The Seasonal Patterns, Ecological Function and Assembly Processes of Bacterioplankton Communities in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, China

As the water source for the Middle Route Project of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (MR-SNWD) of China, the Danjiangkou Reservoir (DJR) is in the process of ecosystem reassembly, but the composition, function, and assembly mechanisms of bacterioplankton communities are not yet clear. In this study, the composition, distribution characteristics and influencing factors of bacterioplankton communities were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing (HTS); PICRUSt2 was used to predict community function; a molecular ecological network was used to analyze bacterioplankton interactions; and the assembly process of bacterioplankton communities was estimated with a neutral model. The results indicated that the communities, function and interaction of bacterioplankton in the DJR had significant annual and seasonal variations and that the seasonal differences were greater than that the annual differences. Excessive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrients in the DJR are the most important factors affecting water quality in the reservoir, N and P nutrients are the main factors affecting bacterial communities. Season is the most important factor affecting bacterioplankton N and P cycle functions. Ecological network analysis indicated that the average clustering coefficient and average connectivity of the spring samples were lower than those of the autumn samples, while the number of modules for the spring samples was higher than that for the autumn samples. The neutral model explained 66.3%, 63.0%, 63.0%, and 70.9% of the bacterioplankton community variations in samples in the spring of 2018, the autumn of 2018, the spring of 2019, and the autumn of 2019, respectively. Stochastic processes dominate bacterioplankton community assembly in the DJR. This study revealed the composition, function, interaction, and assembly of bacterioplankton communities in the DJR, providing a reference for the protection of water quality and the ecological functions of DJR bacterioplankton.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the composition, distribution characteristics, and influencing factors of bacterioplankton communities in the Danjiangkou Reservoir (DJR) using high-throughput sequencing. The results revealed significant annual and seasonal variations in the communities, function, and interaction of bacterioplankton in the DJR, with seasonal differences being greater than annual differences. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus were identified as the most important factors affecting water quality in the reservoir, and seasonality was found to be the most important factor affecting bacterioplankton nitrogen and phosphorus cycle functions. The study also showed that stochastic processes dominate the assembly of bacterioplankton communities in the DJR.