Land use influences stream bacterial communities in lowland tropical watersheds

Abstract

Land use is known to affect water quality yet the impact it has on aquatic microbial communities in tropical systems is poorly understood. We used 16S metabarcoding to assess the impact of land use on bacterial communities in the water column of four streams in central Panama. Each stream was influenced by a common Neotropical land use: mature forest, secondary forest, silvopasture and traditional cattle pasture. Bacterial community diversity and composition were significantly influenced by nearby land uses. Streams bordered by forests had higher phylogenetic diversity (Faith’s PD) and similar community structure (based on weighted UniFrac distance), whereas the stream surrounded by traditional cattle pasture had lower diversity and unique bacterial communities. The silvopasture stream showed strong seasonal shifts, with communities similar to forested catchments during the wet seasons and cattle pasture during dry seasons. We demonstrate that natural forest regrowth and targeted management, such as maintaining and restoring riparian corridors, benefit stream-water microbiomes in tropical landscapes and can provide a rapid and efficient approach to balancing agricultural activities and water quality protection.