Bacteria in the global atmosphere – Part 1: Review and synthesis of literature data for different ecosystems
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 10 December 2009
- journal article
- Published by Copernicus GmbH in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
- Vol. 9 (23), 9263-9280
- https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-9263-2009
Abstract
Bacteria are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, with concentrations of bacterial cells typically exceeding 1×104 m−3 over land. Numerous studies have suggested that the presence of bacteria in the atmosphere may impact cloud development, atmospheric chemistry, and microbial biogeography. A sound knowledge of bacterial concentrations and distributions in the atmosphere is needed to evaluate these claims. This review focusses on published measurements of total and culturable bacteria concentrations in the atmospheric aerosol. We discuss emission mechanisms and the impacts of meteorological conditions and measurement techniques on measured bacteria concentrations. Based on the literature reviewed, we suggest representative values and ranges for the mean concentration in the near-surface air of nine natural ecosystems and three human-influenced land types. We discuss the gaps in current knowledge of bacterial concentrations in air, including the lack of reliable, long-term measurements of the total microbial concentrations in many regions and the scarcity of emission flux measurements.Keywords
This publication has 101 references indexed in Scilit:
- High diversity of fungi in air particulate matterProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Characterization of Airborne Microbial Communities at a High-Elevation Site and Their Potential To Act as Atmospheric Ice NucleiApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2009
- Relative roles of biogenic emissions and Saharan dust as ice nuclei in the Amazon basinNature Geoscience, 2009
- Ubiquity of Biological Ice Nucleators in SnowfallScience, 2008
- Short-Term Temporal Variability in Airborne Bacterial and Fungal PopulationsApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2008
- Urban aerosols harbor diverse and dynamic bacterial populationsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the mapNature Reviews Microbiology, 2006
- Airborne bacteria as cloud condensation nucleiJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2003
- Diurnal Distribution of Total and Culturable Atmospheric Bacteria at a Rural SiteAerosol Science and Technology, 1999
- Pelagic bacteria: Extreme abundances in african saline lakesThe Science of Nature, 1981