Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC16 Microbial Dynamics

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Otero, E, , Univ. of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, otero2001@hotmail.com

BACTERIAL ABUNDANCE AND PRODUCTION IN CONTRASTING COASTAL SYSTEMS OF SOUTHWESTERN, PUERTO RICO

Southwestern Puerto Rico (SWPR) contains diverse marine environments (estuarine, mangrove, seagrass and coral-reef systems) which have been or will probably be subjected to significant anthropogenic disturbances. This work is the first attempt to assess the distribution of bacterial abundance and production in coastal waters of SWPR. The main emphasis of the work is to study how bacterial communities respond to coastal-offshore, mangrove-riverine and anthropogenic input gradients in view of the present condition of environmental change in coral-reef and seagrass environments. Two main areas were studied which contrasts in riverine, mangrove, coral reefs and anthropogenic influences: Mayagüez Bay (more anthropogenic and riverine inputs) and La Parguera (healthier reef communities and mangroves inputs). Phytoplankton biomass (Chlorophyll and cyanobacteria), colored dissolved organic matter fluorescence (CDOM-Fluor), bacterial cell diamino-phenyl-indol (DAPI) counts and leucine incorporation rates (LIR) were measured. Results indicate unexpectedly higher LIR in La Parguera than in Mayagüez Bay since the latter site has been highly impacted by organic anthropogenic inputs. This difference may be related to the mangrove DOM inputs to coastal waters.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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