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Ecological Study Of The Effects Of Strip Mining On The Microbiology Of Streams, Ralph H. Weaver, Harry D. Nash

KWRRI Research Reports

The microflora of Cane Branch of Beaver Creek in McCreary County, Kentucky, which drains an area that was strip-mined between 1955 and 1959, was studied and compared with that of Helton Branch which drains a comparable area where there has been no mining. Differences include: the establishment of Ferrcbacillus ferrooxidans, for which procedures were developed for direct colony isolation from the stream; fewer saprophytic bacteria; more numerous and more diversified filamentous and unicellular fungi; and characteristic differences in algal flora. Representatives of 42 genera of filamentous fungi were identified. Of these, 21 were isolated only from Cane Branch. Representatives of …