A Microbial Observatory for the Northern Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research Site

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Triplett9977903Lakes are foci for biogeochemical processing on the landscapes they drain. Most biogeochemical transformations in freshwater ecosystems are mediated by bacteria. Thus, lakes offer tremendous opportunity for study of microbial composition and diversity linked to ecosystem processes. This Microbial Observatory will describe microbial dynamics and their relationship to the fundamental processes of microbial production and respiration in three contrasting lakes that represent the major trophic types of temperate landscapes: oligotrophic, dystrophic and eutrophic. These lakes are part of the North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research Site (NTL-LTER). The overall goal of this project is to identify and characterize predominant bacterial populations in north temperate lake ecosystems and their part in ecological processes. Bacterial population dynamics are currently the least well understood among all planktonic microbes. Phytoplankton and protozoa will also be described because of their important roles in the microbial foodweb, and protozoa are a priority group for the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). The spatial and temporal variability in freshwater microbial community structure and function will be determined. The resource and food web factors that drive this variability will also be studied. Predominant microbial taxa within contrasting freshwater ecosystems will be identified, and characterization of these taxa in terms of their biochemistry, physiology and ecology will be done. Traditional microbiological and limnological techniques with will be combined with molecular-based methodologies, and both comparative and experimental approaches will be employed. Parameters being measured that are not currently monitored by the NTL-LTER include total bacterial abundance, active cell count and productivity, total community and microbial respiration, and microbial community composition and diversity. This research should provide significant new insights into the influence of microbial community composition and diversity on fundamental lake ecosystem processes and the ways that lake properties affect microbial dynamics. Strong new connections between the fields of classical microbiology, molecular microbial ecology, limnology, and ecological theory are expected.