Bacterioplankton and bacteriobenthos of the Amur estuary and the adjacent areas in the Summer of 2006

Abstract

This work presents the results of the study of the plankton and benthic microbiocenoses of the Amur estuary. It is shown that the distribution of the total abundance and indicator groups of the bacteriobenthos are characterized by stronger heterogeneity compared with the bacterioplankton and that it depends on the Amur river drainage and the bottom type. The river drainage helps by increasing the overall bacterioplankton abundance in the near-mouth part of the estuary. Microorganisms utilizing low concentrations of OM play a major role in the processes of the OM utilization in the water and bottom sediments. Saprophytic bacteria play a significant role in the OM utilization only in the water at certain sampling sites in the Tatarskiy Strait and Sakhalin Bay and in the bottom sediments taken in the mouth part of the estuary. Some parts of the estuary subject to organic contamination are found according to the microbiological characteristics. It is shown that the fluctuation of the salinity leads to a change of the share of bacteria with different food demands in the microbial community.