Bacterial Counts

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Bacterial Counts
Authors
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Bacterial Counts

• Introduction
• Bacteria abundance, biomass and productivity are
  influenced by a number of factors.
• Phytoplankton production is most often limited by
  nutrients and light
• Bacteria Production is dependent on dissolved
  organic matter
• Of the physical factors temperature is a major
  factor in determining seasonal variability in
  bacteria

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Bacterial Counts

• Introduction cont
• Bacteria have a very important role in planktonic
  marine microbial foodwebs.
• They share the plankton biomass and their
  activities have a large impact on the ecosystem
  through their roles in biogeochemical cycles
  carbon, sulphur, nitrogen, and iron

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Bacterial Counts

• Introduction Area of Study

Microbial Indicators of Ecology and Water Quality
in Whitepoint Swash, North Myrtle Beach
D
Day High Tide Height Sunrise
Moonset Moon /Low Time
Feet Sunset Moonrise Apr 1 Low
128 AM 0.1 703 AM Set 626 AM
97 1 High 730 AM 4.9 736 PM
Rise 655 PM 1 Low 146 PM
0.1 1 High 756 PM 5.3
C
Route 17
B
White Point Swash
A
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Bacterial Counts

• Methods and Materials
• Collection of Samples
• Filter Processing of Samples
• Slide Preparations
• The Counting

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Methods and Material cont

• YSI was used to determine salinity, DO, pH, and,
  temperature.
• Water was collected in a tube and an unfiltered
  sample was kept for bacteria analysis.
• Samples were collected at each location (B, C,
  and D) at 4 different time intervals.
• Sampling started during the high tide of the
  ebbing stage and continued through low tide
  flooding stage.

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Methods and Material cont

• Slides were preserved with 90 acetone and stored
  in the freezer until slide preparation.
• Slides were made using an acridine orange stain
  and filtered via vacuum filtration.
• Filters were placed on slides and observed under
  a microscope for counting.
• Materials were similar to Hobbie et al. (1977)

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Bacterial Counts

• Results

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Bacterial Counts

• Results

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Bacterial Counts

• Discussion
• Pending other data

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According to Previous Studies We Would Expect

• Bacterial growth yield exponentially with
  temperature.
• In spring, bacterial numbers decrease linearly
  with increasing salinity.
• Maximum chlorophyll a production corresponds to
  the maximal bacterial loss.
• Bacterial counts for total coliform and E. coli
  can vary greatly throughout an estuary- mainly
  because of the dilution of freshwater with
  seawater is continually changing due to tidal
  fluctuations.
• Bacterial dynamics are most affected by temporal
  gradients.