Metabarcoding analysis reveals microbial diversity and its environmental drivers in the Pantanos de Villa lagoons in Lima - Peru

Coastal wetlands are ecosystems of ecological importance that face multiple threats from contamination. While their ecological value for local flora and fauna is well known, the microbial diversity of this habitat has not been characterized before. This study characterized, for the first time, the microbial diversity in four lagoons of the Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Refuge using the 16S rRNA marker gene metabarcoding and identified the physicochemical drivers that influence the microbial community structure of these lagoons. Nine sampling sites were established distributed across the Delicias, Génesis, Marvilla, and Mayor lagoons, conducting three seasonal samplings (May, August, and October). Physicochemical parameters were measured in each sampled lagoon (temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, and salinity). The results revealed that the most identified phylum at the bacterial level was Pseudomonadota, followed by Bacteroidota. At the archaeal level, the abundance of Nanoarchaeota was observed in all sampled lagoons, followed by Lokiarchaeota. The Delicias lagoon, previously classified as the most contaminated lagoon in the wetland, showed parameters such as high electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, and salinity when compared to the other lagoons, which was reflected in a distinctive microbial community structure strongly associated with these parameters. On the other hand, the Marvilla lagoon, closer to the coast, showed a microbial community strongly influenced by its more alkalinic pH. This study constitutes the first determination of microbial diversity in Pantanos de Villa and demonstrates how local environmental conditions—natural or human-induced—shape microbial diversity. These findings provide baseline information for future monitoring of this protected coastal wetland and highlight the importance of environmental factors such as pH and electrical conductivity that determine the structure of microbial communities in these coastal wetlands. Supplementary Material File (ccv-communitydynamics_microbial_pantanos_villa-eng-v3-sfigs.docx) - Download - 74.71 KB Information & Authors Information Version history Peer review timeline Published Ecology and Evolution Version of Record12 Mar 2026Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Collection

Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 303views 176downloads Citations Download citation Camila Castillo-Vilcahuaman, Roger Palomino Huarcaya, Pedro Sepúlveda-Rebolledo, et al. Metabarcoding analysis reveals microbial diversity and its environmental drivers in the Pantanos de Villa lagoons in Lima - Peru. Authorea. 15 July 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175256664.48020491/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175256664.48020491/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.