Abstract:

This dataset contains values for abundances of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and methane-oxdizing bacteria (MOB) collected from 4 sites in western Barataria Bay (WB), LA, in June 2013. Two sites were oiled and two sites were unoiled. At each site, we collected 5-cm deep soil cores from 4 plots dominated by Avicennia geminans and 4 plots dominated by Spartina alterniflora. Each sample was analyzed for abundance of AOB (betaproteobacterial amoA genes), AOA (archaeal amoA genes), and MOB (pmoA genes).

Suggested Citation:

Bernhard, Anne. 2016. Abundance of ammonia oxidizers and methane oxidizers in Avicennia and Spartina plots in a Louisiana salt marsh three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2013). Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N75M63MR

Purpose:

This dataset was developed as part of a research project investigating the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on salt marsh biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. This particular project was directed to determine: 1) if there was a significant impact on abundance of ammonia- and methane-oxiding communities due to oil; and 2) if there were differences in their distribution related to type of vegetation.

Data Parameters and Units:

Region- identifies the region: WB for western Barataria Bay; Site - 4 sites within WB; Plot number - eight plots at each site that were dominated by either Avicennia or Spartina; oil status- oiled indicates sites that received Macondo oil; AOA# - represents the different TRFs (terminal restriction fragments) detected and their relative abundance (%); AOA - archaeal ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene abundance in copies/gram dry weight; AOB - betaproteobacterial ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene abundance in copies/gram dry weight; MOB - particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA) gene abundance in copies/gram dry weight. Sample site locations: [WB1-S1, WB1-S2, WB1-S3, WB1-S4] = 29.288500,-90.042800; [WB1-M1, WB1-M2, WB1-M3, WB1-M4] = 29.288600,-90.042500; [WB2-S1, WB2-S2, WB2-S3, WB2-S4] = 29.260000, -90.026800; [WB2-M1, WB2-M2, WB2-M3, WB2-M4] = 29.260100,-90.026700; [WB3-S1, WB3-S2, WB3-S3, WB3-S4] = 29.280100,-89.974400; [WB3-M1, WB3-M2, WB3-M3, WB3-M4] = 29.280200,-89.974500; [WB4-S1, WB4-S2, WB4-S3, WB4-S4] = 29.276900,-89.972100; [WB4-M1, WB4-M2, WB4-M3, WB4-M4] = 29.276900,-89.972200.

Methods:

Gene abundances were measured for betaproteobacterial amoA (AOB), archaeal amoA (AOA), and pmoA (MOB) using real-time PCR.

Instruments:

Real-time PCR was carried out on an iCycler (BioRad).

Individual Files: