Abstract
From December 1982 to February 1985 systematic observations of heterotrophic bacterial populations were recorded for a nearshore marine sediment of Kerguelen Archipelago. A weekly survey included physicochemical (temperature, mineral and organic C and N) measurements. Total (A.O.D C.) and saprophytic (M.P.N. on Zobell medium) counts were used for quantitative bacterial investigations. Heterotrophic microbial activities were estimated by14C glucose and14C glutamic acid uptake measurements. The bacterial community structure was investigated by carrying out 57 morphological and biochemical tests on 1742 isolated strains. Quantitative data were treated by principal component analysis. Qualitative data were analysed by a numerical taxonomy technique using similarity coefficients with WPGM algorithm. The % abundance of the various taxonomic groups varied greatly with season. Although non fermentative Gram-negative rods were generally dominant, the existence of a succession of populations during bacterial growth resulting from periodical organic enrichements is clearly demonstrated. The nutrient supply rather than the temperature seems to be the major factor determining microbial fluctuations in the studied subantarctic coastal marine environments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ammerman, J. W., J. A. Fuhrman, A. Hagstrom & F. Azam, 1984. Bacterioplankton growth in seawater. Growth kinetics and cellular characteristics in seawater cultures. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 18: 31–39.
Amy, P. S. & R. Y. Morita, 1983. Starvation-survival patterns of sixteen freshly isolated open-ocean bacteria. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 45: 1109–1115.
Bird, D. F. & D. M. Karl, 1991. Spatial pattern of glutamate and thymidine assimilation in Brandsfield Strait, Antarctica during and following the austral spring bloom. Deep Sea Res. 38: 1057–1075.
Bölter, M. & R. Dawson, 1982. Heterotrophic utilization of biochemical compounds in antarctic waters. Neth. J. Sea Res. 16: 315–332.
Bouvy, M., 1989. Microheterotrophic activity in a subantarctic intertidal sediment relative to nutrient supply. Arch. Hydrobiol. 115: 245–255.
Bouvy, M., M. Le Romancer & D. Delille, 1986. Significance of microheterotrophs in relation to the degradation process of subantarctic kelp beds (M. pyrifera). Polar Biol. 5: 249–253.
Bouvy, M. & D. Delille, 1987. Numerical taxonomy of bacterial communities associated with a subantarctic mussel bed. Helgoländer wiss. Meeresunters. 41: 415–424.
Bouvy, M. & D. Delille, 1988. Spatial and temporal variations of Antarctic and Subantarctic bacterioplankton. Neth. J. Sea Res. 22: 139–147.
Cahet, G. & D. Delille, 1984. Disponibilité du carbone organique élaboré par voie photo- chemo- et hétérotrophe dans divers sédiments littoraux. In Bactériologie Marine. C.N.R.S. Ed., Paris: 205–211.
Cammen, L. M. & J. A. Walker, 1986. The relationship between bacteria and microalgae in the sediment of a Bay of Fundy Mudflat. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci. 22: 91–99.
Caron, D. A., P. G. Davis & J. McN. Sieburth, 1989. Factors responsible for the differences in cultural estimates and direct microscopical counts of populations of bacterivorous nanoflagellates. Microb. Ecol. 18: 89–104.
Dahle, A. B. & M. Laake, 1982. Diversity dynamics of marine bacteria studied by immunofluorescent staining on membrane filters. Appl. envir Microbiol. 43: 169–176.
Delille, D., 1977. Cycles bactériens du soufre et de l'azote dans les dépots sédimentaires du Fjord Bossière. In Adaptation within Antarctic Ecosystems. G.A. Llano Ed: 159–180.
Delille, D., 1990. Seasonal changes of subantarctic heterotrophic bacterioplankton. Arch. Hydrobiol. 119: 267–277.
Delille, D., F. Gadel & G. Cahet, 1979. La matière organique dans les dépots de l'archipel de Kerguelen. Distribution spatiale et saisonnière. Oceanol. acta 2: 181–194.
Delille, D. & G. Cahet, 1985. Heterotrophic processes in a Kerguelen mussel-bed. In Siegfried, W. R., P. R. Condy & R. M. Laws (eds), Antarctic Nutrient Cycles and Food Webs. Springer-Verlag Berlin: 128–135.
Delille, D., M. Bouvy & G. Cahet, 1988. Short term variations of bacterioplankton in Antarctic zone: Terre Adélie area. Microb. Ecol. 15: 293–309.
Delille, D. & M. Bouvy, 1989. Bacterial responses to natural organic inputs in a marine subantarctic area. Hydrobiologia 182: 225–238.
Delille, D. & E. Perret, 1989. Influence of temperature on the growth potential of southern polar marine area. Microb. Ecol. 18: 117–123.
Delille, D. & E. Perret, 1991. The influence of giant kelpMacrocystis pyrifera on the growth of subantarctic marine bacteria. J. exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 153: 227–239.
De Flaun, M. F. & L. M. Mayer, 1983. Relationships between bacteria and grain surfaces in intertidal sediments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28: 873–881.
Fallon, R. D., S. Y. Newell & C. J. Hopkinson, 1983. Bacterial production in marine sediments: will cell specific measures agree with whole system metabolism? Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 11: 119–127.
Fisher, R. A. & F. Yates, 1963. Statistical tables for biological, agricultural and medical research. 6th edn. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.
Griffiths, R. P., S. S. Hayasaka, T. M. McNamara & R. Y. Morita, 1977. Comparison between two methods of assaying relative microbial activity in marine environments. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 34: 801–805.
Griffiths, R. P., B. A. Caldwell, W. A. Broich & R. Y. Morita, 1983. Microbial processes relating to carbon cycling in South-eastern Bering Sea sediment. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 10: 265–275.
Hanson, R. B., H. K. Lowery, 1985. Spatial distribution, structure, biomass and physiology of microbial assemblages across the Southern Ocean frontal zones during the late austral winter. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 49: 1029–1039.
Hanson, R. B., H. K. Lowery, D. Shafer, R. Sorocco & D. H. Pope, 1983a. Microbes in in antarctic waters of the Drake Passage: vertical patterns of substrate uptake, productivity and biomass in January 1980. Polar Biol. 2: 179–188.
Hanson, R. B., D. Schafer, T. Ryan, D. H. Pope & H. K. Lowery, 1983b. Bacterioplankton in antarctic ocean waters during late austral winter: abundances, F.D.C., and estimates of production. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 45: 1622–1632.
Hauxhurst, J. D., T. Kaneko & R. M. Atlas, 1981. Characteristics of bacterial communities in the gulf of Alaska. Microbiol. Ecol. 7: 167–182.
Hobbie, J. E., R. J. Daley & S. Jasper, 1977. Use of nuclepore filters for counting bacteria by fluorescence microscopy. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 33: 1225–1228.
Horowitz, A., M. I. Krichevsky & R. M. Atlas, 1983. Characteristics and diversity of subarctic marine oligotrophic, stenoheterotrophic, and euryheterotrophic bacterial populations. Can. J. Microbiol. 29: 527–535.
Iniss, W. E. & C. I. Mayfield, 1979. Seasonal variation of psychrophilic bacteria in sediment from lake Ontario. Wat. Res. 13: 481–484.
Karl, D. M., 1993. Microbial processes in the southern oceans. Antarctic Microbiology, Wiley-Liss, Inc: 1–63.
Karl, D. M., O. Holm-Hansen, G. T. Taylor, G. Tien & D. F. Bird, 1991. Microbial biomass and productivity in the western Bransfield Strait, Antarctica during the 1986–1987 austral summer. Deep-Sea res. 38: 1029–1055.
Laake, M., A. B. Dahle & G. Hentzschel, 1983. Productivity and population diversity of marine organotrophic bacteria in enclosed planktonic ecosystems. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 14: 59–69.
Meyer-Reil, L. A., 1987. Seasonal and spatial distribution of extracellular enzymatic activities and microbial incorporation of dissolved organic substrates in marine sediments. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 53: 1748–1755.
Meyer-Reil, L. A., R. Dawson, G. Liebezeit & H. Tiedge, 1978. Fluctuations and interactions of bacterial activity in sandy beach sediments and overlaying waters. Mar. Biol. 48: 161–171.
Meyer-Reil, L. A., M. Bolter, R. Dawson, G. Liebezeit, H. Szwarimki & K. Wolter, 1980. Interrelationships between microbiological and chemical parameters of sandy beach sediments, a summer aspect. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 39: 797–802.
Moyer, C. L. & R. Y. Morita, 1989. Effects of growth rate and starvation-survival on the viability and stability of a psychrophilic marine bacterium. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 55: 1122–1127.
Novitsky, J. A. & R. Y. Morita, 1976. Morphological characterization of small cells resulting from nutrient starvation of a psychrophilic marinevibrio. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 32: 617–622.
Oppenheimer, C. H. & C. E. ZoBell, 1952. The growth and viability of sixty three species of marine bacteria as influenced by hydrostatic pressure. J. mar. Res. 11: 10–18.
Platt, T., S. Sathendranath, O. Ulloa, W. G. Harrison, N. Hoepffner & J. Goes, 1992. Nutrient control of phytoplankton photosynthesis in the western North Atlantic. Nature 356: 229–231.
Rehnstam, A.-S., S. Bäckman, D. C. Smith, F. Azam & A. Hagström, 1993. Blooms of sequence-specific culturable bacteria in the sea. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 102: 161–166.
Rheinheimer, G., K. Gocke & H. G. Hoppe, 1989. Vertical distribution of microbiological and hydrographic-chemical parameters in different areas of the Baltic Sea. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 52: 55–70.
Rublee, P. A., 1982. Seasonal distribution of bacteria in salt marsh sediments in North Carolina. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci. 15: 67–74.
Schröder, H. G. J. & F. B. Van Es, 1980. Distribution of bacteria in intertidal sediments of the EMS Dollard estuary. Neth. J. Sea Res. 14: 268–287.
Sneath, P. H. A. & R. R. Sokal, 1974. The principles and practice of numerical classification. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.
Sokal, R. R. & C. D. Michener, 1958. A statistical method for evaluating systematic relationships. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 38: 1409–1438.
Sugita, H., H. Tanaami & Y. Deguchi, 1982. Measurement of the bacterial counts in the sediments with gram staining method. Bull. Japan Soc. Sci. Fish. 48: 1469–1471.
Sullivan C. W. & A. C. Palmisano, 1984. Sea ice microbial communities: distribution, abundance and diversity of ice bacteria in McMurdo Sound. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 47: 788–795.
Trousselier, M. & P. Legendre, 1981. A functional evenness index for microbial ecology. Microb. Ecol. 7: 283–297.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Delille, D. Seasonal changes of subantarctic benthic bacterial communities. Hydrobiologia 310, 47–57 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008182
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008182