Date of Award
2015
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.Sc.
Department
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
Supervisor
Daniel Heath
Supervisor
Ken Drouillard
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Freshwater estuaries throughout the Great Lakes region receive nutrient loadings and trace metals from agricultural runoffs and urban centers. Such anthropogenic stressors have been previous demonstrated to affect the microbial community composition in polluted ecosystems. This thesis explores the microbial biogeography of 18 tributaries to understand the relationship between the microbial community structure and habitat profiles, and the impacts of these microbial communities on fish microbiomes. Partial Mantel test showed a significant correlation (R2 =0.16) between environment and bacterial community structure while controlling for spatial distance. Canonical correspondence analysis demonstrated distinct clusters corresponding with specific environmental drivers’ characteristic of specific tributary types. The gut microbiome of fish at these sites showed a significant correlation with environmental bacteria but not with other environmental parameters or spatial distance. This study supports the use of microbial communities as indicators of ecological change and demonstrates that these communities affect the microbiome of higher trophic organisms.
Recommended Citation
Sanghera, Dilraj, "Environmental effects on spatial biogeography of microbial communities and examination of trophic impacts through analysis of gut microbiome in fish" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5702.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5702