Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1, and Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Dec;50(6):1464-73. doi: 10.1128/aem.50.6.1464-1473.1985.
The microbial activity near two deep ocean sewage outfalls off the coast of the island of Oahu, Hawaii, was characterized. Water samples and sediment samples to a depth of 4.5 cm were analyzed from an area of approximately 4.5 x 10 m surrounding the outfalls. Although the effluent water at both sites exhibited heterotrophic activity that was 2 orders of magnitude greater than water from a control site, ambient water samples taken within 1 m of the discharge ports exhibited activity only twice that of the control water. The heterotrophic activity of the outfall sediment was only elevated above that of the control site for surface samples collected within 10 m of the outfall. Likewise, the rates of microbial nucleic acid synthesis and carbon production in the sediment were only elevated immediately adjacent to the outfalls. Total microbial biomass, as determined by the ATP content of the sediment, varied spatially but was generally elevated at the outfall sites. The specific growth rates calculated for the sediment microbial populations, however, were not greater at the outfall sites. At one site the rocks surrounding the diffuser pipe were covered with copious amounts of slime that appeared to be composed entirely of microbial cells and filaments. This microbial mat was extremely active with respect to heterotrophic activity and biomass production. Overall, it appears that the impact of the sewage discharge on the ambient seawater microbiota is slight and that the effect on the sediment microbiota is confined to an area immediately adjacent to the diffuser ports. In the sand itself, the effect is limited to the upper 2 cm at most.
对夏威夷瓦胡岛海岸附近两个深海污水排放口附近的微生物活动进行了描述。从排放口周围约 4.5 x 10 m 的区域分析了水样和沉积物样本，深度为 4.5 cm。尽管两个地点的污水都表现出比对照点高 2 个数量级的异养活性，但在排放口 1 m 范围内采集的环境水样的活性仅为对照水的两倍。排放口沉积物的异养活性仅在距离排放口 10 m 范围内的表层样本中高于对照点。同样，沉积物中微生物核酸合成和碳生产的速率仅在靠近排放口的地方升高。通过沉积物中的 ATP 含量来确定的总微生物生物量在空间上有所变化，但通常在排放口处升高。然而，沉积物微生物种群的特定生长率在排放口处并没有更高。在一个地点，扩散器管道周围的岩石上覆盖着大量的黏液，这些黏液似乎完全由微生物细胞和丝状菌组成。这种微生物垫在异养活性和生物量生产方面非常活跃。总的来说，污水排放对环境海水微生物群的影响很小，对沉积物微生物群的影响仅限于扩散器端口附近的区域。在沙子本身中，影响最多仅限于最上面的 2 厘米。
