Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Communities Characteristic in the Water Column and Sediment along the Xiangjiang River, China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Please put a better quality of the pictures and graphics.

Author Response

Point 1: Please put a better quality of the pictures and graphics.

Response 1： Thanks for your kind suggestion. We have revised all figures (Fig 1 in line 92; Fig 2 in line 168; Fig 3 in line 182; Fig 4 in line 250; and Fig 5 in line 265).

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript from Wu et al. describes microbial (both eukaryotic and prokaryotic) communities of the Xiangjiang river. The manuscript gives plenty of new information, is well prepared and well written.

This reviewer has few minor concerns:

- Sometimes authors use norank or nonrank to denote the taxa with dubious taxonomy. This should be unified either as “no rank” or “non-ranked” throughout the text.

- All taxa given in Latin should be Italicized in the text and figures.

- p (in p value) should be italicized.

Besides that, the manuscript could be recommended for acceptance after correcting these minor mistakes.

The quality of the language is sufficient.

Author Response

Point 1: The manuscript from Wu et al. describes microbial (both eukaryotic and prokaryotic) communities of the Xiangjiang river. The manuscript gives plenty of new information, is well prepared and well written.

Response 1： We are very grateful for the positive comments and generous encouragement. 

 

Point 2: Sometimes authors use norank or nonrank to denote the taxa with dubious taxonomy. This should be unified either as “no rank” or “non-ranked” throughout the text.

Response 2： Thanks for your kind suggestion. We have checked and revised them.

 

Point 3: All taxa given in Latin should be Italicized in the text and figures.

Response 3： Thanks for your kind suggestion. We have checked the whole manuscript and correct them.

 

Point 4: p (in p value) should be italicized.

Response 4： Thanks for your kind suggestion. We have checked and revised them.

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript studied the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities characteristic in the water column and sediment along the Xiangjiang River, China. The manuscript is interesting, but need some improvements. Below are my specific comments.

There are some typos throughout the manuscript. Please kindly check.

Please provide any rationale behind the sampling sites.

Please describe the types of anthropological activities near the river which may affect the biodiversity and water quality.

Please provide the regulations on wastewater discharge if possible.

Please describe more in-depth on how conductivity influence the distribution of microbial communities.

Please provide diagram to let reader understand more clearly the interaction between prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and nutrients cycle in water and sediment.

There are typos throughout the manuscript. Please check and revise.

Author Response

Point 1: The manuscript studied the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities characteristic in the water column and sediment along the Xiangjiang River, China. The manuscript is interesting, but need some improvements. Below are my specific comments.There are some typos throughout the manuscript. Please kindly check.

Response 1： Thanks for your kind suggestion. We have checked and corrected them.

Point 2: Please provide any rationale behind the sampling sites

Response 2： Thanks for your kind suggestion. The sampling sites comprised 6 mainstream sites and 4 tributary sites. Even sampling intervals along the river were planned. However, limited by the sampling conditions i.e., high depth and speed of the river, several sampling sites were discarded or moved forward/backward. We added this information in the manuscript (Page 3, line 96-99).

Point 3: Please describe the types of anthropological activities near the river which may affect the biodiversity and water quality.

Response 3： Thanks for the good suggestion. The anthropological activity mainly included discharge from municipal wastewater treatment plants, and the initial rainfalls. We have added this in the manuscript (Page 2, line 87-90)

Point 4: Please provide the regulations on wastewater discharge if possible

Response 4： Thanks for your kind suggestion. The regulations of wastewater discharge were based on the type of wastewater. For example, effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants had to meet the standards: COD ≤ 30 mg/L, total nitrogen≤ 10 mg/L, and total phosphorus ≤ 0.3 mg/L.

 

Point 5: Please describe more in-depth on how conductivity influence the distribution of microbial communities

Response 5： Thanks for your kind suggestion. Conductivity is an important index of surface water, which can reflect the total dissolved solids and salts content of the water samples. A increasing conductivity changes the habitate of the dominant species, and results a significant impact on water biodiversity and ecological functions. We added this information in the manuscript (Page 7, line 241-245)

 

Point 6: Please provide diagram to let reader understand more clearly the interaction between prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and nutrients cycle in water and sediment.

Response 6：Thanks for your good suggestion. I strongly agree with you that a diagram shows the interaction between prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and nutrients cycle in water and sediment will be much comprehensive. We added a figure in page 11, line 368.

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

All the comments have been addressed satisfactorily.