River ecosystems across the US and globally face numerous stressors that impact both ecological function and water quality. In 2015-16, municipalities along the Dan River in southern Virginia experienced repeated taste and odor (TandO) issues in their drinking water that originated from the river source water. Given that the source of TandO issues during these events were unknown, this research aimed to identify patterns in the distributions of river microorganisms that could help identify potential biological causes. Monthly water, sediment, and periphyton samples were collected for a full year from the Smith and Dan Rivers to quantify actinomycete, fungi, and chlorophyll a concentrations, which have historically been linked to TandO problems, and to characterize changes in microbial community structure. Although no significant TandO event occurred during the study period, the work produced unique and valuable data that describe patterns of microbial populations and communities in a river ecosystem. Results from the study show the abundances of actinomycetes, fungi, and chlorophyll a expressing seasonal and regional variation by habitat. From a broader ecological perspective, microbial communities sampled from water, sediment, and periphyton were each unique from each other regardless of river reach and season sampled. Overall, this research adds to our understanding of river ecology by detailing the microbial abundance and diversity in three river habitats, including periphyton, that can be used to predict sources of river TandO in future events, and offers new questions regarding how microbial diversity changes over space and time. / Master of Science / In 2015-16, cities along the Dan River in Virginia experienced multiple taste and odor (T&O) events that led to earthy and musty odors in drinking water. As part of a larger project looking at a range of possible chemical and biological sources of T&O, this research aimed to identify changes in abundance of river microorganisms that might indicate potential biological causes to T&O events. Monthly samples of water, sediment, and algal growth were collected for a year from 12 sites on the Smith and Dan Rivers. Samples were analyzed for abundances of three known T&O causing groups of organisms—actinomycetes, fungi, and photoautotrophs—and to characterize changes in total microbial communities as an indicator of ecological change occurring along the rivers. Although a significant T&O event did not occur during the study period, the research produced valuable descriptions of how important microorganisms change in a freshwater ecosystem. Actinomycetes elevated in the lower Dan River during fall, fungi elevated during the spring, and chlorophyll a was highest in the upper Smith River during winter, suggesting that photoautotrophic growth was more likely to be linked to previous T&O events. The diversity and makeup of the microbial communities in the rivers was primarily dependent on where they were growing (water, sediment, or periphyton) and secondarily on the season or the river reach. Combined, these results will help to identify causes of future T&O events in the Dan River and also provide new insights into ecological patterns of microorganisms in river ecosystems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/93501 |
| Date | 06 September 2019 |
| Creators | Cappellin, Catherine Brooks |
| Contributors | Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Badgley, Brian D., Steele, Meredith K., Dietrich, Andrea M., Langwig, Kate E. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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