Biophysical properties at patch scale shape the metabolism of biofilm landscapes

Anna Depetris, Giorgia Tagliavini, Hannes Peter, Michael Kühl, Markus Holzner, Tom J. Battin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)
37 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Phototrophic biofilms form complex spatial patterns in streams and rivers, yet, how community patchiness, structure and function are coupled and contribute to larger-scale metabolism remains unkown. Here, we combined optical coherence tomography with automated O2 microprofiling and amplicon sequencing in a flume experiment to show how distinct community patches interact with the hydraulic environment and how this affects the internal distribution of oxygen. We used numerical simulations to derive rates of community photosynthetic activity and respiration at the patch scale and use the obtained parameter to upscale from individual patches to the larger biofilm landscape. Our biofilm landscape approach revealed evidence of parallels in the structure-function coupling between phototrophic biofilms and their streambed habitat.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5
Journalnpj Biofilms and Microbiomes
Volume8
Number of pages12
ISSN2055-5008
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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