Correlations Between Predominant Heterotrophic Bacteria and Physicochemical Water Quality Parameters in Two Canadian Rivers

Abstract

The heterotrophic bacterial populations in two contrasting rivers have been examined over a period of 1 year. The populations were analyzed (i) as total heterotrophic counts, (ii) as species numbers, using numerical taxonomy, (iii) by diversity indices, and (iv) by factor analysis. Isolates were obtained by plating directly from water samples and by chemostat enrichment. Four factors emerged which profiled the bacterial community and were common to both rivers. They were, in order of decreasing importance, fermentative metabolism, inorganic nitrogen metabolism, fluorescence-oxidative metabolism, and lack of starch hydrolysis. Several factors produced significant correlations with a range of physicochemical parameters, which were also measured. The correlations suggested an intricate algal-bacterial interaction. The oxidative metabolism factor correlated with rainfall in one river, suggesting that the oxidative bacteria may be washed in from the surrounding land. In the other river, the oxidative-fermentative factor correlated negatively with sunshine. Factor analysis was the most effective method for revealing correlations between bacterial characteristics and the environmental parameters; however, the use of a variety of methods provided more insight into the ecological aspects.