Microbial community response and recovery through an aeration-cessation time series in a eutrophic estuary
- 1Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Eutrophication-driven hypoxia and harmful algal blooms are an expanding threat to water quality in estuaries. Engineered aeration is a technology used in freshwater and, to a lesser extent, estuarine systems to mitigate both hypoxia and algal blooms. However, the efficacy of engineered aeration has not been well studied within estuarine ecosystems and very little is known about the impact of aeration on microbial communities in either estuarine or freshwater environments. Here we present a time series investigation of microbial community response to aeration and cessation of aeration in a eutrophic estuary. Samples for 16S rRNA gene analysis were collected over about a month-long period during which time the aerators transitioned from being "on" to "off" to "on" again. Cessation of aeration selected for the dominance of a eukaryotic algae similar to Heterosigma akashiwo. After the resumption of aeration, H. akashiwo dominance decreased rapidly. Cessation of aeration also shifted the structure of the entire microbial community, where diversity decreased and the structure of microbial communities at the surface diverged from those from the bottom of the water column. These changes did not occur at non-aerated control sites. Distinct groups of taxa responded to the disruption in a successional pattern through time, with most taxa never returning to their pre-aeration-cessation abundance during the observational period. These findings demonstrate the complex community response to anthropogenic interventions and provide support for bloom suppression through aeration.
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BibTeX
@misc{schroer2026microbial,
title = {{Microbial community response and recovery through an aeration-cessation time series in a eutrophic estuary}},
author = {W. Schroer and Y. Zhang and K. Arora-Williams and A. Turnham and L. Harris and A. Heyes and J. Testa and L. Lapham and S. P. Preheim},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.24.754275},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.24.754275v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Microbial community response and recovery through an aeration-cessation time series in a eutrophic estuary
AU - W. Schroer
AU - Y. Zhang
AU - K. Arora-Williams
AU - A. Turnham
AU - L. Harris
AU - A. Heyes
AU - J. Testa
AU - L. Lapham
AU - S. P. Preheim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.24.754275
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.24.754275v1
AB - Eutrophication-driven hypoxia and harmful algal blooms are an expanding threat to water quality in estuaries. Engineered aeration is a technology used in freshwater and, to a lesser extent, estuarine systems to mitigate both hypoxia and algal blooms. However, the efficacy of engineered aeration has not been well studied within estuarine ecosystems and very little is known about the impact of aeration on microbial communities in either estuarine or freshwater environments. Here we present a time series investigation of microbial community response to aeration and cessation of aeration in a eutrophic estuary. Samples for 16S rRNA gene analysis were collected over about a month-long period during which time the aerators transitioned from being "on" to "off" to "on" again. Cessation of aeration selected for the dominance of a eukaryotic algae similar to Heterosigma akashiwo. After the resumption of aeration, H. akashiwo dominance decreased rapidly. Cessation of aeration also shifted the structure of the entire microbial community, where diversity decreased and the structure of microbial communities at the surface diverged from those from the bottom of the water column. These changes did not occur at non-aerated control sites. Distinct groups of taxa responded to the disruption in a successional pattern through time, with most taxa never returning to their pre-aeration-cessation abundance during the observational period. These findings demonstrate the complex community response to anthropogenic interventions and provide support for bloom suppression through aeration.
ER -