Structure and diversity of bacterial communities in the water column of three reservoirs in Yun-Gui Plateau, China

Plateau reservoirs are considered vulnerable and sensitive to eutrophication under global warming and land use changes. We investigated the structure, diversity, and gene functions of bacterial communities in 3 reservoirs in Yun-Gui Plateau. We assumed the bacterial community structures were different among these 3 plateau reservoirs because of differences in trophic status. We found an insignificant difference in bacterial community structure among the reservoirs but a varying relative abundance of components in the community. Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were the most abundant phyla. Alpha diversity, as indicated by Simpson, Shannon, and evenness indexes, were similar in the 3 reservoirs, but richness was different. Hongfeng Reservoir exhibited the lowest heterogeneity, as indicated by the beta diversity. Analysis of gene functions suggested that amino acid metabolism and membrane transport were important and reflected the multiple roles of bacteria in biogeochemical processes. This study provided information about the bacterial community structure in reservoirs of Yun-Gui Plateau and analysis of the effects of environmental factors. Bacterial communities show little variation among reservoirs due to exposure to similar environmental conditions, and differences in trophic status were not a strong driver of community structure changes.