knowledge Hub, 49 external