The interplay between short-term, mild physicochemical forcing and plankton dynamics in a coastal area

Two intensive surveys were conducted in the coastal waters of Barcelona (northwest Mediterranean) to assess short-term variations of biological parameters in relation to environmental conditions. Surveys lasted 1 week, with three to four samplings per day, and were carried out in autumn and spring. Rather than exploring extreme events, we aimed to study the effects of regular low or moderate perturbations, such as meteorological fronts, on the dynamics of the system. We focused on two attributes: wave height, as a proxy for mechanical energy entering the system, and nutrient inputs, whose variability in total load and relative composition is a central characteristic of coastal areas. The effects of the temporal coupling or uncoupling of both factors were examined. Sudden nutrient fluxes uncoupled from water motion tended to favor bacteria and heterotrophic nanoflagellates, while their concurrence with some water column mixing shaped a favorable scenario for large autotrophs. Ultimately, these two distinct biological responses pointed toward two main disturbance scenarios: episodes of nutrient enrichment uncoupled from mixing, mostly related to episodic water spills from the nearby city that contributed to high relative loads of ammonium and organic compounds; and episodes of increased wind caused by passing weather fronts that promoted some water column mixing and the entrainment of nutrients from bottom sediments or from adjacent water masses

Modulation of ecdysal cyst and toxin dynamics of two Alexandrium (Dinophyceae) species under small-scale turbulence

Some dinoflagellate species have shown different physiological responses to certain turbulent conditions. Here we investigate how two levels of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates (epsilon = 0.4 and 27 cm(2) s(-3)) affect the PSP toxins and ecdysal cyst dynamics of two bloom forming species, Alexandrium minutum and A. catenella. The most striking responses were observed at the high epsilon generated by an orbital shaker. In the cultures of the two species shaken for more than 4 days, the cellular GTX(1+4) toxin contents were significantly lower than in the still control cultures. In A. minutum this trend was also observed in the C(1+2) toxin content. For the two species, inhibition of ecdysal cyst production occurred during the period of exposure of the cultures to stirring (4 or more days) at any time during their growth curve. Recovery of cyst abundances was always observed when turbulence stopped. When shaking persisted for more than 4 days, the net growth rate significantly decreased in A. minutum (from 0.25 +/- 0.01 day(-1) to 0.19 +/- 0.02 day(-1)) and the final cell numbers were lower (ca. 55.4%) than in the still control cultures. In A. catenella, the net growth rate was not markedly modified by turbulence although under long exposure to shaking, the cultures entered earlier in the stationary phase and the final cell numbers were significantly lower (ca. 23%) than in the control flasks. The described responses were not observed in the experiments performed at the low turbulence intensities with an orbital grid system, where the population development was favoured. In those conditions, cells appeared to escape from the zone of the influence of the grids and concentrated in calmer thin layers either at the top or at the bottom of the containers. This ecophysiological study provides new evidences about the sensitivity to high levels of small-scale turbulence by two life cycle related processes, toxin production and encystment, in dinoflagellates. This can contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of those organisms in nature

Evaluation of oscillating grids and orbital shakers as means to generate isotropic and homogeneous small-scale turbulence in laboratory enclosures commonly used in plankton studies

The effects of turbulent motion on planktonic organisms have mainly been studied in the laboratory with devices capable of generating controlled turbulent conditions. Owing to technical and logistical difficulties, thorough assessments of hydrodynamics in such experiments are not routinely made. In this study, we examined the suitability of two widely used systems to generate isotropic, homogeneous, and stationary turbulence in laboratory containers: oscillating grid devices with large stroke length and relatively low frequencies of oscillation and orbital shaker tables. Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates were estimated from velocity measurements made with acoustic Doppler velocimeters. Both systems were shown to generate isotropic conditions in a relatively broad range of dissipation rates. Grid-stirred tanks produce homogeneous turbulence in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, as long as stroke length is comparable to the height of the container. Turbulence in orbital shakers is not completely homogeneous, as it depends on the distance to the wall and to the surface. Empirical models are derived as a tool for the calculation of dissipation rates in the two systems within the ranges and conditions examined in this study

Seasonal changes in planktonic bacterivory rates under the ice-covered coastal Arctic Ocean

Bacterivory was determined in surface waters of Franklin Bay, western Arctic, over a seasonal ice-covered period (winter-spring, 2003-2004). The objectives were to obtain information on the functioning of the microbial food web under the ice, during winter (from 21 December 2003 to 21 March 2004) and during spring (from 22 March 2004 to 29 May 2004), and to test whether bacterial losses would increase after the increase in bacterial production following the spring phytoplankton bloom. Chl a concentrations ranged from 0.04 to 0.36 mu g L(-1), increasing in March and reaching a peak in April. Bacterial biomass showed no consistent trend for the whole period, and protist biomass followed a pattern similar to that of Chl a. Bacterial production increased 1 week after Chl a concentrations started to increase, while bacterivory rates increased very slightly. Average bacterivory rates in winter (0.16 +/- 0.07 mu g C L(-1) d(-1)) were not significantly different from those in spring (0.29 +/- 0.24 mu g C L(-1) d(-1)). Average bacterial production, on the other hand, was similar to bacterivory rates in winter (0.19 +/- 0.38 mu g C L(-1) d(-1)), but higher than bacterivory in spring (0.93 +/- 0.28 mu g C L(-1) d(-1)). Therefore, bacterial production was controlled by grazers during winter and by substrate concentration in spring

[Corrigendum to] Effects of small-scale turbulence on lower trophic levels under different nutrient conditions [vol 32, pg 197, 2010]

Small-scale turbulence affects the pelagic food web and energy flow in marine systems and the impact is related to nutrient conditions and the assemblage of organisms present. We generated five levels of turbulence (2*10 29 to 1*10 24 W kg 21 ) in land-based mesocosms (volume 2.6 m 3 ) with and without additional nutrients (31:16:1 Si:N:P m M) to asses the effect of small-scale turbulence on the lower part of the pelagic food web under different nutrient conditions. The ecological influence of nutrients and small-scale turbulence on lower trophic levels was quantified using multivariate statistics (RDA), where nutrients accounted for 31.8% of the observed biological variation, while 7.2% of the variation was explained by small-scale turbulence and its interaction with nutrients. Chlorophyll a, primary production rates, bacterial production rates and diatom and dinoflagellate abundance were positively correlated to turbulence, regardless of nutrient conditions. Abundance of autotrophic flagellates, total phytoplankton and bacteria were positively correlated to turbulence only when nutrients were added. Impact of small-scale turbulence was related to nutrient con- ditions, with implications for oligotrophic and eutrophic situations. The effect on community level was also different compared to single species level. Microbial processes drive biogeochemical cycles, and nutrient-controlled effects of small-scale turbulence on such processes are relevant to foresee altered carbon flow in marine systems

Analysis of wind events in a coastal area: a tool for assessing turbulence variability for studies on plankton

Turbulence at different scales, from generation to dissipation, influences planktonic communities. Many experimental Studies have recently been clone to determine the effects of small-scale turbulence on plankton. but it is difficult to state the relevance of the findings since there is little unbiased information on turbulence variability in the sea. In this study, we use wind velocity data series from several meteorological stations located along the Catalan coast to estimate the spatial and temporal variability of small-scale turbulence ill the upper ocean. Using a peaks-over-threshold approach, we develop a statistical model to assess the frequency of wind events as a function of their persistence and intensity. Finally, the wind speed data series are converted into turbulent energy dissipation rate estimates at 1 m depth to determine the general distribution of turbulence oil the Catalan coast. Geographical variability is larger than seasonal variability in frequency and persistence of wind events, owing to differences in local relief. These statistical models developed for wind events combined with empirical relationships between wind and turbulence, are tools for estimating the occurrence and persistence of turbulent events at a given location and season. They serve to Put into context the past, present and future Studies of the effects of turbulence on coastal planktonic organisms and processes

Functional diversity of bacterioplankton assemblages in western Antarctic seawaters during late spring

Functional diversity and aminopeptidase activity (AMA) in bacterial assemblages were determined in western Antarctic waters during late spring 2002. Functional diversity was assayed by the patterns of sole carbon source utilization in Biolog-ECO Microplates(TM) and AMA with the fluorogenic substrate leucine 7-amido-4-methylcoumarin. N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-cellobiose were the most used carbohydrates. This suggested that used dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was mostly of either zoo-or phytoplankton origin. Principal component analysis of the sole carbon source utilization profiles separated the samples according to salinity and temperature. This separation corresponded roughly with the 3 areas of study: Bransfield Strait (BR), Gerlache Strait (GE) and Belling-shausen Sea (BE). AMA was higher in the upper 40 m, probably associated with the higher organic matter load. Phytoplankton biomass was the factor that accounted for the highest variance in AMA, but did not have a clear influence on functional diversity of bacterioplankton. Our findings indicate that differences in functional diversity of bacterioplankton populations in western Antarctic waters are not directly related to phytoplanktonic abundance. This suggests that bacteria could utilize other carbon sources than DOC freshly released by phytoplankton

Analysis of sedimentation and resuspension processes of aquaculture biosolids using an oscillating grid

Sedimentation and resuspension processes of aquaculture biosolids (non-ingested feed and faeces) are analysed using vertically oscillating grids as a source of turbulence in fluid tanks. An oscillating grid system consists of a container in which a grid is stirred vertically generating a well-known turbulent field that is function of amplitude and frequency of oscillation, distance between grid and measurement point, and mesh spacing of the grid. The grid used in this study had a mesh spacing of 1.2 cm, and was calibrated using different amplitudes (1, 1.5 and 2 cm), frequencies (from 1 to 6 Hz) and distances (2.4, 2.7 and 3 cm). After calibration, the turbulence needed to resuspend biosolids and to maintain them in the water column following different times of consolidation, and with biosolids of different origin, was analysed. It was observed that the turbulence needed to resuspend aquaculture biosolids increased with the time of consolidation. When the turbulence was decreased after a resuspension process, the next sedimentation of biosolids showed a hysteretic behaviour: turbulence needed to resuspend a fixed percent of biosolids from the tank bottom is substantially higher than that needed to maintain the same percentage suspended in the water column. Differences in resuspension behaviour of biosolids originated in different tanks were also observed. The method provides useful information that can be compared with turbulence generated by fish swimming activity, in order to determine the culture conditions, which can promote self-cleaning conditions in a particular tank. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Episodic meteorological and nutrient-load events as drivers of coastal planktonic ecosystem dynamics: a time-series analysis

In temperate coastal zones, episodic meteorological forcing can have a strong impact on the classical seasonal phytoplankton succession. Episodes of continental runoff and wind storms involve nutrient enrichment and turbulence, 2 factors that can promote primary production and alter the planktonic community species composition and size structure. We determined the joint influence of these 2 variables on the osmotrophic plankton of an oligotrophic NW Mediterranean open bay. We used an 8 yr long time series of monthly physical, chemical and biological water-column parameters, and we looked for correlations between these and several meteorological and physical high-frequency time series through cross-correlation analyses. Influence of river runoff in this particular location was found to be very important for phytoplankton dynamics, whereas no immediate response of bacterioplankton was detected. Resuspension events caused by waves had a secondary importance. Cross correlations allowed defining a sequence of responses to these types of forcing, from changes in water turbidity and salinity, to increases in phytoplankton and bacteria abundances through nutrient enrichments. The maximum response of the ecosystem in terms of chlorophyll a concentration lagged nutrient enrichment events by about 1 wk. A more detailed analysis was performed between June 2003 and June 2004, a period characterised by an intense drought in summer and by 6 strong meteorological events afterwards. The increase in the frequency of meteorological events during this period drove the system from heterotrophy to autotrophy. Our data stress the importance of episodic meteorological events in coastal planktonic communities

Analysis of sedimentation and resuspension processes of aquaculture biosolids using an oscillating grid

Menció d'Honor 2010 que atorga l'Aquacultural Engineering SocietySedimentation and resuspension processes of aquaculture biosolids (non-ingested feed and faeces) are analysed using vertically oscillating grids as a source of turbulence in fluid tanks. An oscillating grid system consists of a container in which a grid is stirred vertically generating a well-known turbulent field that is function of amplitude and frequency of oscillation, distance between grid and measurement point, and mesh spacing of the grid. The grid used in this study had a mesh spacing of 1.2 cm, and was calibrated using different amplitudes (1, 1.5 and 2 cm), frequencies (from 1 to 6 Hz) and distances (2.4, 2.7 and 3 cm). After calibration, the turbulence needed to resuspend biosolids and to maintain them in the water column following different times of consolidation, and with biosolids of different origin, was analysed. It was observed that the turbulence needed to resuspend aquaculture biosolids increased with the time of consolidation. When the turbulence was decreased after a resuspension process, the next sedimentation of biosolids showed a hysteretic behaviour: turbulence needed to resuspend a fixed percent of biosolids from the tank bottom is substantially higher than that needed to maintain the same percentage suspended in the water column. Differences in resuspension behaviour of biosolids originated in different tanks were also observed. The method provides useful information that can be compared with turbulence generated by fish swimming activity, in order to determine the culture conditions, which can promote self-cleaning conditions in a particular tank.Peer ReviewedAward-winnin