Microbial function and community structure
Bacteria have a major role in carbon and nutrient cycling. Our understanding of how microbially mediated processes change with changing salinity has come from cross-ecosystem comparisons, in which rates of various processes have been measured in freshwater, estuarine, marine and hypersaline environments. A less common approach has been to examine bacterial populations along a salinity gradient within rivers as they undergo transition from freshwater to brackish at estuaries. Understanding of the function, structure and di versity of microbial community has recently been advanced with the availability of molecular DNA methods to identify the presence and diversity of microbes, and techniques to estimate in situ bacterial production (growth) or the metabolic capacity of microbes. In general, aerobic bacterial heterotrophic production in different aquatic ecosystems has been found to be broadly predictable, with no consistent differences existing between marine and freshwater systems (Cole et al. 1988). Where differences occur, factors such as carbon and nutrient input and temperature are more important in regulating production than salinity (Findlay et al . 1991). Similarly, Hobbie (1988) concluded that although marine and freshwater microbes have different physiological methods for tolerating high salt concentrations, the ecology of marine and freshwater microbes is virtually identical. As such, it has been assumed that a process of species repl acement will occur in salinized freshwater systems, that is, increased salinisation of freshwater ecosystems will simply select for new physiological types that are able to tolerate given salt levels, but possessing the same metabolic capabilities (Hart et al . 1991)