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Mycobacteria in Runoff Waters from Natural and Drained Peatlands

Natl. Public Health Inst., Lab. of Environmental Microbiology, P.O. Box 95, FIN-70701 Kuopio, Finland;

Tapani Sallantaus

Pirkanmaa Regional Environ. Ctr., P.O. Box 297, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland;

Marja-Leena Katila

Kuopio Univ. Hospital, Dep. of Clinical Microbiology, P.O. Box 1777, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland;

Pertti J. Martikainen

Dep. of Environmental Sciences, Kuopio Univ., P.O. Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland.

^* Corresponding author (Eila.Iivanainen{at}ktl.fi).

ABSTRACT

To assess the effect of peatland type and of forest-drainage performed 30 yr earlier on the occurrence of mycobacteria in runoff-waters, the counts of culturable mycobacteria were followed during a snow-free season. Runoff-waters were from a natural and a drained peatland and each had a different nutrient status. Samples were collected in May, June, August, and October of 1992. Mycobacteria were isolated from all waters. The highest culturable counts were detected in August (up to 7.3 x 10³ CFU/L). The runoff-waters from the two natural peatlands had similar median counts, whereas lowering of the water table by drainage slightly increased the mycobacterial counts in most cases. Changes in vegetation, such as a decrease in the coverage of Sphagnum species, or soil characteristics following drainage had little effect on the occurrence of mycobacteria in the runoff-waters, even though Sphagnum vegetation has been regarded as important for the growth of these bacteria. The counts of mycobacteria in the runoff-waters correlated with precipitation but not with air temperature. This indicates that the mycobacterial growth took place mainly in vegetation and soil, not in the runoff-waters. When total runoff during May to October was taken into account, the leaching rates of mycobacteria from all catchments were about 4 to 5 x 10¹¹ CPU km^–2. Thus drainage had a negligible effect on the leaching of mycobacteria from peatlands.

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