Spatial heterogeneity of the bacterial community in a newly rehabilitated wetland

We documented potential spatial differences within the aquatic bacterial community in a newly rehabilitated wetland. Replicate 10 meter transects were partitioned into four sites of various depths representing open water (>35 cm), water/ macrophyte interface (20-30 cm), a submersed macrophyte bed (10-25 cm), and a nearly dry (<5 cm) macrophyte stand. We isolated 30 bacterial strains from the senescing plant/water interface from each site, and characterized the Gram stain and morphology across each transect. The majority of isolates (66.6%) were Gram negative, bacillus forms. Also, senescing matter from each site was collected and the ability of each set of isolates to utilize each leachate was tested. The isolated bacteria exhibited a significantly greater ability (p< 0.05) to utilize its co-occurring leachate than did bacteria from other sites within a transect.