Hakai Institute’s Oceanographic Program: Monitoring microbes in the northern Strait of Georgia
Presentation Abstract
In October 2014, Hakai Institute launched a high resolution long-term oceanographic program in the northern Strait of Georgia, based out of its Quadra Research Station. This program monitors key physical, chemical and biological variables with the aim to provide improved understanding of the structure and functioning of the local ecosystems, their seasonal and interannual cycles, and response to environmental change. Bacteria and archaea comprise an important component of the marine food web, providing important ecosystem services ranging from carbon remineralization and nutrient regeneration to carbon fixation. Given their short generation times, they are also poised to be sentinels of environmental changes. While many studies of marine microbial ecology assess community dynamics on monthly time scales, few examine changes in microbial community structure on a weekly basis for extended periods of time. As part of the Quadra Ocean Monitoring program we are using high-throughput Illumina amplicon sequencing to monitor marine microbial community structure weekly in an effort to better understand how microbial populations vary over both short and long timescales and how quickly they respond to environmental perturbations. After 6 months of sampling, our data show that the deep bacterial and archaeal populations are relatively stable over time, while the shallow (m) microbial populations show significant variation during spring and summer months. By combining our compositional data with ocean chemical and physical data and other biological variables (e.g. phytoplankton biomass and composition, zooplankton composition), we expect to describe the key factors in contributing to rapid changes in observed in surface bacterial and archaeal communities in the Northern Strait of Georgia.
Session Title
Changes in Ecosystem Function and Climate Revealed by Long-term Monitoring in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Microbial ecology--Georgia, Strait of (B.C. and Wash.); Water quality management--Georgia, Strait of (B.C. and Wash.); Marine bacteria--Georgia, Strait of (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Georgia, Strait of (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Hakai Institute’s Oceanographic Program: Monitoring microbes in the northern Strait of Georgia
2016SSEC
In October 2014, Hakai Institute launched a high resolution long-term oceanographic program in the northern Strait of Georgia, based out of its Quadra Research Station. This program monitors key physical, chemical and biological variables with the aim to provide improved understanding of the structure and functioning of the local ecosystems, their seasonal and interannual cycles, and response to environmental change. Bacteria and archaea comprise an important component of the marine food web, providing important ecosystem services ranging from carbon remineralization and nutrient regeneration to carbon fixation. Given their short generation times, they are also poised to be sentinels of environmental changes. While many studies of marine microbial ecology assess community dynamics on monthly time scales, few examine changes in microbial community structure on a weekly basis for extended periods of time. As part of the Quadra Ocean Monitoring program we are using high-throughput Illumina amplicon sequencing to monitor marine microbial community structure weekly in an effort to better understand how microbial populations vary over both short and long timescales and how quickly they respond to environmental perturbations. After 6 months of sampling, our data show that the deep bacterial and archaeal populations are relatively stable over time, while the shallow (m) microbial populations show significant variation during spring and summer months. By combining our compositional data with ocean chemical and physical data and other biological variables (e.g. phytoplankton biomass and composition, zooplankton composition), we expect to describe the key factors in contributing to rapid changes in observed in surface bacterial and archaeal communities in the Northern Strait of Georgia.
