Since 1997, the world’s population has increased by 2.1 billion people, and approximately 57% of these individuals live in urban areas.1 This rapid global urbanization has impacted the urban microclimate due to the increased density of buildings and people depleting natural resources that mitigate the effects of meteorological events and public health effects (i.e., illness and death).2 Recent studies of urban and rural microbiomes suggest that human exposure to low microbiome diversity in urban environments can produce negative health outcomes.3-10 As microorganisms with enhanced aerosolized capabilities are likely to exert greater influence on climate variables, weather patterns, and human health, access to diverse urban aerobiomes becomes a question of environmental justice. However, analysis of the urban aerobiome is challenging due to low biomass, which is correlated with urban environmental surface materials and population dynamics.11-12 This poster presents a methodology for the co-evaluation of spatiotemporal environmental conditions and microbial metrics (species abundance, diversity, and richness) to observe the dynamics of airborne microbial species within the urban microclimate of New York City’s Fort Greene Park (FGP). Over the course of one month (July 2023), aerobiome samples and environmental metrics were collected from two sites in FGP. Samples and environmental metrics were collected for each day and site, and different days were treated as sample replicates for the same time point. After DNA extraction from the samples, the extractions were sequenced using metagenomic methods, including both 16s rRNA and shotgun analysis. Both methods were applied for comparative assessment of species composition. Here, we present the results of this pilot study, in which we co-evaluate aerobiome metrics (DNA mass, species abundance, and diversity) with environmental metrics (temperature, humidity, wind patterns). We discuss these results and their implications concerning microbial interactions in the built environment and extreme weather conditions.
