Open AccessAirborne Bacterial Communities in Three East Asian Cities of China, South Korea, and Japan
Author(s) -
Jae Young Lee,
Eun Ha Park,
SungHee Lee,
GwangPyo Ko,
Yasushi Honda,
Masahiro Hashizume,
Furong Deng,
SeungMuk Yi,
Ho Kim
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-05862-4
Subject(s) - beijing , east asia , geography , china , diversity (politics) , environmental science , seasonality , climatology , physical geography , ecology , biology , archaeology , sociology , geology , anthropology
The global diversity of airborne bacteria has not yet been studied, despite its importance in human health and climate change. Here, we focused on the diversity of airborne bacteria and their correlations with meteorological/environmental conditions in China, South Korea, and Japan. Beijing (China) had more diverse airborne bacteria, followed by Seoul (South Korea) and Nagasaki (Japan), and seasonal variations were observed. Beijing and Seoul had more diverse airborne bacteria during the winter, whereas Nagasaki showed greater diversity during the summer. According to principal component analysis and Bray-Curtis similarity, higher similarity was observed between Beijing and Seoul than between Seoul and Nagasaki during all seasons except summer. Among meteorological/environmental variables, temperature and humidity were highly correlated with the diversity of airborne bacteria on the measurement day, whereas wind speeds and the frequency of northwest winds were highly correlated for 2–3-day moving averages. Thus, proximity and resuspension could enhance bacterial diversity in East Asian cities.