Seasonal variations of sediment phenolics and aerobic heterotrophs in mangrove swamps

Abstract

In the sediments of the mangrove swamps of Cochin, phenolic compounds and total plate count (TPC) ranged from 0.018 ppm to 16.75 ppm, and 25×10⁴/g to 110×10⁴/g respectively and showed distinct seasonal variations. Phenol

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">concentration was highest (16.75 ppm) during monsoon month, when the bacterial abundance was the lowest (24.5×10⁴ ). The diversity of bacteria and their numbers were higher when phenol concentration was less in the sediment (&lt; 2 ppm). Both the parameters showed inverse correlation with each other (r= -0.58496; <span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:hiddenhorzocr;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">P~0 .05). <span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">The qualitative study of aerobic heterotrophs showed the presence of <i>Aeromonas </i>sp., <i>Alcaligenes </i>sp., <i>Bacillus </i>sp., <i>Enterobacteriaceae, Flavobacterium </i>sp., <i>Micrococcus </i>sp., <i>Pseudomonas </i>sp. and <i>Vibrio </i>sp. Various hydrological and sediment parameters showed significant correlations among each other and are presented in detail in the present paper. </span></span></span>