Spatial turnover of core and occasional bacterial taxa in the plastisphere from a plateau river, China

Plastic surfaces in the environment are a comparatively new niche for microbial colonization, also known as the "plastisphere". However, our understanding of the core and occasional bacterial taxa in the plastisphere is limited. Here, environmental plastic, water, and sediment samples were collected from 10 sites in a plateau river (Lhasa River, China) in September of 2019. The composition and spatial turnover of core and occasional bacterial taxa in the plastisphere were revealed via 16S rRNA gene sequencing and compared with water and sediment. The results indicated that deterministic processes dominated the habitat specialization that shaped the formation of core and occasional taxa in the plastisphere, water, and sediment of the Lhasa River because the decline in zeta diversity in the plastisphere, water, and sediment was more fitted to a power-law form rather than an exponential form. Proteobacteria (65.9%), Bacteroidetes (16.0%), and Cyanobacteria (11.7%) dominated the plastic core taxa. Core taxa rather than occasional taxa in the plastisphere had a lower (21.7%) proportion of OTUs and a higher (81.7%) proportion of average relative abundance than water and sediment, which were dominant in plastic bacterial communities. The spatial turnover of core and occasional bacterial taxa in the plastisphere was governed by abiotic as well as biotic factors. Specifically, the spatial turnover of core taxa in the plastisphere with high connectivity but low functional redundancy was easily affected by geographical distance, altitude, and heavy metals. Furthermore, strong drug resistance was found in the spatially persistent core taxa in the plastisphere. This study provides empirical support for the spatial turnover (species variation) and potential ecological mechanisms of bacterial communities in the plastisphere from river ecosystems.

Riverine Health Assessment Using Coordinated Development Degree Model Based on Natural and Social Functions in the Lhasa River, China

Rivers provide a variety of ecosystem services to humans. However, human interference significantly impairs the rivers’ functions and poses a threat to river health. To increase the understanding of riverine health in Tibet, China from 2011 to 2014, this study used the Lhasa River as a case study and established a multiple indicator system incorporating both natural and social functions of the river. Weights of riverine health indicators were calculated using the entropy method. Moreover, to evaluate the coordination and development of natural and social functions, a coordinated development degree model was developed. The results showed that the entropy weights of natural and social functions in the target layer were 0.67 and 0.33, respectively. Natural functions, social functions, and riverine state index all decreased from upstream to downstream, and marked as “good” during the entire study period. In 2012, the coordinated development degree improved from previously “moderately coordinated” to “highly coordinated”. Furthermore, the development of natural and social functions was synchronized throughout the study period. Further analysis revealed that the construction of hydraulic projects had a significant effect on the hydrological regime, resulting in an increase in social functions of the river. Therefore, the coordinated development degree model is shown to provide new insight into assessing riverine health in terms of both natural and social functions.

Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals to aquatic organisms in the Lhasa River, Tibet, China

The Lhasa River is the largest and most important tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River on the Tibetan Plateau, China. It is an important source of drinking water and irrigation for the inhabitants living in the watershed. Despite the increasing focus on water chemistry, the ecological risk assessment (ERA) caused by heavy metals to aquatic organisms in the Lhasa River has not been performed before. Based on the documented monitoring data for heavy metals, the species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) method was applied in this study. The potential ecological risks induced by eight major heavy metals (including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn)) in the Lhasa River to four typical categories of freshwater organisms, including insects, crustaceans, fish, and mollusks, were assessed in different water periods (e.g., high, normal, and low water-periods). Results suggested that the downstream part of the Lhasa River and the Meldromarchu and Tölungchu tributaries are the principal zones for the high aquatic ecological risks. For most of the monitoring sites, the ecological risks decreased in the following order: high-water period > normal-water period > low-water period. During the high-water period, Cu had the highest ecological risks for all selected species. For the insects, the ecological risks were quite low (< 1%) throughout the year. These results suggested that particular attention should be paid to the contamination of certain heavy metals (e.g., Cu and Cr) in the future water management in the Lhasa River.

Spatiotemporal variability of heavy metals and identification of potential source tracers in the surface water of the Lhasa River basin

The Lhasa River basin is the economic and population center of Tibet and has abundant resources. Due to its harsh weather condition, high elevation, and inconvenient accessibility, few studies have focused on heavy metal distributions in this region. In the present study, to investigate the dissolved trace metal pollution and its controlling factors, 57 water samples from the Lhasa River and its tributaries were collected during three water flow regimes in 2016. The data on the dissolved fraction revealed that the Lhasa River basin appeared to have no to low pollution levels. However, the Lhasa River water showed alkaline characteristics which may affect the presence of heavy metal elements in a dissolved fraction. The concentration of heavy metal elements in colloidal or particulate matter therefore needs attention. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the significant relationship between the data and to identify controlling factors for dissolved heavy metals in the study area. The results suggested that Mn, Cd, Cu, and Zn originated from a natural geological background, whereas Pb originated from mining drainage and As was influenced by geothermal flows. The concentration of dissolved heavy metals in the Meldromarchu tributary was greatly affected by the mining drainage water, while that in the Tölungchu tributary was greatly influenced by the geothermal water sources. This paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of dissolved heavy metal pollution characteristics and the controlling factors of pollution during the three different water flow regimes of the Lhasa River basin.

[Fate and Origin of Major Ions in River Water in the Lhasa River Basin, Tibet]

In order to understand the temporal and spatial variations of major ions in water and their sources in the Lhasa River Basin, water samples were collected monthly at the hydrological station in the Lhasa River from August 2014 to July. The results show that HCO₃^- is the dominant anion in the water of the Lhasa River, which accounts for 68.73% of the anions, followed by SO₄^2-. Ca²⁺ is the dominant cation, which accounts for 67.75% of the cations, followed by Mg²⁺. The pH values of the river water range between 8.31 and 8.90, with a mean of 8.59 throughout the year, generally showing alkaline water. The highest pH values occur in summer, which is probably due to the photosynthesis of aquatic plants and the growth of phytoplankton. Electrical conductivity (EC) varies between 155.0 and 257.0 μS·cm^-1, with a mean of 210.5 μS·cm^-1. Because of the frequent uplift of the Tibetan Plateau that enhanced the mechanical weathering of rocks and mineral dissolution, the total dissolved solid (TDS) concentration, at an average of 181.35 mg·L^-1, is significantly higher than the average value of rivers around the world. The Lhasa River is recharged by surface runoff, so the concentrations of major ions in water are higher during winter, but lower in summer. An ion source analysis indicates that Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and HCO₃^- are mainly derived from chemical weathering of carbonate minerals, Cl^-, SO₄^2-, and NO₃^- are mainly affected by precipitation and rock weathering. Furthermore, the concentrations of major ions in the water have a negative correlation with the river discharge rate, which suggests there might be a dilution effect occurring during the rainy season.