Do biofilm communities respond to the chemical signatures of fracking? A test involving streams in North-central Arkansas

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• 作者：Wilson H. Johnson ; Marlis R. Douglas ; Jeffrey A. Lewis…
• 关键词：16S ribosomal RNA ; Anthropogenic impacts ; Bioindicators ; Fayetteville shale ; Groundwater ; Microbiome
• 刊名：BMC Microbiology
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：December 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：17
• 期：1
• 全文大小：1138KB
• 刊物主题：Microbiology; Biological Microscopy; Mycology; Parasitology; Virology; Life Sciences, general;
• 出版者：BioMed Central
• ISSN：1471-2180
• 卷排序：17

文摘

BackgroundUnconventional natural gas (UNG) extraction (fracking) is ongoing in 29 North American shale basins (20 states), with ~6000 wells found within the Fayetteville shale (north-central Arkansas). If the chemical signature of fracking is detectable in streams, it can be employed to bookmark potential impacts. We evaluated benthic biofilm community composition as a proxy for stream chemistry so as to segregate anthropogenic signatures in eight Arkansas River catchments. In doing so, we tested the hypothesis that fracking characteristics in study streams are statistically distinguishable from those produced by agriculture or urbanization.