Evaluation of the performance of HPLC-CHEMTAX analysis for determining phytoplankton biomass and composition in a turbid estuary (Schelde, Belgium)

In the upper Schelde estuary in 2002, phytoplankton biomass and community composition were studied using microscopic and pigment analyses. Chlorophyll a concentration was a good predictor of phytoplankton biomass estimated from cell counts and biovolume measurements. The phytoplankton carbon to chlorophyll a ratio, however, was often unrealistically low (<10). CHEMTAX was used to estimate the contribution of the major algal groups to total chlorophyll a. The dominant algal groups were diatoms and chlorophytes. While diatom equivalents in chlorophyll a predicted diatom biomass relatively well, chlorophyte equivalents in chlorophyll a were only weakly related to chlorophyte biomass. The pigment-based approach to study phytoplankton overestimated phytoplankton biomass in general and chlorophyte biomass in particular in late autumn and winter, when phytoplankton biomass was low. A possible explanation for this overestimation may be the presence of large amounts of vascular plant detritus in the upper Schelde estuary. Residual chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and lutein in this detritus may result in an overestimation of total phytoplankton and chlorophyte biomass when the contribution of phytoplankton to total particulate organic matter is low

Evolución del fitoplancton en el Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel (Ciudad Real, 1996-2002)

El Parque Nacional de Las Tablas de Daimiel (PNTD) es un humedal semiárido situado en la Llanura Manchega (Ciudad Real). En este artículo se expone la dinámica del fitoplancton desde 1996 hasta 2002, examinando las continuidades y divergencias que se observan en el espacio y el tiempo. Tres puntos del humedal (PG: entrada al Parque; MM y PN: salida en zona media y final) se muestrearon mensualmente desde Marzo 1996 a Diciembre 2002. El biovolumen total del fitoplancton del PNTD fue muy variable tanto en el tiempo como en el espacio, el valor mínimo y el máximo se presentaron en PG (0.06 mm3/l en mayo de 1996, y 775 mm3/l en septiembre de 2001). Se observa un marcado incremento del promedio de biovolumen de todo el humedal a lo largo del tiempo, de 11 ± 3 mm3/l en 1996 a 40 ± 9 mm3/l en 2002. La contribución relativa de los grupos taxonómicos al biovolumen total de fitoplancton mostró también cambios a corto y largo plazo, y fueron distintos en cada una de las tablas muestreadas. Hemos encontrado algunas especies de algas que son indicadoras de cierto grado de salinidad en el agua, ellas son: Chaetoceros muelleri, Urosolenia sp. y Katodinium fungiforme. Así como un aumento en el número de especies y densidad de las euglenofitas. Esta larga serie de datos nos permite extraer una serie de conclusiones sobre el funcionamiento de los productores primarios planctónicos en un humedal somero: a) a la escala espacial de todo el humedal el biovolumen de fitoplancton responde al clima local; b) la tendencia de eutrofización es claramente detectada en todo el humedal; c) las fluctuaciones hidrológicas provocan variaciones a corto plazo, permitiendo una serie continua de estados alternantes y no cíclicos de la comunidad; d) la heterogeneidad espacial de este sistema de islas y tablazos permite una amplia riqueza en el conjunto del humedal.Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP) is a wetland located in La Mancha Plain (Ciudad Real, Central Spain). Our study reports 1996-2002 phytoplankton dynamics, examining spatio-temporal patterns of continuity and divergence. Three wetland sites (PG-main inlet, MM and PN-main outlets) were sampled monthly from March 1996 to December, 2002. Overall phytoplankton biovolume were very variable in space and time. Extreme values occurred in PG in May, 1996 (0.06 mm3/l) and September, 2001 (775 mm3/l). Average values of phytoplankton biovolume experienced aa marked increment over timefrom 11±3 mm3/l in 1996 () to 40±9 mm3/l in 2002. The relative contribution to the total biovolume of the taxonomic groups also showed short and long-term changes and they were different in each of the sampled sites. Some species indicating increasing salinity, such as Chaetoceros muelleri, Urosolenia sp. and Katodinium fungiforme, were recorded. Species numbers and density of euglenoids increased as well. This long-term dataset enabled us to draw some conclusions over planktonic primary producers functioning in a shallow wetland: a) at the wetland scale phytoplankton biovolum responds to local climate, b) a eutrophication trend is clearly detected in the whole wetland, c) hydrologic fluctuations are responsible for a short-term variability, thus allowing a variety of non-cyclic assemblage' s alternate states, d) spatial heterogeneity arising from the distribution of water tables and islands results in a remarkable species richness at the wetland scale

Grazing by meso- and microzooplankton on phytoplankton in the upper reaches of the Schelde estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands)

In contrast with the marine reaches of estuaries, few studies have dealt with zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton in the upper estuarine reaches, where freshwater zooplankton species tend to dominate the zooplankton community. In spring and early summer 2003, grazing by micro- and mesozooplankton on phytoplankton was investigated at three sites in the upper Schelde estuary. Grazing by mesozooplankton was evaluated by monitoring growth of phytoplankton in 200 μm filtered water in the presence or absence of mesozooplankton. In different experiments, the grazing impact was tested of the calanoïd copepod Eurytemora affinis, the cyclopoid copepods Acanthocyclops robustus and Cyclops vicinus and the cladocera Chydorus sphaericus, Moina affinis and Daphnia magna/pulex. No significant grazing impact of mesozooplankton in any experiment was found despite the fact that mesozooplankton densities used in the experiments (20 or 40 ind. l−1) were higher than densities in the field (0.1–6.9 ind. l−1). Grazing by microzooplankton was evaluated by comparing growth of phytoplankton in 30 and 200 μm filtered water. Microzooplankton in the 30–200 μm size range included mainly rotifers of the genera Brachionus, Trichocerca and Synchaeta, which were present from 191 to 1777 ind. l−1. Microzooplankton had a significant grazing impact in five out of six experiments. They had a community grazing rate of 0.41–1.83 day−1 and grazed up to 84% of initial phytoplankton standing stock per day. Rotifer clearance rates estimated from microzooplankton community grazing rates and rotifer abundances varied from 8.3 to 41.7 μl ind.−1 h−1. CHEMTAX analysis of accessory pigment data revealed a similar phytoplankton community composition after incubation with and without microzooplankton, indicating non-selective feeding by rotifers on phytoplankton

Looking for general trends in trophic interactions among estuarine micro- and mesozooplankton

Trophic interactions among micro- and mesozooplankton were investigated in the Schelde estuary. Field populations of plankton were separated by selective filtrations (30 and 200 mm). Predation was measured by comparing ciliate and rotifer abundance in treatments with and without potential predators (cladocerans, cyclopids, the calanoid Eurytemora affinis and rotifers). To deal with variability in the data, a cross-calculation method using all replicates separately is proposed. In order to look for general trends in predation behaviour, the predation rates were ranked and analysed in relation to ranked characteristics of the potential prey: numerical abundance, growth rate, individual and population biomass. Cyclopids fed selectively on the ciliates having the highest population biomass and growth rates among the ciliate population. Cyclopids selected the least abundant rotifers. No trends were detected for cladocerans and E. affinis. As predators, rotifers selected the least abundant ciliates in spring. Although no general selectivity patterns for the predators studied can be drawn yet, the potential of the method employed is illustrated and discussed. Its main advantage is the possibility to extend the obtained data set with data from new experiments as well as with extant data on selectivity of the predators

Las Euglenófitas en las Tablas de Daimiel como ejemplo de las limitaciones de los indicadores biológicos de la degradación ambiental

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park is a semiarid, hypertrophic wetland located in La Mancha (Ciudad Real, Central Spain). During the period 1996-2002 we carried out monthly samplings at three sites of Las Tablas. Thirty five taxa of Euglenophytes of the genera Astasia (1 taxon), Euglena (15), Lepocinclis (6), Phacus (9), and Trachelomonas (4) were identified. Six taxa are new records for Spain. Abundance, species richness, species groups and absolute and relative biomass of Euglenophytes widely fluctuated spatio-temporally in Las Tablas, without any statistically significant relationship (P > 0.05) with organic carbon (either particulate or dissolved), which has been long considered the main factor controlling the occurrence and abundance of Euglenophytes. The same lack of relationship was observed for other nutrients, such as ammonia, soluble reactive phosphorus and total nitrogen and phosphorus. Our results challenge the role of Euglenophytes for assessing environmental degradation in hypertrophic ecosystems, a topic of increasing interest in view of the newly implemented European Water Framework Directive and its proposals for biological monitoring. However, these results might invigorate ecological studies on Euglenophytes, still in its infancy unlike in other algal groups.El Parque Nacional Las Tablas de Daimiel es un humedal semiárido hipertrófico, situado en la llanura manchega (Ciudad Real). Entre 1996 y 2002 se realizaron muestreos mensuales en tres lugares representativos del Parque, en los que se identificaron 35 táxones diferentes de Euglenófitas: 1 del género Astasia, 15 de Euglena, 6 de Lepocinclis, 9 de Phacus y 4 de Trachelomonas, de los cuales 6 son citas nuevas para España. En este trabajo se ofrecen la descripción y una amplia iconografía de los mismos. Densidad, riqueza específica, grupos de especies y biovolúmenes absoluto y relativo fluctuaron mucho espacial y temporalmente en el humedal, sin manifestar relación alguna estadísticamente significativa (P > 0,05) con el carbono orgánico (tanto particulado como disuelto) presente en el agua, considerado desde antiguo como el principal factor que condiciona la presencia y la abundancia de las Euglenófitas, ni con otros nutrientes (amonio, ortofosfato, nitrógeno y fósforo totales). Estos resultados limitan en buena medida el uso de estos organismos como indicadores de la degradación ambiental en ecosistemas hipertróficos, de renovado interés por la puesta en marcha de la Directiva Europea del Agua, que contempla también la calidad biológica, y podrían contribuir a impulsar el estudio ecológico de las Euglenófitas, aún por desarrollar, a diferencia del de otros grupos de algas

Spatial spring distribution of the copepod Eurytemora affinis (Copepoda,Calanoida) in a restoring estuary, the Scheldt (Belgium)

The spatial spring distribution of Eurytemora affinis (adults and C5) in the Scheldt estuary (Belgium) brackish and freshwater reacheswas studied in between 1996 and 2007. The bulk of the E. affinis population being generally situated in the brackish water reach (salinity > 0.5); we studied which environmental factors are responsible for its recent sporadic occurrence in the freshwater estuarine reach. Using PLS analysis, it is shown that its presence upstream is limited by a sufficient oxygen concentration (>4mg l-1) that is associated with temperature. Not only are the environmental conditions in the upstream zone important, but also the frequent presence of an O2 minimum zone in the mid-estuary (O2 min < 1.3mg l-1) seems to block the movement of the downstream E. affinis population in an upstream direction. Occasionally, the bulk of the population is however situated upstream. During these periods, high E. affinis abundancewas also observed in the Durme tributary. Our findings suggest the possibility to use E. affinis as an “indicator” species ofwaterquality, but also lead us to stress the necessity to consider conditions over the entire estuary when studying restoration effects, not exclusively in the zone of interest

Dynamics of dissolved and biogenic silica in the freshwater reaches of a macrotidal estuary (The Scheldt, Belgium)

Temporal evolution of dissolved and biogenic silica concentrations along the Scheldt tidal river and in its tributaries was investigated during 1 year in 2003. In the tributaries, dissolved silica (DSi) concentrations remained high and biogenic silica (BSi) concentrations were low throughout the year. In the tidal river during summer, DSi was completely consumed and BSi concentrations increased. Overall, most of the BSi was associated with living diatoms during the productive period in the tidal river. Nevertheless, the detrital BSi was a significant fraction of the total BSi pool, of which less than 10% could be attributed to phytoliths. The tidal river was divided into two zones for budgeting purposes. The highest productivity was observed in the zone that received the highest water discharge, as higher riverine DSi input fluxes induced presumably a less restrictive DSi limitation, but the discharge pattern could not explain all by itself the variations in DSi consumption. Silica uptake and retention in the tidal river were important at the seasonal time-scale: from May to September, 48% of the riverine DSi was consumed and 65% of the produced BSi was deposited, leading to a silica (DSi + BSi) retention in the tidal river of 30%. However, when annual fluxes were considered, DSi uptake in the tidal river amounted to 14% of the DSi inputs and only 6% of the riverine silica (DSi + BSi) was retained in the tidal river.status: publishe

Photosystem II and Pigment Dynamics among Ecotypes of the Green Alga Ostreococcus1

We investigated the photophysiological responses of three ecotypes of the picophytoplankter Ostreococcus and a larger prasinophyte Pyramimonas obovata to a sudden increase in light irradiance. The deepwater Ostreococcus sp. RCC809 showed very high susceptibility to primary photoinactivation, likely a consequence of high oxidative stress, which may relate to the recently noted plastid terminal oxidase activity in this strain. The three Ostreococcus ecotypes were all capable of deploying modulation of the photosystem II repair cycle in order to cope with the light increase, but the effective clearance of photoinactivated D1 protein appeared to be slower in the deepwater Ostreococcus sp. RCC809, suggesting that this step is rate limiting in the photosystem II repair cycle in this strain. Moreover, the deepwater Ostreococcus accumulated lutein and showed substantial use of the xanthophyll cycle under light stress, demonstrating its high sensitivity to light fluctuations. The sustained component of the nonphotochemical quenching of fluorescence correlated well with the xanthophyll deepoxidation activity. Comparisons with the larger prasinophyte P. obovata suggest that the photophysiology of Ostreococcus ecotypes requires high photosystem II repair rates to counter a high susceptibility to photoinactivation, consistent with low pigment package effects in their minute-sized cells