The study of bacterioplankton dynamics in the Berlengas Archipelago (West coast...

• Author(s): Mendes, Susana ; Fernández-Gómez, M.J. ; Galindo-Villardón, M.P. ; Morgado, F. ; Maranhão, P. ; Azeiteiro, Ulisses M. ; Bacelar-Nicolau, P.
• Date: 2009
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/446
• Origin: Repositório da Universidade dos Açores
• Subject(s): Reserva Natural das Berlengas; Bactérias Heterotróficas Aeróbicas; Bactérias Redutoras de Sulfatos; Bactérias Redutoras de Nitratos; Berlengas Natural Reserve; Aerobic Heterotrophic Bacteria; Sulphate-reducing Bacteria; Nitrate-reducing Bacteria
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The relationship between bacterioplankton and environmental forcing in the Berlengas Archipelago (Western Coast of Portugal) were studied between February 2006 and February 2007 in two sampling stations: Berlenga and Canal, using an HJ-biplot. The HJ-biplot showed a simultaneous display of the three main metabolic groups of bacteria involved in carbon cycling (aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, sulphate-reducing bacteria and nitrate-reducing bacteria) and environmental parameters, in low dimensions. Our results indicated that bacterial dynamics are mainly affected by temporal gradients (seasonal gradients with a clear winter versus summer opposition), and less by the spatial structure (Berlenga and Canal). The yearly variation in the abundance of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria were positively correlated with those in chlorophyll a concentration, whereas ammonium concentration and temperature decreased with increasing phosphates and nitrites concentration. The relationship between aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, chlorophyll a and ammonium reveals that phytoplankton is an important source of organic substrates for bacteria.