Microbial Diversity At Two Geographic Locations – Developing A Database Of Species With Water Chemistry

Annual Conference

When we turn on the tap we expect clean and safe water to drink. Increasing demand on water resources for anthropogenic activities and surface contamination is putting pressure on our water resources. Groundwater is a vital source of drinking water both in New Zealand, supplying over 30% of our water. The complex ecosystems present in aquifers protect our groundwater by removing contaminants that enter the groundwater from the surface. In order to protect our drinking water for the future it is vital we understand these ecosystems more and identify the pressure points that lead to the system to tip over and no longer protect our water.

Our research is aimed at gaining a better understanding of these vital ecosystems and how they respond to contaminants in order to develop a proactive method of assessing groundwater health. The novel toolbox we are developing will assess the presence or absence of keystone species (micro and macro) to give a better picture of the health of the groundwater ecosystem and how it is able to protect the water you drink. We are using cutting edge technologies to develop the toolbox due to the inherent difficulties at sampling below the ground.

We have been studying sites in Canterbury and Southland over a number of years and will present the diversity present across nutrient gradients and the changes that occur in diversity and how this relates to water chemistry (Table 1). We will also show the similarities and differences that occur in the diversity present in geographic locations (Figures 4 - 6). By understanding more about the natural diversity that exists at different regions is allowing us to set up a database of organisms present. The results show that variations do occur within sites over seasons, with more diversity seen during spring and summer months. There are also differences seen between sites with varying nutrient concentrations. Overall we see a reduction in diversity occurring with increase in contaminants but seasonal stress also appears to play a role in this change in abundance and diversity. This is the first step towards a groundwater health index similar to the MCI for surface waters. Once we can identify key organisms present when contaminants are also present we will develop a tool to identify the status of groundwater in New Zealand.

Conference Papers

MICROBIAL DIVERSITY AT TWO GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS – FIRST STEP IN A DATABASE OF SPECIES WITH WATER CHEMISTRY.pdf

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26 Sep 2018