Assessment of Microbial Community Composition and Activity in Green Infrastructure Sites

This presentation characterizes the composition of the microbial population found in NYC green infrastructure (GI) sites, and its response to stormwater loading. The research was conducted to support New York City in the ongoing implementation of its Green Infrastructure Plan (2010). Soil microbial communities play an essential role in ecosystem services, including biogeochemical element cycling, decay of organic matter, soil physiochemical processes, and symbiotic interactions with plants, trees, and insects. Over the last decade, with improved DNA sequencing technologies and metagenomic approaches, we have learned a great deal about the biodiversity, relative abundances, and dynamics of soil microorganisms, as well as gaining a greater understanding of the crucial roles these microorganisms play in soil health. However, less is known about the microbial communities found in urban soils, and only a handful of studies have looked specifically at how microbial communities in GI sites are affected by the elevated human influence these sites experience.