Abstract
In experiments where measures of the detrital micro floral biomass, morphology, and activity were compared to the mass, numbers, and diversity of the associated macrofauna on different surfaces (artificial and natural plant detritus) incubated in baskets at the same station in a river-dominated estuary, the changes in microbial mass, morphology, and activity were not correlated with changes in the macrofaunal population attracted to baskets. In experiments where the different surfaces were incubated at two different stations, the gross measures of microbial biomass (lipid phosphate, poly-β-hydroxybutyrate), nutritional history, and respiratory activity were correlated with the particular substrate used, whereas the macrofaunal population was significantly correlated with the water chemistry but not with the gross measures of the detrital microflora.
However, when fine structure of the detrital microbial population was examined by comparison among its components of the proportions of the lipid fatty acids, highly significant correlations between the presence of particular bacterial components of the microflora and the numbers, biomass, and species richness of the detritus-as so dated macrofauna were evident. Clearly, subtle differences in the population structure of the detrital microflora are associated with the mass and structure of the macro faunal detrital food web.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bader, R. G., 1954. The role of organic matter in determining the distribution of bivalves in sediments, J. Mar. Res. 13: 31–47.
Bobbie, R. J., S. J. Morrison, and D. C. White, 1978. Effects of substrate biodegradability on the mass and activity of the associated estuarine microbiota, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 35: 179–184.
Darnell, R. M., 1967. The organic detritus problem, In: Estuaries, edited by G. H. Lauff, 374–375, Publ. # 83, A.A.A.S., Washington, D. C.
Dawes, E. A. and P. J. Senior, 1973. The role and regulation of energy reserve polymers in microorganisms, Adv. Miorob. Physiol. 10: 135–266.
Ekman, S., 1947. Uber die Festigheit der marinen Sediments als faktor der Tierverbreitung, ein Beitrag zur Associations- Analyse, Zool. Biol. Univ. Uppsala, Sweden 25: 1–20.
Erwin, J. A., 1973. Fatty acids in eukaryotic microorganisms, In: Lipids and Biomembranes of Eukaryotic Microorganisms, edited by J. A. Erwin, 41–143, Academic Press, New York.
Feeny, P., 1976. Plant apparency and chemical defense, In: Biochemical Interaction Between Plants and Insects, Vol. 10, edited by J. W. Wallace and R. L. Mansell, 1–40, Plenum Press, New York.
Fenchel, T. M. and B. B. Jorgensen, 1977. Detritus food chains of aquatic ecosystems: The role of bacteria, Adv. Microbial Ecol. 1: 1–58.
Herron, J. S., J. D. King, and D. C. White, 1978. Recovery of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate from estuarine microflora, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 35: 251–257.
Hurlbert, S. H., 1971. The nonconcept of species diversity: a critique and alternative parameters, Ecology 52: 577–586.
Jeffries, H. P., 1972. Fatty acid ecology of a tidal marsh, Limnol. Oceanogr. 17: 433–440.
Jeffries, H. P., 1975. Diets of juvenile Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) as determined from fatty acid composition of gut contents, J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 32: 587–592.
Jensen, P. 3., 1919. Valuation of the Limfjord. I. Studies on the fish food in the Limfjord 1909–1917, its quantity, variation, and animal production, Rep. Danish Biol. Stat. Univ. Copenhagen, Denmark 26: 1–44.
Kates, M., 1964. Bacterial lipids, In: Advances in Lipid Research 2, edited by R. Paoletti and D. Kritchevsky, 17–90, Academic Press, New York.
King, J. D. and D. C. White, 1977. Muramic acid as a measure of microbial biomass in estuarine and marine samples, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 33: 777–783.
King, J. D., D. C. White, and C. W. Taylor, 1977. Use of lipid composition and metabolism to examine structure and activity of estuarine detrital microflora, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 33: 1177–1183.
Knivett, V. A. and J. Cullen, 1965. Some factors affecting cyclopropane acid formation in Escherichia coli, Biochem. J. 96: 771–776.
Korn, E. D., C. L. Greenblatt, and A. M. Lees, 1965. Synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in the slime mold Physarum polycephalwn and the zooflagellates Leishmania tarentolae, Trypanosoma lewisi, and Crithidia sp.: a comparative study, J. Lipid Res. 6: 43–50.
Law, J. H., H. Zalkin, and T. Kaneshiro, 1963. Transmethylation reactions in bacterial lipids, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 70: 143–151.
Lechevalier, M. P., 1977. Lipids in bacterial taxonomy - a taxonomist’s view, CRC Critical Reviews in Microbiol. 7: 109–210.
Livingston, R. J., 1978. Short- and Long-term Effects of Forestry Operations on Water Quality and the Biota of the Apalachicola Estuary (North Florida, U.S.A.), Final report, Florida Sea Grant College.
Livingston, R. J., R. L. Iverson, and D. C. White, 1976. Energy Relationships and the Productivity of Apalachicola Bay. Final report, Florida Sea Grant College.
Margalef, R., 1958. Information theory in ecology, Gen. Systematics 3: 36–71.
Marr, A. G. and J. L. Ingraham, 1962. Effect of temperature on the composition of the fatty acids in Escherichia coli, J. Bacteriol. 84: 1260–1267.
Meyer, H. and G. C. Holz, 1966. Biosynthesis of lipids by kinetoplastid flagellates, J. Biol. Chem. 241: 5000–5007.
Morman, M. R. and D. C. White, 1970. Phospholipid metabolism during penicillinase production in Bacillus licheniformis, J. Bacteriol. 104: 247–253.
Morrison, S. J., J. D. King, R. J. Bobbie, R. E. Bechtold, and D. C. White, 1977. Evidence for microfloral succession on allochthonous plant litter in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, USA, Marine Biol. 41: 229–240.
Nickels, J. S., J. D. King, and D. C. White, 1979. Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate accumulation as a measure of unbalanced growth of the estuarine detrital microflora, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 37: 459–465.
Odum, W. E., 1970. Pathways of Energy Flow in a South Florida Estuary, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Miami.
Parker, P. L., C. van Baalen, and L. Maurer, 1967. Fatty acids in eleven species of blue-green algae: geochemical significance, Science 155: 707–708.
Petersen, C. G., 1913. Valuation of the sea. II. The animal communities of the sea bottom and their importance for marine zoogeography, Rep. Danish Biol. Stat. Univ. Copenhagen, Denmark 21: 1–44.
Petersen, C. G., 1918. The sea bottom and its production of fish food. A survey of the work done in connection with the valuation of the Danish waters from 1883–1917, Rep. Danish Biol. Stat. Univ. Copenhagen, Denmark 25: 1–62.
Rowe, G. T. and R. J. Menzies, 1969. Zonation of large benthic invertebrates in the deep sea off the Carolinas, Deep Sea Res. 16: 531–537.
Salton, M., 1960. Microbial Cell Walls, 94 pp., John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Schelske, C. L., and E. P. Odum, 1962. Kechanisms maintaining high productivity in Georgia estuaries, Proc. Gulf Carib. Fish. Inst. 14th Ann. Sess.: 75–80.
Schultz, D. M. and J. G. Quinn, 1973. Fatty acid composition of organic detritus from Spartina altemiflora, Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 1: 177–190.
Shannon, E. C. and W. Weaver, 1963. The Mathematical Theory of Communication, 125 pp., Univ. Illinois Press, Urbana.
Shaw, N., 1974. Lipid composition as a guide to the classification of bacteria, Adv. Appl. Microbiol. 17: 63–108.
Thomas, P. J. and J. H. Law, 1966. Biosynthesis of cyclopropane compounds. IX. Structural and stereochemical requirements for the cyclopropane synthetase substrate, J. Biol. Chem. 241: 5013–5018.
Tyrrell, D., 1968. The branched-chain fatty acids in Conidiobius denaesporus Drechsl, Lipids 3: 368–372.
White, D. C., R. J. Bobbie, J. S. Rerron, J. D. King, and S. J. Morrison, 1979a. Biochemical measurements of microbial mass and activity from environmental samples, In: Native Aquatic Bacteria, Enumeration, Activity and Ecology ASTM STP 695; edited by J. W. Casterton and R. R. Colwell, in press.
White, D. C., R. J. Bobbie, J. D. King, J. Nickels, and P. Amoe, 1979b. Lipid analysis of sediments for microbial biomass and community structure, In: Methodology for Biomass Determinations and Microbial Activities in Sediments edited by C. D. Litchfield and P. L. Seyfried, American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM STP 673, in press.
White, D. C., R. J. Bobbie, S. J. Morrison, D. K. Oosterhof, C. W. Taylor, and D. A. Meeter, 1977. Determination of microbial activity of estuarine detritus by relative rates of lipid biosynthesis, Limnol. Oceanogr. 22: 1089–1099.
White, D. C. and R. H. Cox, 1967. Identification and localization of the fatty acids in Haemophilus parainfluenzae, J. Bacteriol. 93: 1079–1088.
White, D. C., W. M. Davis, J. S. Nickels, J. D. King, and R. J. Bobbie, 1979c. Determination of the sedimentary microbial biomass by extractible lipid phosphate, Oecologia 40: 51–62.
White, D. D. and A. N. Tucker, 1969. Phospholipid metabolism during changes in the proportions of membrane-bound respiratory pigments in Haemophilus parainfluenzae, J. Bacteriol. 97: 199–209.
Wieser, W., 1960. Benthic studies in Buzzards Bay. II. The meiofauna, Limnol. Ooeanogr. 5: 121–137.
Wigley, R. L. and A. D. McIntyre, 1964. Some quantitative comparison of offshore meiobenthos and macrobentha, Limnol. Ooeanogr. 9: 485–493.
Williams, R. B. and L. K. Thomas, 1967. The standing crop of benthic animals in a North Carolina estuarine area, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 93: 135–139.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1979 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
White, D.C., Livingston, R.J., Bobbie, R.J., Nickels, J.S. (1979). Effects of Surface Composition, Water Column Chemistry, and Time of Exposure on the Composition of the Detrital Microflora and Associated Macrofauna in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. In: Livingston, R.J. (eds) Ecological Processes in Coastal and Marine Systems. Marine Science, vol 10. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9146-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9146-7_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9148-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9146-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive