External control of bacterial community structure in lakes

Abstract

We investigated the importance of a regional factor for bacterial communities in lakes. External factors dominated the control of community structures in lakes with retention times up to 200 d, most likely as a result of bacterial import. Because these lakes are numerous in the boreal zone, regional processes can be of great importance for bacterial communities in general. Consequently, we propose that lakes function more like flow through systems, as opposed to the classical “lake as microcosm” concept.