Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Our research demonstrates wildland fire emissions are sources of viable microbial aersols to the atmosphere. Societal impacts of this line of research are both indirect (e.g. ecosystem services) and direct (human health). Smoke impacts natural resource management, public opinion, and public safety, and have catalyzed immense planning and coordination efforts by stakeholders. This foundational work would support subsequent investigation into targeted species of special concern to human health impacts, thereby benefiting sensitive populations known to be under the threat of wildfires. An improved understanding of the ecological sources, characteristics, and meteorological effects of microbes transported in smoke is particularly relevant to communities in proximity to frequent wildland fires and where fire incidence is predicted to increase in the future (e.g., Western US forests, Southern and Southeastern Australia, Amazon forests, and Indonesia). Changes/Problems:We spent the year analyzing data,preparing the data for publication, and writing proposals to support future research efforts. Since all of these activities can be accomplished remotely, the disruption in laboratory research caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic did not affect production on this project during 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The EMBER project supported and trained UF PhD graduate student Rachel Moore, who graduated with a PhD in spring 2020 and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia Tech.UF undergraduate student Chelsey Bomar was also supported and trained by this funding, and Chelsey will enroll as a graduate student at the UF in Fall 2021. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Christner and collaborators presented results at the 2019 general assembly of the American Geophysical Union. Rachel Moore and Chelsey Bomar have also disseminated theresearch to faculty and students in the UF community (i.e., at Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, in the Department of Microbiology and Biological Sciences, and at UF's Undergraduate Research Symposium). A publication on this work was published in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal in 2020 as well as a press release that highlighted the research (http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2020/10/28/study-microbes-escape-wildland-fires-on-smoke-particle-life-rafts/). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Synergizing with a recently acquired NSF grant from the Ecosystem Science Cluster (DEB-2039545), we will expand our efforts to characterize the microbes in wildfire smokeand their properties. The newly funded research will focus on grasslands, which are one of the most widespread and frequently burned ecosystems. This research will examine the impacts of smoke-driven microbial dispersal in tallgrass prairies of the central United States using unmanned aerial vehicles flying into smoke plumes, combustion experiments and soil incubations that mimic conditions in nature. This project uses an integrated approach to better understand the consequences of smoke to human, plant, and animal health across all environments where wildland fire occurs. The increasing size and severity of global wildfires, leading to increased interaction between biomass burning smoke and human populations, make this research relevant to a wide range of stakeholders including those interested in the potential transport of pathogenic microbes.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The environmental sources of microbial aerosols and processes by which they are emitted into the atmosphere are not well characterized. In this study we analyzed microbial cells and biological ice nucleating particles (INPs) in smoke emitted from prescribed fires in North Florida. When compared to air sampled prior to ignition, samples of the air-smoke mixtures contained five-fold higher concentrations of microbial cells (6.7±1.3×104 cells m-3) and biological INPs (2.4±0.91×103 INPs m-3 active at temperatures ≥ - 15 ?), and these data significantly positively correlated with PM10. Various bacteria could be cultured from the smoke samples, and the nearest neighbors of many of the isolates are plant epi- and endophytes, suggesting vegetation was a source. Controlled laboratory combustion experiments indicated that smoke emitted from dead vegetation contained significantly higher numbers of cells, INPs, and culturable bacteria relative to the green shrubs tested. Microbial viability of smoke aerosols based on formazan production and epifluorescent microscopy revealed no significant difference in the viable fraction (~80%) when compared to samples of ambient air. From these data, we estimate each fire aerosolized an average of 7±4×109 cells and 2±1×108 biological INPs per m2 burned and conclude that emissions from wildland fire are sources of viable microbial aerosols to the atmosphere.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Moore, R.A., Bomar, C., Kobziar, L.N. and Christner, B.C., 2021. Wildland fire as an atmospheric source of viable microbial aerosols and biological ice nucleating particles. The ISME Journal, 15(2), pp.461-472.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Moore, R., Martinettti, D., Christner, B. C., Morris, C. & Bigg, E. K. Climatic and landscape
changes as drivers of environmental feedbacks that influence rainfall frequency in the United
States. Glob. Chang. Biol. (in revision, April 2021).
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The data collected during EMBER will be of great interest to the growing number of scientists in the Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics studying the interaction of biological aerosol particles with cloud processes leading to rain and snowfall. In terms of funding, a variey of programs in NSF would be appropropriate for submitting proposal to continue and expand on this research, especially given the possibility for expansion in the NEON network. NASA's Earth Sciences divisions is currently support bioaersol work that Christner is involved with (i.e., A Transoceanic Aerobiology Biodiversity Study (TABS) to Characterize Microorganisms in Asian and African Dust Plumes Reaching North America) so NASA programs are also potential avenues to support additional research. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Rachel Moore graduated with her PhD in 2020 and is a student in Brent Christner's research group at the University of Florida. Sheparticipated in all aspects of this project as a part of her thesis research. Specifically, she was involved in the sampling and analysis ofdata. Rachel also participate in the training of undergraduate student Chelsey Bomar on field sampling and data analysis techniques. Chelsey's duties includec instrument preparation, sample preparation, and sample analysis. Through their involvement in the project, Rachel and Chelsey authored a peer reviewed mansucript and fostered connections with new collaborators. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, there is a 2020 in press publication detailing this work (Moore et al., The ISME Journal). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Work on extending analysis to fires in the west, which are more intense and larger, through collaborations with Leda Kobziar and the Univeristy of Idaho; a collaboration that was formed through the current work.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The environmental sources of microbial aerosols and processes by which they are emitted into the atmosphere are not well characterized. In this study we analyzed microbial cells and biological ice nucleating particles (INPs) in smoke emitted from eight prescribed wildland fires in North Florida. When compared to air sampled prior to ignition, samples of the air-smoke mixtures contained five-fold higher concentrations of microbial cells (6.7±1.3×104 cells m-3) and biological INPs (2.4±0.91×103 INPs m-3 active at temperatures ≥ -15 ?), and these data significantly positively correlated with PM10. Various bacteria could be cultured from the smoke samples, and the nearest neighbors of many of the isolates are plant epi- and endophytes, suggesting vegetation was a source. Controlled laboratory combustion experiments indicated that smoke emitted from dead vegetation contained significantly higher numbers of cells, INPs, and culturable bacteria relative to the green shrubs tested. Microbial viability of smoke aerosols based on formazan production and epifluorescent microscopy revealed no significant difference in the viable fraction (~80%) when compared to samples of ambient air. From these data, we estimate each fire aerosolized an average of 7±4×109 cells and 2±1×108 biological INPs per m2 burned and conclude that emissions from wildland fire are sources of viable microbial aerosols to the atmosphere.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Rachel A. Moore, Chelsey Bomar, Leda N. Kobziar, Brent C. Christner. 2020. Wildland fire as an atmospheric source of viable microbial aerosols and biological ice nucleating particles. The ISME Journal (in press)
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Progress 11/15/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Christner disseminated the objectives and preliminary results from the EMBER project to University of Florida faculty and students at the 2nd Annual Symposium for Collaboration in Biodiversity Research (7 May 2018). Rachel Moore presented a poster about her research at the opening of the new laboratory facility at Ordway-Swisher Biological Station on 16 April 2018, which was attended by ~100 UF faculty and members of the NEON community. She has also presented to faculty and students in the Department of Microbiology and Biological Sciences during a seminar students for graduate students. In addition, undergraduate Chelsey Bolmar presented a poster on her research at UF's annual Undergraduate Research Symposium during spring of 2018. Our new research on the roles of land use-atmosphere interactions has spurred interactions and a new collaboration with Dr. Davide Martinetti at The Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), a French public research institute devoted to agricultural science. Graduate student Rachel Moore, Christner, and Martinetti recently applied to and were awarded a Thomas Jefferson Fund award by the "Make Our Planet Great Again". The title of this new project is "Assessing the impact of biological aerosols on rainfall: effects of land cover diversity and landscape properties" and its genesis is through questions that have emerged during EMBER. Rachel Moore was a visiting scientist at INRA from November 2018 to January 2018, where she discussed her current research on EMBER and collaborated with Dr. Martinetti and Dr. Cindy Morris to research a concept called rainfall feedback, a process where rainfall has a measurable influence on subsequent rainfall. Results from EMBER have been responsible to a new collaboration with Dr. Leda Kobziar, an Associate Clinical Professor of Wildland Fire Science at the University of Idaho. Based on our observations during EMBER, we are collaborating with Dr. Kobziar's group as they maintain a controlled burn laboratory at UI. This will allow us to link how emission of microbial cells in smoke may be affected by the composition of plant species combusted. EMBER has served as a training ground for UF undergraduate student Chelsey Bolmar. Chelsey has been involved in all aspects of the project and assisted with field collections, laboratory analysis, and data interpretation. She was also supported during summer 2018 with funding from the EMBER project. During the course of field sampling at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, there have been many opportunities to interact and communicate our research to the fire fighters participating in the controlled burn program as well as with the various other scientists and NEON participants that also use this location for a multitude of research projects. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The EMBER project has supported and trained UF PhD graduate student Rachel Moore and UF undergraduate student Chelsey Bomar. This research will serve as a portion of Moore's PhD thesis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Rachel Moore and Chelsey Bomar have had several opportunities to disseminate their research to faculty and students in the UF community (i.e., at Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, in the Department of Microbiology and Biological Sciences, and at UF's Undergraduate Research Symposium). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our current objective is assessing the viability of microorganisms emitted during prescribed burns and to determine the predominant vegetative source. To determine cell viability, we are using viable staining approaches together with enrichment culturing. We will collect samples of primary fuels (live and dead vegetation, duff, and leaf litter) at OSBS before a prescribed burn and burn these samples in a combustion lab, allow cells and INPs aerosolized from specific vegetation, duff, and litter types to be enumerated. Following completion of these objectives, our next step is data analysis and publication.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
EMBER is motivated by the potential of biomass burning to serve as an emission source for microbial bioaerosols and biological ice nucleating particles (INPs). A specific objective of EMBER is to test the hypothesis that biomass burning emits highly active biological INPs to the atmosphere. Since the freezing of water is essential for precipitation in temperate regions, ice nucleating bioaerosols emitted from fires could affect meteorological processes in important ways. Since December 2017, we have collected air samples during six prescribed burns at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station (OSBS) in Melrose, Florida. Our main objective was to examine the atmospheric concentrations of biological INPs and microbial cells during prescribed burns and in ambient air. From these data, we have observed clear increases in concentration of microbial cells and biological INPs during the burning period relative to ambient air.
Publications
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