Stream biofilm responses to flow intermittency

Streams experiencing a recurrent non-flow phase (i.e., flow intermittency) are characteristic of world regions with arid and semi-arid climates, where Mediterranean regions are part of. During non-flow streambed sediments, and consequently, microorganisms inhabiting these sediments are exposed to desiccation. These microorganisms, assembled in biofilms, lead a substantial part of the ecosystem processes. They recycle the carbon materials, intervene in the nutrient cycles and are on the base of the food web, fueling energy to the higher trophic levels. The aim of this tesis is to understand how biofilms respond to flow intermittency in order to unravel the consequences of the increasing spatial and temporal extent of flow intermittency, as a consequence of the global change, on the biogeochemical cycles and on the ecosystem functions in temporary streams. Structural and functional biofilm responses were analyzed at the cellular level (algae and bacteria), as well as at the whole biofilm responses (autotrophic vs heterotrophic processes) in two different field studiesEls rius que experimenten una fase sense cabal (intermitència fluvial) són característics de les regions del món amb climes àrids i semi-àrids, com ara les regions de la Mediterrànies. Durant la fase seca es produeix la dessecació de la llera del riu i conseqüentment els microorganismes que creixen sobre aquests sediments estan exposats a la dessecació. El conjunt d’aquests microorganismes es coneix com a biofilm, el qual juga un paper clau en el processament de la matèria orgànica i en els cicles del carboni i nutrients, A més són a la base de la xarxa tròfica aportant energia als nivells tròfics superiors. L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi és entendre el funcionament del biofilm quan es dona la fase seca, pas clau per entendre i predir les implicacions que tenen els períodes creixents sense cabal en els cicles biogeoquímics i en el funcionament de l’ecosistema. Les respostes estructurals i funcionals del biofilm des d’un punt de vista cel·lular (algues i bacteris), així com també en el conjunt del biofilm (processos autotròfics i heterotròfics) es van investigar mitjançant dos estudis de cam

The dynamics of biofilm bacterial communities is driven by flow wax and wane in a temporary stream

Biofilm communities are exposed to long periods of desiccation in temporary streams. We investigated how water flow intermittency affected the bacterial community structure colonizing three different streambed compartments in a Mediterranean stream. Massive parallel sequencing revealed different bacterial communities in biofilms from sand sediments and cobbles. Bacterial communities were similar (62% of shared operational taxonomic units) in the epipsammic and hyporheic biofilms, and more diverse than those in the epilithic biofilms. The non-flow phase caused a decrease of bacterial diversity in the biofilms, when communities included only bacterial taxa assumed to be adapted to water stress. The most sensitive bacterial communities to flow intermittency were in the epilithic, where the exposure to physical stress was the highest. In sand sediments a wide group of bacterial taxa was tolerant to desiccation. During non-flow the proliferation of opportunistic taxa in the superficial compartments evidenced the biological link with the terrestrial environment. Bacterial communities better tolerate rewetting than desiccation, since a major number of taxa tolerant to rewetting occurred in all biofilms. Overall, bacterial communities in sandy compartments showed higher resistance to flow intermittency than those in epilithic biofilm

Ecoauditoria del CEIP l'Entorn, pla d'acció i seguiment

El projecte "Ecoauditoria del CEIP l'Entorn, pla d'acció i seguiment" consisteix en la diagnosi ambiental del centre, el pla d'acció, l'execució i el seguiment indispensables per a que el centre pugui aconseguir el distintiu d'Escola Verda que atorga la Generalitat de Catalunya. S'introdueix un assaig pedagògic encaminat en l'Educació per la Sostenibilita