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Structural Stability, Microbial Biomass and Community Composition of Sediments Affected by the Hydric Dynamics of an Urban Stormwater Infiltration Basin

Dynamics of Physical and Microbial Characteristics of Stormwater Sediment

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

The sedimentary layer deposited at the surface of stormwater infiltration basins is highly organic and multicontaminated. It undergoes considerable moisture content fluctuations due to the drying and inundation cycles (called hydric dynamics) of these basins. Little is known about the microflora of the sediments and its dynamics; hence, the purpose of this study is to describe the physicochemical and biological characteristics of the sediments at different hydric statuses of the infiltration basin. Sediments were sampled at five time points following rain events and dry periods. They were characterized by physical (aggregation), chemical (nutrients and heavy metals), and biological (total, bacterial and fungal biomasses, and genotypic fingerprints of total bacterial and fungal communities) parameters. Data were processed using statistical analyses which indicated that heavy metal (1,841 μg/g dry weight (DW)) and organic matter (11%) remained stable through time. By contrast, aggregation, nutrient content (NH +4 , 53–717 μg/g DW), pH (6.9–7.4), and biological parameters were shown to vary with sediment water content and sediment biomass, and were higher consecutive to stormwater flows into the basin (up to 7 mg C/g DW) than during dry periods (0.6 mg C/g DW). Coinertia analysis revealed that the structure of the bacterial communities is driven by the hydric dynamics of the infiltration basin, although no such trend was found for fungal communities. Hydric dynamics more than rain events appear to be more relevant for explaining variations of aggregation, microbial biomass, and shift in the microbial community composition. We concluded that the hydric dynamics of stormwater infiltration basins greatly affects the structural stability of the sedimentary layer, the biomass of the microbial community living in it and its dynamics. The decrease in aggregation consecutive to rewetting probably enhances access to organic matter (OM), explaining the consecutive release of NH +4 , the bloom of the microbial biomass, and the change in structure of the bacterial community. These results open new perspectives for basin management since the risk of OM and pollutant transfer to the aquifer is greatly affected by alternating dry and flood periods.

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Notes

  1. Calculations were performed with structural data acquired on these sediments, a bulk density of 0.635 ± 0.205 g/cm3 was used (Lassabatere 2010 [35])

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Acknowledgments

The work presented was funded in part by the ECOPLUIE project backed by the PRECODD research program (2005) (no. ANR: ANR-05-ECOT-006-07, no. ADEME: 0594C-0089) and the Ministère de l’Ecologie, de l’Energie, du Développement durable et de l’Aménagement du territoire-Direction de la recherche et de l’innovation (Convention no. 07 DST S 002). It was also carried out in the framework of the regional observatory on urban hydrology (OTHU) with the collaboration of the “Greater Lyon” urban community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lyon, Lyon, 69003, France

    Anne Laure Badin, Laurence Volatier, Cécile Delolme & Jean-Philippe Bedell

  2. ENTPE, Vaulx en Velin, 69518, France

    Anne Laure Badin, Laurence Volatier, Cécile Delolme & Jean-Philippe Bedell

  3. Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Environnement, Vaulx-en-Velin, 69518, France

    Anne Laure Badin, Laurence Volatier, Cécile Delolme & Jean-Philippe Bedell

  4. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, 38041, France

    Armelle Monier & Roberto A. Geremia

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  1. Anne Laure Badin
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Correspondence to Jean-Philippe Bedell.

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Badin, A.L., Monier, A., Volatier, L. et al. Structural Stability, Microbial Biomass and Community Composition of Sediments Affected by the Hydric Dynamics of an Urban Stormwater Infiltration Basin. Microb Ecol 61, 885–897 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9829-4

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