Stream Microbial Community Structured by Trace Elements, Headwater Dispersal, and Large Reservoirs in Sub-Alpine and Urban Ecosystems

Stream bacterioplankton communities, a crucial component of aquatic ecosystems and surface water quality, are shaped by environmental selection (i.e., changes in taxa abundance associated with more or less favorable abiotic conditions) and passive dispersal (i.e., organisms’ abundance and distribution is a function of the movement of the water). These processes are a function of hydrologic conditions such as residence time and water chemistry, which are mediated by human infrastructure. To quantify the role of environmental conditions, dispersal, and human infrastructure (dams) on stream bacterioplankton, we measured bacterioplankton community composition in rivers from sub-alpine to urban environments in three watersheds (Utah, United States) across three seasons. Of the 53 environmental parameters measured (including physicochemical parameters, solute concentrations, and catchment characteristics), trace element concentrations explained the most variability in bacterioplankton community composition using Redundancy Analysis ordination. Trace elements may correlate with bacterioplankton due to the commonality in source of water and microorganisms, and/or environmental selection creating more or less favorable conditions for bacteria. Bacterioplankton community diversity decreased downstream along parts of the stream continuum but was disrupted where large reservoirs increased water residence time by orders of magnitude, potentially indicating a shift in the relative importance of environmental selection and dispersal at these sites. Reservoirs also had substantial effects on community composition, dissimilarity (Bray-Curtis distance) and species interactions as indicated by co-occurrence networks. Communities downstream of reservoirs were enriched with anaerobic Sporichthyaceae, methanotrophic Methylococcaceae, and iron-transforming Acidimicrobiales, suggesting alternative metabolic pathways became active in the hypolimnion of large reservoirs. Our results identify that human activity affects river microbial communities, with potential impacts on water quality through modified biogeochemical cycling.