Stream periphyton in artificial streams exposed to P loading patterns
P enrichment can vary temporally with the source of P and there is limited knowledge of the relative impacts of different enrichment patterns respective of anthropogenic land use on periphyton community composition. To address this knowledge gap, a 25-day mesocosm experiment was conducted in Southern Ontario, Canada using nine artificial streams (TRESS centre). Periphyton samples for inoculation were collected from five Southern Ontario streams (Waubuno Creek = A1, Middle Thames = A2, Reynolds Creek = A3, South Thames1 = A4, South Thames2 = A5. Composite periphyton samples were created from the five Southern Ontario stream (i.e., Comp1, Comp2, Comp3). Each artificial stream exposed to three P enrichment loading patterns: unenriched (UNR), continuously enriched (CON), or event-based (PULS) enriched. Periphyton samples were collected from each stream at six time points (days 6, 8, 11, 15, 20, and 25) during the experiment and high throughput sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes was performed to characterize prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial assemblages.