Performance of sinking and nonsinking phytoplancton taxa in a gradient of mixing depths

According to a recent dynamical model, the depth of a well-mixed water column should have contrasting effects on the abundances of sinking and nonsinking phytoplankton taxa. Because of increasing light limitation, nonsinking taxa should decline monotonically with increasing mixing depth, and because of sinking loss limitation at low mixing depths, sinking taxa should peak at intermediate mixing depths. Along a gradient of mixing depths, the position of this maximum should increase with increasing taxon-specific sinking velocity and decrease with increasing background turbidity. In two field-enclosure experiments, we investigated the effects of mixing depth and background turbidity on a variety of sinking and nonsinking phytoplankton taxa. We exposed the natural, 100-µm screened phytoplankton community of a clear, unproductive, but silica-rich lake to a gradient of mixing depths (1.5- 15 m) during 4-6 weeks. To mimic two different background turbidities, the transparent enclosure walls were surrounded by either white or black foliage. Although diatoms suffered from high sedimentation losses at low mixing depths, they dominated biomass at all mixing depths throughout both experiments. Results were largely in accordance with model predictions. Specific gross growth rates of most common taxa were negatively related to mixing depth. In both experiments, the abundances of most sinking taxa showed a unimodal pattern along the mixing depth gradient, while two of three motile taxa declined monotonically with mixing depth. The depths where these taxa reached their maximal abundances were positively related to taxon-specific sinking velocity and negatively related to background turbidity

Effects of microzooplankton and mixotrophy in an experimental planktonic food web

Microzooplankton have received increased attention as an important trophic link between the microbial loop and calanoid copepods. On the basis of food size spectra overlap in some microzooplankton groups and calanoid copepods, however, such microzooplankton could function as competitors rather than as food for calanoid copepods (intraguild prey). Mixotrophic flagellates presumably represent a link between the microbial loop and the micro and mesozooplankton. We investigated the effects of microzooplankton and mixotrophy by altering the presence of a heterotrophic dinoflagellate and of a mixotrophic nanoflagellate in artificial food webs with calanoid copepods as terminal consumers. Overall system productivity was manipulated by two levels of nutrient enrichment. The heterotrophic dinoflagellate drastically reduced the nanophytoplankton and enhanced the reproduction of the copepods, suggesting that its role as a competitor is negligible compared to its function as a trophic link. In spite of the presence of heterotrophic nanoflagellates, the mixotroph had a strong negative effect on the picophytoplankton and (presumably) on bacterial biomass. At the same time, the mixotroph enhanced the atomic C:N ratio of the seston biomass, indicating a higher efficiency in overall primary production. Copepod reproduction was enhanced in the presence of the mixotrophic nanoflagellate. Results did not support predictions of the intraguild predation theory: The ratios of the intraguild predators and their preys were not affected by overall system productivit

Phytoplankton species richness along coastal and estuarine salinity continua

Ligi 80 aastat on meie arusaama vee organismide liigirikkusest soolsusgradiendil kujundanud paradigmaks muutunud Remane kõver. Selle järgi on magevee liigirikkus suur, suur on liigirikkus ka ookeanis, kuid vahepealses riimveelises osas on tuntav liigirikkuse madalseis. Adolf Remane sedastas oma seaduspära uurides põhjaeluliste suurselgrootute liigirikkust Läänemeres. Kas ja millisel määral on seaduspära kehtiv teiste organismirühmade puhul, eriti vabalt hõljuvate plankterite puhul, ei ole teada. Me analüüsisime ligi 16,000 fütoplanktoni proovi liigirikkust kahe suure ökosüsteemi, Läänemere ja Chesapeake Lahe soolsusgradientidel. Proovide liigirikkus oli madalaim gradiendi mesohaliinses piirkonnas, soolsusel 7–9. Ka harvenduskõverad kitsastes soolsusvahemikes näitasid madalat liigirikkust mesohaliinses piirkonnas ja fütoplanktoni liigirikkus suurenemist nii magevee, kui ookeani soolsuse suunal. Liikide kumulatiivne esinemise tõenäosus soolsuse gradiendil näitas samuti liigirikkuse miinimumi riimveelises osas. Chesapeake Lahes muutub fütoplanktoni kooslus mageveelisest mereliseks sujuvalt kogu soolsusgradiendil. Kontrastina, Läänemere eripäraks on fütoplanktoni koosluse järsk muutus liigirikkuse miinimumi piirkonnas. Analüüsi tulemused näitavad, et Remane printsiip on täiel määral kehtiv ka fütoplanktoni puhul.The high number of freshwater species at low salinity and the correspondingly high number of marine species at high salinity enveloping a conspicuous richness minimum at intermediate salinities has shaped our basic understanding of biodiversity along a coastal salinity gradient for almost 80 years. Visualized as the Remane curve, this iconic concept was originally based on sedentary macroinvertebrates in the Baltic Sea. To what extent the concept can be generalized, particularly to free-drifting organisms, is currently debated. Here we use approximately 16,000 phytoplankton samples from two large coastal ecosystems—the Baltic Sea and Chesapeake Bay—to analyze the relationship between salinity and phytoplankton species richness. Alpha diversity showed a consistent variation along the salinity gradient, with a minimum at mesohaline salinities of around 7–9. Rarefied species pools at narrow salinity intervals also showed reduced diversity at intermediate salinities, surrounded by high richness toward both ends of the gradient. The cumulative likelihood of species presence validated the minimum at intermediate salinities. Community composition changed abruptly at the α diversity minimum in the Baltic Sea, while it changed gradually along the salinity gradient in Chesapeake Bay. We conclude that the Remane concept is in every respect valid for phytoplankton

Regional and fine-scale local adaptation in salinity tolerance in Daphnia inhabiting contrasting clusters of inland saline waters

Understanding the spatial scales at which organisms can adapt to strong natural and human-induced environmental gradients is important. Salinization is a key threat to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services of freshwater systems. Clusters of naturally saline habitats represent ideal test cases to study the extent and scale of local adaptation to salinization. We studied local adaptation of the water flea Daphnia magna, a key component of pond food webs, to salinity in two contrasting landscapes—a dense cluster of sodic bomb crater ponds and a larger-scale cluster of soda pans. We show regional differentiation in salinity tolerance reflecting the higher salinity levels of soda pans versus bomb crater ponds. We found local adaptation to differences in salinity levels at the scale of tens of metres among bomb crater pond populations but not among geographically more distant soda pan populations. More saline bomb crater ponds showed an upward shift of the minimum salt tolerance observed across clones and a consequent gradual loss of less tolerant clones in a nested pattern. Our results show evolutionary adaptation to salinity gradients at different spatial scales, including fine-tuned local adaptation in neighbouring habitat patches in a natural landscape

Trophic switches in pelagic systems

Ecological studies need experimentation to test concepts and to disentangle causality in community dynamics. While simple models have given substantial insights into population and community dynamics, recent ecological concepts become increasingly complex. The globally important pelagic food web dynamics are well suited to test complex ecological concepts. For instance, trophic switches of individual organisms within pelagic food webs can elongate food webs or shift the balance between autotroph and heterotroph carbon fluxes. Here, we summarize results from mesocosm experiments demonstrating how environmental drivers result in trophic switches of marine phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. Such mesocosm experiments are useful to develop and test complex ecological concepts going beyond trophic level–based analyses, including diversity, individual behavior, and environmental stochasticity

Life-history omnivory in the fairy shrimp Branchinecta orientalis (Branchiopoda: Anostraca)

Very little is known about the feeding of naupliar and juvenile life stages of omnivorous fairy shrimps (Crustacea: Anostraca). Here, we aim to reveal whether the fairy shrimp Branchinecta orientalis is an ontogenetic omnivore and at which age and ontogenetic stage they gain the ability to feed on zooplankton. We assess how food uptake rates change with age until reaching maturity by providing algae (pico- and nanoplanktonic unicellular algae) and zooplankton (rotifers and copepod nauplii) as food in individual experiments. We found that the fairy shrimp B. orientalis started to feed on both types of algal prey immediately after hatching. Nanoplanktonic algae likely represented the most important food source until reaching maturity. Moreover, fairy shrimps started to feed on zooplankton already when they were 7 days old. Slow-moving rotifers gradually gained importance in the fairy shrimp diet with time. Our results reveal an ontogenetic change in the prey spectrum of fairy shrimp. The systematic shift towards omnivory likely affects both phyto- and zooplankton community composition, possibly contributing to temporal changes in food web dynamics in fairy shrimp habitats, and temporary ponds, which may warrant more detailed investigations in future studies