Seasonal ecology of hydrocarbon-utilizing microbes in the surface Waters of a river

Abstract

Seasonal changes in the microbial communities of the New Calabar Riverwater have been investigated. Analyses of the BOD, pH, salinity, oil and grease levels of effluents of industries sited along the river were also conducted. High hydrocarbon-utilizing microbial populations were found. The percentage of hydrocarbon-utilizing heterotrophic bacteria ranged between 0-98% and 0-68% in the rainy and dry months, respectively. Counts of hydrocarbon-utilizing actinomycetes in the rainy months ranged between 0-95% and 2-55% in the dry months. The hydrocarbon-utilizing yeast population ranged between 1-95% and 2-85% for the rainy and dry months, respectively. Rainy month values for hydrocarbon-utilizing mould population ranged from 0-17% while dry month values ranged from 0-47%. The hydrocarbon-utilizing cyanobacterial population ranged between 0-95% and 0-33% in the rainy and dry months, respectively. Our results suggest that the heterotrophic bacterial and cyanobacterial populations are higher in the rainy months than in the dry months. However, the hydrocarbon-utilizing yeast, mould and actinomycete populations did not show seasonal variation.