Deterministic and stochastic influence of nutrients on phytoplankton function and structure in coastal waters

Knowledge of how phytoplankton responds to nutrient inputs is essential for water management and for minimizing eutrophication. Only processes that are deterministic, i.e. that can respond as algorithms, are controllable. The study area is the chain of inshore waters (so-called Bodden) south of the Darss-Zingst peninsula - shallow eutrophic waters of estuarine character in the Southern Baltic. Monitoring programmes and laboratory experiments have revealed an annual periodicity of the phytoplankton and of the physico-chemical factors influencing it. On the basis of these results, experiments were carried out in enclosures to study the effects of nutrient loading on phytoplankton. The purpose was to test the feasibility of influencing phytoplankton development under field conditions during the transition period from late spring to mid-summer. This contribution presents results from the 1985 shallow water enclosure experiments (FLAK 85) which demonstrate that - the scale of phytoplankton reactions and the species involved are stochastic in character and are governed by stochastic interactions between meteorological events and water exchange processes in the chain of Bodden; - all processes affecting phytoplankton growth are deterministic in character, conforming to simple batch theories: simultaneous addition of nitrogen and phosphorus favours green algae, and in exceptional cases one algal species became dominant; - nutrient loadings do not affect the time of transition to the mid-summer phytoplankton population, the most important regulating factor obviously being temperature

Metabolism and foraging strategies of mid‐latitude mesozooplankton during cyanobacterial blooms as revealed by fatty acids, amino acids, and their stable carbon isotopes

Increasing sea surface temperatures (SST) and blooms of lipid‐poor, filamentous cyanobacteria can change mesozooplankton metabolism and foraging strategies in marine systems. Lipid shortage and imbalanced diet may challenge the build‐up of energy pools of lipids and proteins, and access to essential fatty acids (FAs) and amino acids (AAs) by copepods. The impact of cyanobacterial blooms on individual energy pools was assessed for key species temperate Temora longicornis and boreal Pseudo‐/Paracalanus spp. that dominated field mesozooplankton communities isolated by sea‐sonal stratification in the central Baltic Sea during the hot and the cold summer. We looked at (a) total lipid and protein levels, (b) FA trophic markers and AA composition, and (c) compound‐specific stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) in bulk mesozooplankton and in a subset of parameters in particulate organic matter. Despite lipid‐poor cyanobacterial blooms, the key species were largely able to cover both energy pools, yet a tendency of lipid reduction was observed in surface animals. Omni‐ and car‐nivory feeding modes, FA trophic makers, and δ13C patterns in essential compounds emphasized that cyanobacterial FAs and AAs have been incorporated into meso‐zooplankton mainly via feeding on mixo‐ and heterotrophic (dino‐) flagellates and detrital complexes during summer. Foraging for essential highly unsaturated FAs from (dino‐) flagellates may have caused night migration of Pseudo‐/Paracalanus spp. from the deep subhalocline waters into the upper waters. Only in the hot summer (SST>19.0°C) was T. longicornis submerged in the colder subthermocline water (~4°C). Thus, the continuous warming trend and simultaneous feeding can eventually lead to competition on the preferred diet by key copepod species below the thermocline in stratified systems. A comparison of δ13C patterns of essential AAs in surface meso‐zooplankton across sub‐basins of low and high cyanobacterial biomasses revealed the potential of δ13C‐AA isoscapes for studies of commercial fish feeding trails across the Baltic Sea food webs

Controls on zooplankton methane production in the central Baltic Sea

Several methanogenic pathways in oxic surface waters were recently discovered, but their relevance in the natural environment is still unknown. Our study examines distinct methane (CH4) enrichments that repeatedly occur below the thermocline during the summer months in the central Baltic Sea. In agreement with previous studies in this region, we discovered differences in the methane distributions between the western and eastern Gotland Basin, pointing to in situ methane production below the thermocline in the latter (concentration of CH4 14.1±6.1&thinsp;nM, δ13C CH4 −62.9&thinsp;‰). Through the use of a high-resolution hydrographic model of the Baltic Sea, we showed that methane below the thermocline can be transported by upwelling events towards the sea surface, thus contributing to the methane flux at the sea–air interface. To quantify zooplankton-associated methane production rates, we developed a sea-going methane stripping-oxidation line to determine methane release rates from copepods grazing on 14C-labelled phytoplankton. We found that (1) methane production increased with the number of copepods, (2) higher methane production rates were measured in incubations with Temora longicornis (125±49&thinsp;fmol&thinsp;methane&thinsp;copepod−1&thinsp;d−1) than in incubations with Acartia spp. (84±19&thinsp;fmol&thinsp;CH4&thinsp;copepod−1&thinsp;d−1) dominated zooplankton communities, and (3) methane was only produced on a Rhodomonas sp. diet, and not on a cyanobacteria diet. Furthermore, copepod-specific methane production rates increased with incubation time. The latter finding suggests that methanogenic substrates for water-dwelling microbes are released by cell disruption during feeding, defecation, or diffusion from fecal pellets. In the field, particularly high methane concentrations coincided with stations showing a high abundance of DMSP/DMSO-rich Dinophyceae. Lipid biomarkers extracted from phytoplankton- and copepod-rich samples revealed that Dinophyceae are a major food source of the T. longicornis dominated zooplankton community, supporting the proposed link between copepod grazing, DMSP/DMSO release, and the build-up of subthermocline methane enrichments in the central Baltic Sea.</p

Climate change effects on phytoplankton depend on cell size and food web structure

We investigated the effects of warming on a natural phytoplankton community from the Baltic Sea, based on six mesocosm experiments conducted 2005–2009. We focused on differences in the dynamics of three phytoplankton size groups which are grazed to a variable extent by different zooplankton groups. While small-sized algae were mostly grazer-controlled, light and nutrient availability largely determined the growth of medium- and large-sized algae. Thus, the latter groups dominated at increased light levels. Warming increased mesozooplankton grazing on medium-sized algae, reducing their biomass. The biomass of small-sized algae was not affected by temperature, probably due to an interplay between indirect effects spreading through the food web. Thus, under the higher temperature and lower light levels anticipated for the next decades in the southern Baltic Sea, a higher share of smaller phytoplankton is expected. We conclude that considering the size structure of the phytoplankton community strongly improves the reliability of projections of climate change effects

The Mediterranean Sea Regime Shift at the End of the 1980s, and Intriguing Parallelisms with Other European Basins

Background: Regime shifts are abrupt changes encompassing a multitude of physical properties and ecosystem variables, which lead to new regime conditions. Recent investigations focus on the changes in ecosystem diversity and functioning associated to such shifts. Of particular interest, because of the implication on climate drivers, are shifts that occur synchronously in separated basins. Principal Findings: In this work we analyze and review long-term records of Mediterranean ecological and hydro-climate variables and find that all point to a synchronous change in the late 1980s. A quantitative synthesis of the literature (including observed oceanic data, models and satellite analyses) shows that these years mark a major change in Mediterranean hydrographic properties, surface circulation, and deep water convection (the Eastern Mediterranean Transient). We provide novel analyses that link local, regional and basin scale hydrological properties with two major indicators of large scale climate, the North Atlantic Oscillation index and the Northern Hemisphere Temperature index, suggesting that the Mediterranean shift is part of a large scale change in the Northern Hemisphere. We provide a simplified scheme of the different effects of climate vs. temperature on pelagic ecosystems. Conclusions: Our results show that the Mediterranean Sea underwent a major change at the end of the 1980s that encompassed atmospheric, hydrological, and ecological systems, for which it can be considered a regime shift. We further provide evidence that the local hydrography is linked to the larger scale, northern hemisphere climate. These results suggest that the shifts that affected the North, Baltic, Black and Mediterranean (this work) Seas at the end of the 1980s, that have been so far only partly associated, are likely linked as part a northern hemisphere change. These findings bear wide implications for the development of climate change scenarios, as synchronous shifts may provide the key for distinguishing local (i.e., basin) anthropogenic drivers, such as eutrophication or fishing, from larger scale (hemispheric) climate drivers

Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

The brackish Baltic Sea hosts species of various origins and environmental tolerances. These immigrated to the sea 10,000 to 15,000 years ago or have been introduced to the area over the relatively recent history of the system. The Baltic Sea has only one known endemic species. While information on some abiotic parameters extends back as long as five centuries and first quantitative snapshot data on biota (on exploited fish populations) originate generally from the same time, international coordination of research began in the early twentieth century. Continuous, annual Baltic Sea-wide long-term datasets on several organism groups (plankton, benthos, fish) are generally available since the mid-1950s. Based on a variety of available data sources (published papers, reports, grey literature, unpublished data), the Baltic Sea, incl. Kattegat, hosts altogether at least 6,065 species, including at least 1,700 phytoplankton, 442 phytobenthos, at least 1,199 zooplankton, at least 569 meiozoobenthos, 1,476 macrozoobenthos, at least 380 vertebrate parasites, about 200 fish, 3 seal, and 83 bird species. In general, but not in all organism groups, high sub-regional total species richness is associated with elevated salinity. Although in comparison with fully marine areas the Baltic Sea supports fewer species, several facets of the system's diversity remain underexplored to this day, such as micro-organisms, foraminiferans, meiobenthos and parasites. In the future, climate change and its interactions with multiple anthropogenic forcings are likely to have major impacts on the Baltic biodiversity

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Phytoplankton responses to marine climate change – an introduction

Phytoplankton are one of the key players in the ocean and contribute approximately 50% to global primary production. They serve as the basis for marine food webs, drive chemical composition of the global atmosphere and thereby climate. Seasonal environmental changes and nutrient availability naturally influence phytoplankton species composition. Since the industrial era, anthropogenic climatic influences have increased noticeably – also within the ocean. Our changing climate, however, affects the composition of phytoplankton species composition on a long-term basis and requires the organisms to adapt to this changing environment, influencing micronutrient bioavailability and other biogeochemical parameters. At the same time, phytoplankton themselves can influence the climate with their responses to environmental changes. Due to its key role, phytoplankton has been of interest in marine sciences for quite some time and there are several methodical approaches implemented in oceanographic sciences. There are ongoing attempts to improve predictions and to close gaps in the understanding of this sensitive ecological system and its responses