This book addresses significant gaps in our understanding of how watershed microbial structures and functions respond to the pressures of urbanization. It consolidates rapidly evolving, yet often fragmented, global data on watershed microbiomes, providing critical insights into the impacts of urban pollution, human health risks, and long-term ecological consequences.
Featuring the latest technological advancements in biological monitoring, microbial source-tracking technologies, and strategies for effective watershed management, this volume serves as a comprehensive and reliable source for the current state of urban watershed microbiology. It examines the unique challenges urbanization presents to ecosystems, especially in terms of atmospheric chemistry, hydrology, vegetation, and how these factors disrupt microbial communities that mediate essential ecosystem services like water purification, nutrient recycling, and degradation of pollutants.
The book delves into the mechanisms behind the urban watershed syndrome—ecological degradation of streams—and explores many unanswered questions that hinder progress in understanding urban watershed microbiomes. With original research articles, reviews, and perspectives, this collection is a key resource for microbiologists, environmental scientists, engineers, and professionals involved in water quality, ecosystem management, and land-use planning. The hope is that this volume will inspire new breakthroughs, drive further research, and ultimately help shape effective strategies for addressing the ecological challenges of urban watersheds.
Section 1: Metagenomics and Molecular Biology in Watershed Microbial
Community Studies.- Viral Metagenomics: Assessing Potential Sources of Fecal
Contamination in Watershed Systems.- Evaluation of Microbial Community
Assembly and Their Interactions with Riverine and Anthropogenic DOM Under
Different Urbanization Levels.- Microbial Biodiversity of Man-made Water
Features.- Microbial Communities in the Sediments of Rift Lake Baikal and
Their role in Diagenesis Processes.- Water Quality and Bacterial Community
Characteristics of Lakes and Reservoirs with Different Land-use Types.-
Interactions between the Microbiome, Virome and Cyanobacterial Blooms in
Tropical Urban Catchments.- Section 2: Urban Development and the Occurrence
and Persistence of Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Source tracking
Technologies.- Quanti-Tray-based Amplicon Sequencing (QT-AMP) Application for
Fecal Indicator Bacteria Identification after Hurricane Ian.- A Review of
Metal and Antibiotic Resistance of Microbial Strains and Their Bioremediation
Ability.- Aquatic Environmental Influence on Antimicrobial Resistance in
Various Water Sources: A Hydrological Perspective.- Diverse Aminoglycoside
Gene Cassettes (aadA1, aadB, and aacA4) in Class 1 Integrons in Escherichia
coli Strains Isolated from Three Urban Watersheds.- Anthropogenic
Environments and Antimicrobial Resistance Dynamics: A general Overview of a
Complex Network.- Integrated Approaches to Tracking Antibiotic Resistance in
Aquatic Ecosystems.- Section 3: Advances in Biological Monitoring and
Modelling in Urban Watersheds and Community Science Monitoring.- Remote
Sensing and Drivers of Harmful Cyanobacterial Algal Blooms in Freshwater
Reservoirs.- Spatial and Temporal Analysis of the Water Quality in Brazilian
Semi-Arid Reservoirs using AlgaeMAp.- Satellite for Probing Aquatic
Microbiological Processes: A Review.- Remote Sensing for Freshwater Quality
Assessment: Current Developments and Future Trends.- Recent Advances in
Watershed-scale Modeling of Microbial Fate and Transport.- Citizen Science
Monitoring of Freshwater Mussels (Unionidae).- Section 4: Microbial Response
Indicators of Water quality, and Aquatic Ecosystems Change.- Threats of
Cyanotoxins in a Changing Climate A Review of Environmental Persistence and
Health Effects.- Enzymatic Responses of Freshwater Microbial Communities to
Fecal and Chemical Pollution.- Cyanobacterial Blooms and Associated Hydrogen
Peroxide Dynamics.- Impacts of Environmental Regime Changes on Benthic
Biofilm Community.- Metabolic Function and Carbon Utilization in Microbial
Communities of Surface Waters and Sediments in Urban River and Lake
Watersheds.- Biodiversity Indicators for Wetland Condition Assessment and
Monitoring.- Exploring Microbial Response Indicators to Environmental
Disturbances in Freshwater Ecosystems.- Assessing links between climate
change indicators and algal occurrence in contemporary ecosystems.- Section
5: Regional and Country-Specific Perspectives on Urban Watershed Health
Worldwide.- Nitrogen Cycling Processes and Their Microbial-driven Mechanisms
in Major Watersheds of China.- Anthropogenic Changes in the Microbiological
and Hydrochemical Water Quality of Southern Baikal tributaries (East
Siberia).- From Waste to Water Quality: How Human Activities is Shaping Lake
Victoria's Microbiome and Ecosystem Health.- Influence of Hydrometeorological
Events on Lake Turbidity in Southern Chile.- Public Health at the
Intersection of Climate Change and Faecal Contamination: An example from the
shores of Vembanad Lake.- The Philippine Environmental Microbiological Water
Quality Criteria: History and Current Directions.- Watershed Ecosystem
Services of Chittagong Hill Districts, Bangladesh: Challenges and A Way
Forward.- Section 6: Emerging contaminants and Bioremediation Strategies.-
Ecological Factors Influencing the Biodegradation of Steroid Estrogens in
Water Columns: The Interplay of Microbes and Natural Organic Matter.-
Hydrogen Peroxide Production in Freshwater Environments: A Minireview.-
Microbiology of Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment Processes Treating Purified
Terephthalic Acid and Related Aromatic Compounds.- Biodegradation Potential
of Urban Watershed Bacteria for Remediation Across an Array of Organic
Contaminants.- Biosorption Dynamics in Bi-Metal solutions by Bacterial
Strains Isolated from an Urban Watershed.- Metal-Microbe Interactions in
Urban Watersheds: A Study of Siderophore Production.
Sonia Tiquia-Arashiro is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, with primary research interests in biotechnology for clean water, renewable energy, and healthy ecosystems. Her broader interests include the analysis and management of complex adaptive systems, as well as microbiology education and science literacy. She serves as Associate Editor for Environmental Technology and Frontiers in Microbiology, and continues to contribute to global discussions on water sustainability, environmental microbiology, and biotechnology.
Gertjan Medema is a part-time Chair on Water & Health at Delft University of Technology and Principal Microbiologist at KWR Water Research Institute. He has expertise in waterborne pathogen detection and epidemiology, leading research on SARS-CoV-2 sewage surveillance and investigating a Legionella outbreak in Flint, Michigan. Since 1991, he has advised the WHO on water microbiological guidelines and contributed to responses during outbreaks like SARS and Ebola. He also advises the European Commission on water guidelines and directs KWRs WHO Collaborating Centre on Water Quality.
Hidetoshi Urakawa is a Professor of Environmental Science at Florida Gulf Coast University and a Courtesy Professor at the University of South Florida. His research covers aquatic ecology, environmental microbiology, and ecosystem processes, with a focus on the nitrogen cycle, cyanobacteria dynamics, and marine species feeding ecology. He also works in aquaculture, biotechnology, and nutrient reduction technologies. Dr. Urakawa is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Microbiology.
Nelson Libardi is a faculty member at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Brazil, where he focuses on research and academic activities related to bioprocesses. He holds a Ph.D. in Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology from the Federal University of Paraná. His expertise is in environmental and industrial biotechnology, specializing in biological processes for wastewater treatment and resource recovery, with a strong emphasis on developing sustainable biotechnological solutions to improve environmental practices.
Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa is a Research Manager in Water Resources Quality & Management at the Water Research Commission in Pretoria, South Africa. She specializes in water quality and pollution control, focusing on sustainable environmental remediation technologies. Her research covers wastewater treatment, waterborne pathogens, and the broader impacts of pollution on health and ecosystems. Dr. Ubomba-Jaswa is an advocate for water sustainability and has contributed to peer-reviewed journals and international conferences on environmental science and policy.
Victor Ella is a Professor of Land and Water Resources Engineering at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. His research focuses on hydrologic modeling, groundwater hydrology, water quality, irrigation engineering, and soil conservation, with broader interests in contaminant transport, erosion, soil physics, water resources planning, climate change, IoT-based irrigation, and watershed-scale hydrologic modeling.
