Effet de la prédation et des nutriments sur les réseaux microbiens planctoniques

Les effets de l'ajout de nutriments et de poissons planctonophages sur le réseau trophique microbien (protozoaires, phytoplancton, zooplancton) ont été évalués lors d'une étude expérimentale utilisant des enclos de grande taille (8 m diam., 12 m prof.), placés dans un lac humique du Bouclier Canadien. Un plan factoriel avec 4 traitements, C (contrôle), N (ajout de nutriments), P (ajout de poissons planctonophages) et NP (ajout de nutriments et poissons) a été appliqué. L'abondance et la biomasse du zooplancton (Rotifères, Cladocères, Copépodes), des Protozoaires Ciliés et du phytoplancton (Chl. a) ont été déterminées pendant 6 semaines dans chaque strate (épi-, méta- et hypolimnion). La présence de poissons planctonophages a entraîné une baisse de la biomasse du zooplancton de grande taille (Cladocères), mais a favorisé le développement du zooplancton de petite taille (Rotifères). La diminution de biomasse des Cladocères dans les enclos avec poissons s'associait avec une hausse de l'abondance des Protozoaires Ciliés et du phytoplancton pour les enclos NP. L'ajout de nutriments a augmenté la biomasse des Cladocères, des Ciliés et du phytoplancton qui présentait une tendance monospécifique. L'étude a montré que dans un lac humique riche en carbone organique dissous, les nutriments ne sont pas le seul facteur déterminant la structure des communautés microbiennes. Celles-ci subissent également les effets en cascade de la prédation des poissons planctonophages situés au sommet de la chaîne alimentaire.An experimental study was conducted using large enclosures (8 m diam., 12 m depth.) set up in a humic lake on the Canadian Shield to determine the effects of nutrients and planktivorous fish on the microbial food web (protozoans, phytoplankton and zooplankton). A four treatments factorial design was applied as following: C (control), N (nutrients), P (planktivorous fish) and NP (nutrients and fish). Zooplankton, ciliate and phytoplankton abundance and biomass were measured for six weeks in the epi-, meta- and hypolimnion. In the fish enclosure, the decrease of cladoceran biomass produced an increase in ciliate abundance and phytoplankton biomass when both fish and nutrients were present. Nutrient loading increased the biomass of cladocerans, phytoplankton and ciliates. This study showed that, in humic lakes, the microbial community is regulated not only by nutrients, but top-down effects, via fish predation, must also be considered

Food-web structure in relation to environmental gradients and predator-prey ratios in tank-bromeliad ecosystems

Little is known of how linkage patterns between species change along environmental gradients. The small, spatially discrete food webs inhabiting tank-bromeliads provide an excellent opportunity to analyse patterns of community diversity and food-web topology (connectance, linkage density, nestedness) in relation to key environmental variables (habitat size, detrital resource, incident radiation) and predators: prey ratios. We sampled 365 bromeliads in a wide range of understorey environments in French Guiana and used gut contents of invertebrates to draw the corresponding 365 connectance webs. At the bromeliad scale, habitat size (water volume) determined the number of species that constitute food-web nodes, the proportion of predators, and food-web topology. The number of species as well as the proportion of predators within bromeliads declined from open to forested habitats, where the volume of water collected by bromeliads was generally lower because of rainfall interception by the canopy. A core group of microorganisms and generalist detritivores remained relatively constant across environments. This suggests that (i) a highly-connected core ensures food-web stability and key ecosystem functions across environments, and (ii) larger deviations in food-web structures can be expected following disturbance if detritivores share traits that determine responses to environmental changes. While linkage density and nestedness were lower in bromeliads in the forest than in open areas, experiments are needed to confirm a trend for lower food-web stability in the understorey of primary forests

The Molecular Diversity of Freshwater Picoeukaryotes Reveals High Occurrence of Putative Parasitoids in the Plankton

Eukaryotic microorganisms have been undersampled in biodiversity studies in freshwater environments. We present an original 18S rDNA survey of freshwater picoeukaryotes sampled during spring/summer 2005, complementing an earlier study conducted in autumn 2004 in Lake Pavin (France). These studies were designed to detect the small unidentified heterotrophic flagellates (HF, 0.6–5 µm) which are considered the main bacterivores in aquatic systems. Alveolates, Fungi and Stramenopiles represented 65% of the total diversity and differed from the dominant groups known from microscopic studies. Fungi and Telonemia taxa were restricted to the oxic zone which displayed two fold more operational taxonomic units (OTUs) than the oxycline. Temporal forcing also appeared as a driving force in the diversification within targeted organisms. Several sequences were not similar to those in databases and were considered as new or unsampled taxa, some of which may be typical of freshwater environments. Two taxa known from marine systems, the genera Telonema and Amoebophrya, were retrieved for the first time in our freshwater study. The analysis of potential trophic strategies displayed among the targeted HF highlighted the dominance of parasites and saprotrophs, and provided indications that these organisms have probably been wrongfully regarded as bacterivores in previous studies. A theoretical exercise based on a new ‘parasite/saprotroph-dominated HF hypothesis’ demonstrates that the inclusion of parasites and saprotrophs may increase the functional role of the microbial loop as a link for carbon flows in pelagic ecosystems. New interesting perspectives in aquatic microbial ecology are thus opened

Environmental determinants of macroinvertebrate diversity in small water bodies: insights from tank-bromeliads

The interlocking leaves of tank-forming bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) collect rainwater and detritus, thus creating a freshwater habitat for specialized organisms. Their abundance and the possibility of quantifying communities with accuracy give us unparalleled insight into how changes in local to regional environments influence community diversity in small water bodies. We sampled 365 bromeliads (365 invertebrate communities) along a southeastern to northwestern range in French Guiana. Geographic locality determined the species pool for bromeliad invertebrates, and local environments determined the abundance patterns through the selection of traits that are best adapted to the bromeliad habitats. Patterns in community structure mostly emerged from patterns of predator species occurrence and abundance across local-regional environments, while the set of detritivores remained constant. Water volume had a strong positive correlation with invertebrate diversity, making it a biologically relevant measure of the pools' carrying capacity. The significant effects of incoming detritus and incident light show that changes in local environments (e.g., the conversion of forest to cropping systems) strongly influence freshwater communities. Because changes in local environments do not affect detritivores and predators equally, one may expect functional shifts as sets of invertebrates with particular traits are replaced or complemented by other sets with different traits

Functional Effects of Parasites on Food Web Properties during the Spring Diatom Bloom in Lake Pavin: A Linear Inverse Modeling Analysis

This study is the first assessment of the quantitative impact of parasitic chytrids on a planktonic food web. We used a carbon-based food web model of Lake Pavin (Massif Central, France) to investigate the effects of chytrids during the spring diatom bloom by developing models with and without chytrids. Linear inverse modelling procedures were employed to estimate undetermined flows in the lake. The Monte Carlo Markov chain linear inverse modelling procedure provided estimates of the ranges of model-derived fluxes. Model results support recent theories on the probable impact of parasites on food web function. In the lake, during spring, when ‘inedible’ algae (unexploited by planktonic herbivores) were the dominant primary producers, the epidemic growth of chytrids significantly reduced the sedimentation loss of algal carbon to the detritus pool through the production of grazer-exploitable zoospores. We also review some theories about the potential influence of parasites on ecological network properties and argue that parasitism contributes to longer carbon path lengths, higher levels of activity and specialization, and lower recycling. Considering the “structural asymmetry” hypothesis as a stabilizing pattern, chytrids should contribute to the stability of aquatic food webs

Validar a guerra: a construção do regime de Expertise estratégica

This article is intended to contribute to the interpretative analysis of war. For that purpose, it investigates how some apparatuses located in strategic thinking help to make modern war a social practice considered both technically feasible and, at the same time, legitimate for soldiers. In so doing, it makes use of two different but closely related theoretical fields, pragmatic sociology (finding inspiration in the work of scholars such as Luc Boltanski, Nicolas Dodier and Francis Chateauraynaud), and the sociology of scientific knowledge (based mostly on the work of Bruno Latour). On the one hand, the sociology of scientific knowledge has developed a productive questioning of the construction of scientific facts that is particularly relevant to the present research. On the other hand, pragmatic sociology generates a compatible framework able to describe collective actions. The combination of both approaches allows the description of the formation of a strategic expertise regime that supports the technical legitimacy of the use of military force. Together, the sociology of scientific knowledge and pragmatic sociology bring a particularly relevant perspective to research pertaining to war.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The functional importance of bacteriophages in the microbial loop of an oligomesotrophic lake over a diel cycle

The abundances of the different compartments of the microbial loop (i.e., viruses, heterotrophic bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and pigmented nanoflagellates), total (TPP) and excreted (EPP) primary production, bacterial production (BP), viral lytic activity (LA), and bacterivory by nanoflagellates (FG) were measured on June 15 and 16, 1998, in a moderate-altitude oligomesotrophic lake (Lac Pavin, France), at 5 and 10 m depths. At both depths, losses of the bacterial community by viral lysis (LA5 m = 1.7 x 106 cells.1-1.h-1, LA10 m = 2.0 x 106 cells.1-1.h-1) were, on average, lower than those due to the grazing activity of flagellates (FG5 m = 10.3 x 106 cells.1-1.h-1 , FG10 m = 8.4 x 106 cells.1-1.h-1). A carbon budget exercise indicated that, for the sampling period and depths, 17.8 % of C from TPP (= 38.1 % of EPP) was used by bacteria. On the other hand, 52.7 % of BP (= 2.15 % of TPP) was grazed by nanoflagellates, while 11.0 % of BP (= 0.45 % of TPP) was lysed by viruses