Variability in bacteria and virus-like particle abundances during purging of unconfined aquifers

Roudnew, B; Lavery, TJ; Seymour, JR; Jeffries, TC; Mitchell, JG

Variability in bacteria and virus-like particle abundances during purging of unconfined aquifers

Roudnew, B Lavery, TJ Seymour, JR

Jeffries, TC

Mitchell, JG

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Groundwater, 2014, 52 (1), pp. 118 - 124
Issue Date:: 2014-01-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	2012008097OK.pdf		571.21 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Roudnew, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lavery, TJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Seymour, JR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-6541	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Jeffries, TC https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6479-0353	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mitchell, JG	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Groundwater, 2014, 52 (1), pp. 118 - 124	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0017-467X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/36186
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/26480
dc.description.abstract	Standard methodologies for sampling the physicochemical conditions of groundwater recommend purging a bore for three bore volumes to avoid sampling the stagnant water within a bore and instead gain samples representative of the aquifer. However, there are currently no methodological standards addressing the amount of purging required to gain representative biological samples to assess groundwater bacterial and viral abundances. The objective of this study was to examine how bacterial and viral abundances change during the purging of bore volumes. Six bores infiltrating into unconfined aquifers were pumped for five or six bore volumes each and bacteria and virus-like particles (VLPs) were enumerated from each bore volume using flow cytometry. In examination of the individual bores trends in bacterial abundances were observed to increase, decrease, or remain constant with each purged bore volume. Furthermore, triplicates taken at each bore volume indicated substantial variations in VLP and bacterial abundances that are often larger than the differences between bore volumes. This indicates a high level of small scale heterogeneity in microbial community abundance in groundwater samples, and we suggest that this may be an intrinsic feature of bore biology. The heterogeneity observed may be driven by bottom up processes (variability in the distribution of organic and inorganic nutrients), top-down processes (grazing and viral lysis), physical heterogeneities in the bore, or technical artifacts associated with the purging process. We suggest that a more detailed understanding of the ecology underpinning this variability is required to adequately describe the microbiological characteristics of groundwater ecosystems. © 2013, National Ground Water Association.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Groundwater	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/gwat.12044	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Engineering	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Flow Cytometry	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Water Microbiology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Temperature	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Environmental Monitoring	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	South Australia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Groundwater	en_US
dc.title	Variability in bacteria and virus-like particle abundances during purging of unconfined aquifers	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	52	en_US
utslib.for	0799 Other Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	52	en_US

Abstract:

Standard methodologies for sampling the physicochemical conditions of groundwater recommend purging a bore for three bore volumes to avoid sampling the stagnant water within a bore and instead gain samples representative of the aquifer. However, there are currently no methodological standards addressing the amount of purging required to gain representative biological samples to assess groundwater bacterial and viral abundances. The objective of this study was to examine how bacterial and viral abundances change during the purging of bore volumes. Six bores infiltrating into unconfined aquifers were pumped for five or six bore volumes each and bacteria and virus-like particles (VLPs) were enumerated from each bore volume using flow cytometry. In examination of the individual bores trends in bacterial abundances were observed to increase, decrease, or remain constant with each purged bore volume. Furthermore, triplicates taken at each bore volume indicated substantial variations in VLP and bacterial abundances that are often larger than the differences between bore volumes. This indicates a high level of small scale heterogeneity in microbial community abundance in groundwater samples, and we suggest that this may be an intrinsic feature of bore biology. The heterogeneity observed may be driven by bottom up processes (variability in the distribution of organic and inorganic nutrients), top-down processes (grazing and viral lysis), physical heterogeneities in the bore, or technical artifacts associated with the purging process. We suggest that a more detailed understanding of the ecology underpinning this variability is required to adequately describe the microbiological characteristics of groundwater ecosystems. © 2013, National Ground Water Association.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/26480