Showing papers by "Diane M. McKnight published in 2012"

Microbial life at −13 °C in the brine of an ice-sealed Antarctic lake

Abstract: The permanent ice cover of Lake Vida (Antarctica) encapsulates an extreme cryogenic brine ecosystem (−13 °C; salinity, 200). This aphotic ecosystem is anoxic and consists of a slightly acidic (pH 6.2) sodium chloride-dominated brine. Expeditions in 2005 and 2010 were conducted to investigate the biogeochemistry of Lake Vida’s brine system. A phylogenetically diverse and metabolically active Bacteria dominated microbial assemblage was observed in the brine. These bacteria live under very high levels of reduced metals, ammonia, molecular hydrogen (H2), and dissolved organic carbon, as well as high concentrations of oxidized species of nitrogen (i.e., supersaturated nitrous oxide and ∼1 mmol⋅L−1 nitrate) and sulfur (as sulfate). The existence of this system, with active biota, and a suite of reduced as well as oxidized compounds, is unusual given the millennial scale of its isolation from external sources of energy. The geochemistry of the brine suggests that abiotic brine-rock reactions may occur in this system and that the rich sources of dissolved electron acceptors prevent sulfate reduction and methanogenesis from being energetically favorable. The discovery of this ecosystem and the in situ biotic and abiotic processes occurring at low temperature provides a tractable system to study habitability of isolated terrestrial cryoenvironments (e.g., permafrost cryopegs and subglacial ecosystems), and is a potential analog for habitats on other icy worlds where water-rock reactions may cooccur with saline deposits and subsurface oceans.

New Insights into the Source of Decadal Increases of Dissolved Organic Matter in Acid-Sensitive Lakes of the Northeastern United States

Abstract: The last several decades have seen decreases in SO(4)(2-) deposition across the northeastern United States. As a result, SO(4)(2-) concentrations in lakes and streams have also decreased and many surface water bodies have become less acidic. During the same time period, there has been a concurrent increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in many lakes and streams. We used fluorescence spectroscopy to characterize the dissolved organic matter (DOM) quality of archived samples from nine acid-sensitive lakes in Maine collected between 1993 and 2009, and determined that increased DOM contributions to lakes were primarily derived from litter and soil. All five lakes with increasing DOC trends demonstrated significant decreasing (i.e., more terrestrial) trends in fluorescence index (FI) and significant positive correlations between SO(4)(2-) and FI. This study used the chemical signature of terrestrial DOM to support the hypothesis that increased DOC concentrations in lakes and streams are driven by declining acid deposition and increased solubility of soil organic matter across a large area of the landscape.

Climate-change-driven deterioration of water quality in a mineralized watershed.

Abstract: A unique 30-year streamwater chemistry data set from a mineralized alpine watershed with naturally acidic, metal-rich water displays dissolved concentrations of Zn and other metals of ecological concern increasing by 100–400% (400–2000 μg/L) during low-flow months, when metal concentrations are highest. SO4 and other major ions show similar increases. A lack of natural or anthropogenic land disturbances in the watershed during the study period suggests that climate change is the underlying cause. Local mean annual and mean summer air temperatures have increased at a rate of 0.2–1.2 °C/decade since the 1980s. Other climatic and hydrologic indices, including stream discharge during low-flow months, do not display statistically significant trends. Consideration of potential specific causal mechanisms driven by rising temperatures suggests that melting of permafrost and falling water tables (from decreased recharge) are probable explanations for the increasing concentrations. The prospect of future widespread...

The ecology of pulse events: insights from an extreme climatic event in a polar desert ecosystem

Abstract: Climate change is occurring globally, with wide ranging impacts on organisms and ecosystems alike. While most studies focus on increases in mean temperatures and changes in precipitation, there is growing evidence that an increase in extreme events may be particularly important to altering ecosystem structure and function. During extreme events organisms encounter environmental conditions well beyond the range normally experienced. Such conditions may cause rapid changes in community composition and ecosystem states. We present the impact of an extreme pulse event (a flood) on soil communities in an Antarctic polar desert. Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, is dominated by large expanses of dry, saline soils. During the austral summer, melting of glaciers, snow patches and subsurface ice supplies water to ephemeral streams and wetlands. We show how the activation of a non-annual ephemeral stream, Wormherder Creek, and the associated wetland during an exceptional high-flow event alters soil properties and...

Extreme streams: flow intermittency as a control on diatom communities in meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica 1

Abstract: In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, stream biota is limited by the brief availability of liquid water. The benthic microbial mats harbor diatoms that have adapted to hydrologic stresses, including numerous endemic species. We found a strong relationship between diatom community composition and flow intermittency in a data set including seven streams that spanned a gradient in flow intermittency. In particular, two genera represented by numerous endemic species in Dry Valley habitats, Hantzschia and Luticola, had high abundances in moderately and highly intermittent streams, respec- tively. The Shannon Index of diversity was greatest in streams with intermediate flow intermittency, with lower diversity in more stable streams resulting from lower evenness, and lower diversity in highly intermittent streams resulting from lower richness. These results indicate that multiple metrics of biodiversity may be useful in assessing the response of diatom com- munities to changing hydrologic regime. We propose that flow intermittency acts as a species filter that increases habitat heterogeneity in Dry Valley streams and may allow endemic species to persist. Future Antarctic warming may alter diatom community composition and habitats that act as refugia for desiccation-tolerant taxa. Resume : Dans les vallees seches de McMurdo de l'Antarctique, les organismes des cours d'eau sont limites par la courte disponibilite d'eau liquide. Les tapis microbiens benthiques contiennent des diatomees, dont de nombreuses especes endemi- ques, qui se sont adaptees aux stress hydrologiques. Il existe une forte relation entre la composition de la communaute de diatomees et l'intermittence du debit dans un ensemble de donnees qui inclut sept cours d'eau qui couvrent un gradient de discontinuite du debit. En particulier, deux genres qui contiennent de nombreuses especes endemiques dans les habitats des vallees seches, Hantzschia et Luticola, atteignent de fortes abondances, respectivement dans les cours d'eau moyennement et fortement intermittents. L'indice de diversite de Shannon est maximal dans les cours d'eau qui ont un debit moderement discontinu; la diversite est plus basse dans les cours d'eau plus stables a cause d'une equitabilite plus faible et aussi plus basse dans les cours d'eau fortement intermittents a cause d'une richesse reduite. Ces resultats indiquent que l'utilisation de plusieurs metriques de la biodiversite peuvent etre utiles pour evaluer la reaction des communautes de diatomees aux chan- gements de regime hydrologique. Nous croyons que la discontinuite du debit sert de filtre des especes, augmente l'heteroge- neite des habitats dans les cours d'eau des vallees seches et peut permettre aux especes endemiques de survivre. Un rechauffement futur de l'Antarctique modifiera peut-etre les communautes de diatomees et les habitats qui servent de refuges pour les taxons tolerants a la dessiccation. (Traduit par la Redaction)

Carbon, metals, and grain size correlate with bacterial community structure in sediments of a high arsenic aquifer.

Abstract: Bacterial communities can exert significant influence on the biogeochemical cycling of arsenic (As). This has globally important implications since As toxicity in drinking water affects the health of millions of people worldwide, including in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta region of Bangladesh where geogenic groundwater arsenic concentrations can be more than 10 times the World Health Organization’s limit. Thus, the goal of this research was to investigate patterns in bacterial community composition across environmental gradients in an aquifer with elevated groundwater As concentrations in Araihazar, Bangladesh. We characterized the bacterial community by pyrosequencing 16S rRNA genes from aquifer sediment samples collected at three locations along a groundwater flowpath, at a range of depths between 1.5 and 15 m. We identified significant shifts in bacterial community composition along the groundwater flowpath in the aquifer. In addition, we found that bacterial community structure was significantly related to sediment grain size, and sediment carbon (C), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) concentrations. Deltaproteobacteria and Chloroflexi were more abundant in silty sediments with higher concentrations of C, Fe, and Mn. By contrast, Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria were more abundant in sediments with higher concentrations of sand and Si, and lower concentrations of C and metals. Based on the phylogenetic affiliations of these taxa, these results may indicate a shift to more Fe-, Mn-, and humic substance- reducers in the high C and metal sediments. It is well-documented that C, Mn and Fe may influence the mobility of groundwater arsenic, and it is intriguing that these constituents may also structure the bacterial community.

Automated measurement of diatom size

Abstract: Size analysis of diatom populations has not been widely considered, but it is a potentially powerful tool for understanding diatom life histories, population dynamics, and phylogenetic relationships. However, measuring cell dimensions on a light microscope is a time-consuming process. An alternative technique has been developed using digital flow cytometry on a FlowCAM® (Fluid Imaging Technologies) to capture hundreds, or even thousands, of images of a chosen taxon from a single sample in a matter of minutes. Up to 30 morphological measures may be quantified through post-processing of the high resolution images. We evaluated FlowCAM size measurements, comparing them against measurements from a light microscope. We found good agreement between measurement of apical cell length in species with elongated, straight valves, including small Achnanthidium minutissimum (11-21 µm) and large Didymosphenia geminata (87–137 µm) forms. However, a taxon with curved cells, Hannaea baicalensis (37–96 µm), showed differences of ~ 4 µm between the two methods. Discrepancies appear to be influenced by the choice of feret or geodesic measurement for asymmetric cells. We describe the operating conditions necessary for analysis of size distributions and present suggestions for optimal instrument conditions for size analysis of diatom samples using the FlowCAM. The increased speed of data acquisition through use of imaging flow cytometers like the FlowCAM is an essential step for advancing studies of diatom populations.

The role of dissolved organic matter in arctic surface waters in the photolysis of hexachlorobenzene and lindane

Abstract: [1] Terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) can impact the fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are transported to the Arctic via global distillation. Interactions between DOM and POPs through hydrophobic binding processes may influence their photofate in arctic surface waters. We examined the DOM-mediated photodegradation of γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in arctic surface waters. These two halogenated organic compounds are commonly detected in the Arctic. We examined how different sources of DOM affect the indirect photolysis of these compounds. We conducted our study using DOM from arctic streams and lakes near the Toolik Lake Long-term Ecological Research Site. HCB or lindane was irradiated in the presence and absence of DOM from these sources, both at the surface of an arctic lake and at 10 cm depth, to investigate the indirect phototransformation of these two compounds and the depth dependence of the observed chemistry. In both artificial and natural sunlight, two of four DOM sources studied stimulated the photodegradation of HCB but not of lindane, suggesting that the indirect phototransformation is a selective process depending on the interactions between DOM and POPs. Through solubility studies, we found that HCB readily partitions to isolated Toolik Lake DOM, while lindane shows no affinity for DOM, findings that corroborate results previously reported in the literature. We demonstrate for the first time DOM's role as a sensitizer for photodegradation of some POPs under field conditions, thus confirming that this process may be an important control on the fate of POPs exhibiting a strong affinity for DOM.