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Diurnal patterns of airborne algae in the Hawaiian Islands: a preliminary study

Aerobiologia volume 34, pages 363–373 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Although the literature on the diversity of airborne algal communities in various locations around the world is increasing, little is known about their temporal and spatial patterns. We compared airborne algal communities from Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA, over three 24-h sampling periods to examine diurnal patterns in diversity and abundance. Using a culture-based approach, 192 algal colonies were characterized and identified as 31 operational taxonomic units. A combination of microscopy and Sanger sequencing (of the UPA marker) was used for characterizations. More airborne algal colonies were identified from nighttime collections (127 of 192 colonies) than daytime collections (65 of 192 colonies) (p < 0.0001). Similarly, 95% of the daytime collections were Cyanobacteria, and 87% of the nighttime collections were Chlorophyta, and the trends of more Cyanobacteria being collected during the day and more Chlorophyta at night were significant (p < 0.0001). Meteorological analyses for the sampling periods indicated that air masses sampled during the three trials consistently arrived in the Hawaiian Islands on a northeast trade wind pattern, but with different origins in the Pacific Ocean, and that low-to-trace levels of rain fell during the sampling periods. Land breeze and sea breeze effects, which are common temperature-driven phenomena on tropical islands, may have played a role in the diurnal pattern observed in the current study.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a U.S. National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates award (REU: DNA-based Discoveries in Hawai‘i’s Biodiversity) to S. Kraft-Terry and S. Donachie at the University of Hawai‘i (NSF DBI-1560491).

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  1. Department of Botany, University of Hawai‘i, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Hans W. Singh, Rachael M. Wade & Alison R. Sherwood

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  1. Hans W. Singh
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  2. Rachael M. Wade
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  3. Alison R. Sherwood
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Correspondence to Alison R. Sherwood.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1

QIIME commands for betadiversity analyses of diurnal patterns of Hawaiian airborne algae (DOCX 43 kb)

Online Resource 2

Collection of airborne Chlorophyta (dark) versus Cyanobacteria (light) for daytime intervals versus nighttime intervals, for the three trials of the study (PPTX 49 kb)

Online Resource 3

Total number of airborne algal colonies collected over the three trials, by two-hour sampling period; Chlorophyta = dark, Cyanobacteria = light (PPTX 47 kb)

Online Resource 4

HY-SPLIT model output for air mass back trajectories associated with the first sampling period (14–15 June 2017); red = 50 m above sea level, blue = 500 m, and green = 1000 m (PPTX 4367 kb)

Online Resource 5

HY-SPLIT model output for air mass back trajectories associated with the second sampling period (18–19 June 2017); red = 50 m above sea level, blue = 500 m, and green = 1000 m (PPTX 4244 kb)

Online Resource 6

a) HY-SPLIT model output for air mass back trajectories associated with the third sampling period (21–22 June 2017); red = 50 m above sea level, blue = 500 m, and green = 1000 m (PPTX 3792 kb)

Online Resource 7

Wind speed (in kph; top graph) and air temperature (in degrees Celsius; bottom graph) during the three trials (PPTX 45 kb)

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Singh, H.W., Wade, R.M. & Sherwood, A.R. Diurnal patterns of airborne algae in the Hawaiian Islands: a preliminary study. Aerobiologia 34, 363–373 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-018-9519-5

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Keywords

  • Chlorophyta
  • Cyanobacteria
  • Green algae
  • Trade winds
  • Universal Plastid Amplicon