IMPACTS OF MODERATE TO EXTREME STORM EVENTS ON MICROBIAL PLANKTON IN A LARGE TEMPERATE NORTH CAROLINA ESTUARY.

Microbial plankton (prokaryotes, eukaryotes) have important roles in food webs, biogeochemical cycling, and altering the health of coastal ecosystems. Storms, and a lack thereof, are of increasing concern regarding their links to climate change as well as their future regional-dependent intensity and frequency. In North Carolina (NC), wetter conditions are predicted and furthermore much of the state is vulnerable to extreme storms such as cyclones – which are also predicted to increase in frequency and intensity. Recently, we found within the Neuse River Estuary (NRE) – a major component of the larger Albemarle-Pamlico Sound System- small phytoplankton (picophytoplankton, cells <3 µm in diameter) composition and biomass are significantly altered by moderate to extreme storms (Hurricane Florence). Here we expand on that analysis to investigate how abundances of other microbial populations (e.g. bacterioplankton) and the metabolic potential of the microbial community are impacted by storms. Time series sampling in collaboration with the MODMON program (UNC-CH) and flow cytometry, PCR amplicon sequencing, and metagenomic analyses were employed to assess storm impacts as well as broader trends within the NRE (since 2017). Dispersal of populations pre/post storm is of particular interest – especially ‘cryptic’ species or poorly studied cyanobacterial populations that may impact ecosystem health or function. Last, NRE data will be compared to similar datasets from other coastal systems impacted by storms (e.g. cyclones) to investigate if similar consequences emerge from moderate to extreme storms in temperate regions.  

Presentation Preference: Either

Primary Presenter: Ryan W. Paerl, NC State University (rpaerl@ncsu.edu)

Authors:

Joel Sanchez, North Carolina State University at Raleigh  (joeljsanchezg@gmail.com)

Wil Mabe, North Carolina State University  (wkmabe@ncsu.edu)

Rebecca Venezia, North Carolina State University at Raleigh  (revenezi@ncsu.edu)

Hwa Huang, North Carolina State University at Raleigh  (hhuang22@ncsu.edu)

Nathaniel Curtis, North Carolina State University at Raleigh  (npcurtis@ncsu.edu)

Hans Paerl, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences  (hans_paerl@unc.edu)