Microbial diversity in coastal sediments during pre and post tsunami periods in the south east coast of India

Abstract

Sediment samples were collected from 12 beaches affected by the 2004 Asian Tsunami in the south-east coast of India between Vanagiri and Nagoor. The objective of the present study is to delineate the microbial diversity in pre- and post-tsunami disaster coastal sediments. The collected marine sediments indicate that the overall microbial diversity is higher in the pre-tsunami sediments. The increase in pathogenic bacteria and fungal species after the tsunami is obscured due to inundation and backwashing of seawater along the coast. The reduction of other microbial diversity after the tsunami is attributed that the coastal and shelf sediments play an important role in the demineralization of organic matter, which supports the growth of microbes. The continuous exchange of ocean water and backwashing of coastal sediments by the tsunami wave probably reduced the pathogenic bacterial diversity in the sediments.

Keywords

bacterial diversity / tsunami / coastal sediments / fungal diversity, principal component analysis, person correlation matrix

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. G. Victor Rajamanickam, former Dean of Tamil University, Tanjore, and SASTRA University for his kind assistance during the course of sample collection. The authors also thank Mrs. J. Elizabeth Christina, Assistant Professor, Scott Christian College, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India, who helped in the proof correction of the manuscript. Finally, the authors thank Dr. Joseph Johnson, Director of Unity Foundation, and Tirunelveli, who helped to mould the manuscript in a spectacular way.

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