Library Portal | UWC Portal | National ETDs | Global ETDs
    • Login
    Contact Us | About Us | FAQs | Login
    View Item 
    •   ETD Home
    • Faculty of Natural Science
    • Department of Biotechnology
    • Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biotechnology)
    • View Item
    •   ETD Home
    • Faculty of Natural Science
    • Department of Biotechnology
    • Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biotechnology)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Seasonal dynamics of edaphic bacterial communities in the hyper-arid Namib desert

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Thesis (11.91Mb)
    Date
    2014
    Author
    Armstrong, Alacia
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    The aim of this study is to investigate the edaphic bacterial community dynamics over short (57 days) and long-term (1 year) sampling intervals using an extensive sampling strategy in combination with community fingerprinting by T-RFLP analyses and micro environmental characterization. The short-term study was conducted on three distinct locations in the Namib Desert gravel plains. Soil bacterial communities were found to be more similar within habitats than between habitats, with the differences likely shaped by soil pH. These findings are consistent with the concept of habitat filtering. Investigation of edaphic bacterial communities over 1 year in an 8100 m2 sampling site revealed seasonal patterns of variation in community structure. Soil moisture, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium were identified as significant abiotic drivers of community temporal dynamics. β diversity was found to increase over time, while the environment remained relatively static. These findings support previous observations that desert communities are likely structured by stochastic and deterministic processes. Taken together, these findings advance understanding of temporal variation of edaphic communities in the Namib desert
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11394/3855
    Collections
    • Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biotechnology)

    DSpace 6.3 | Ubuntu | Copyright © University of the Western Cape
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    DSpace 6.3 | Ubuntu | Copyright © University of the Western Cape
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV