Phytoplankton community dynamics assessed by ships-of-opportunity sampling in the northern Baltic Sea: A comparison of HPLC pigment analysis and cell counts

The phytoplankton community structure and abundance in the south-eastern Black Sea was measured from February to December 2009 using and comparing high performance liquid chromatography pigment and microscopy analyses. The phytoplankton community was characterized by diatoms, dinoflagellates and coccolithophores, as revealed by both techniques. Fucoxanthin, diadinoxanthin, peridinin and 19′-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin were the main accessory pigments showing significant correlation with diatom-C r2 = 0.56–0.71, P < 0.05), diatom-C (r2 = 0.85–0.91, P < 0.001), dinoflagellate-C (r2 = 0.39–0.88, P < 0.05) and coccolithophore-C (r2 = 0.80–0.71, P < 0.05), respectively. Microscopy counts indicated a total of 89 species, 71% of which were dinoflagellates, 23% were diatoms and 6% other species (mainly coccolithophores). Pigment-CHEMTAX analysis also indicated the presence of pico- and nanoplankton. Phytoplankton carbon (phyto-C) concentrations were highest in the upper water column, whereas chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) showed a deep maximum. Average phyto-C was higher at the coastal station (291 ± 66 µg l−1) than at the offshore station (258 ± 35 µg l−1), not statistically different (P > 0.05). The coastal station also had higher Chl-a concentrations (0.52–3.83 µg l−1) compared to the offshore station (0.63–2.55 µg l−1), not significant (P > 0.05). Our results are consistent with other studies and indicate that the southern Black Sea is shifting towards mesotrophy with the increasing prevalence of dinoflagellates compared to diatoms.

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Alterations in microbial community composition with increasing <i>f</i>CO<sub>2</sub>: a mesocosm study in the eastern Baltic Sea

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-14-3831-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (16) ◽

pp. 3831-3849 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Katharine J. Crawfurd ◽

Santiago Alvarez-Fernandez ◽

Kristina D. A. Mojica ◽

Ulf Riebesell ◽

Corina P. D. Brussaard

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Ocean Acidification ◽

Baltic Sea ◽

Community Dynamics ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Microbial Community Composition ◽

Cell Diameter ◽

Viral Lysis ◽

Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽

Eastern Baltic

Abstract. Ocean acidification resulting from the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) by the ocean is considered a major threat to marine ecosystems. Here we examined the effects of ocean acidification on microbial community dynamics in the eastern Baltic Sea during the summer of 2012 when inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus were strongly depleted. Large-volume in situ mesocosms were employed to mimic present, future and far future CO2 scenarios. All six groups of phytoplankton enumerated by flow cytometry ( <  20 µm cell diameter) showed distinct trends in net growth and abundance with CO2 enrichment. The picoeukaryotic phytoplankton groups Pico-I and Pico-II displayed enhanced abundances, whilst Pico-III, Synechococcus and the nanoeukaryotic phytoplankton groups were negatively affected by elevated fugacity of CO2 (fCO2). Specifically, the numerically dominant eukaryote, Pico-I, demonstrated increases in gross growth rate with increasing fCO2 sufficient to double its abundance. The dynamics of the prokaryote community closely followed trends in total algal biomass despite differential effects of fCO2 on algal groups. Similarly, viral abundances corresponded to prokaryotic host population dynamics. Viral lysis and grazing were both important in controlling microbial abundances. Overall our results point to a shift, with increasing fCO2, towards a more regenerative system with production dominated by small picoeukaryotic phytoplankton.

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Effects of climatically-modulated changes in solar radiation and wind speed on spring phytoplankton community dynamics in Lake Taihu, China

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0205260 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. e0205260 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jianming Deng ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Boqiang Qin ◽

Yunlin Zhang ◽

Hans W. Paerl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wind Speed ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Community Dynamics ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

Lake Taihu

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Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-14-1419-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 1419-1444 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

David A. Ford ◽

Johan van der Molen ◽

Kieran Hyder ◽

John Bacon ◽

Rosa Barciela ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

North Sea ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Phytoplankton Community Structure ◽

Pigment Analysis ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

In Situ Observations

Abstract. Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain, and knowledge of phytoplankton community structure is fundamental when assessing marine biodiversity. Policy makers and other users require information on marine biodiversity and other aspects of the marine environment for the North Sea, a highly productive European shelf sea. This information must come from a combination of observations and models, but currently the coastal ocean is greatly under-sampled for phytoplankton data, and outputs of phytoplankton community structure from models are therefore not yet frequently validated. This study presents a novel set of in situ observations of phytoplankton community structure for the North Sea using accessory pigment analysis. The observations allow a good understanding of the patterns of surface phytoplankton biomass and community structure in the North Sea for the observed months of August 2010 and 2011. Two physical–biogeochemical ocean models, the biogeochemical components of which are different variants of the widely used European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM), were then validated against these and other observations. Both models were a good match for sea surface temperature observations, and a reasonable match for remotely sensed ocean colour observations. However, the two models displayed very different phytoplankton community structures, with one better matching the in situ observations than the other. Nonetheless, both models shared some similarities with the observations in terms of spatial features and inter-annual variability. An initial comparison of the formulations and parameterizations of the two models suggests that diversity between the parameter settings of model phytoplankton functional types, along with formulations which promote a greater sensitivity to changes in light and nutrients, is key to capturing the observed phytoplankton community structure. These findings will help inform future model development, which should be coupled with detailed validation studies, in order to help facilitate the wider application of marine biogeochemical modelling to user and policy needs.

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Grazing resistance in phytoplankton

Hydrobiologia ◽

10.1007/s10750-020-04370-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 848 (1) ◽

pp. 237-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Miquel Lürling

Keyword(s):

Community Dynamics ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

Rapid Evolution ◽

Variable Environment ◽

Trade Off ◽

Defense Strategies ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Grazing Resistance ◽

Population And Community Dynamics

AbstractPhytoplankton is confronted with a variable assemblage of zooplankton grazers that create a strong selection pressure for traits that reduce mortality. Phytoplankton is, however, also challenged to remain suspended and to acquire sufficient resources for growth. Consequently, phytoplanktic organisms have evolved a variety of strategies to survive in a variable environment. An overview is presented of the various phytoplankton defense strategies, and costs and benefits of phytoplankton defenses with a zooming in on grazer-induced colony formation. The trade-off between phytoplankton competitive abilities and defenses against grazing favor adaptive trait changes—rapid evolution and phenotypic plasticity—that have the potential to influence population and community dynamics, as exemplified by controlled chemostat experiments. An interspecific defense–growth trade-off could explain seasonal shifts in the species composition of an in situ phytoplankton community yielding defense and growth rate as key traits of the phytoplankton. The importance of grazing and protection against grazing in shaping the phytoplankton community structure should not be underestimated. The trade-offs between nutrient acquisition, remaining suspended, and grazing resistance generate the dynamic phytoplankton community composition.

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Storm impacts on phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes

Global Change Biology ◽

10.1111/gcb.15033 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (5) ◽

pp. 2756-2784 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Jason D. Stockwell ◽

Jonathan P. Doubek ◽

Rita Adrian ◽

Orlane Anneville ◽

Cayelan C. Carey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Dynamics ◽

Phytoplankton Community

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Phytoplankton community dynamics

The Trophic Cascade in Lakes ◽

10.1017/cbo9780511525513.012 ◽

1993 ◽

pp. 189-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

S. R. Carpenter ◽

J. A. Morrice ◽

J. J. Elser ◽

A. L. ST. Amand ◽

N. A. MacKay

Keyword(s):

Community Dynamics ◽

Phytoplankton Community

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Determination of the spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton community structure in Daya Bay via HPLC-CHEMTAX pigment analysis

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology ◽

10.1007/s00343-018-7103-z ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 750-760 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Longhua Wang ◽

Linjian Ou ◽

Kaixuan Huang ◽

Chao Chai ◽

Zhaohui Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Temporal Variability ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

Daya Bay ◽

Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽

Phytoplankton Community Structure ◽

Pigment Analysis

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Interactions of Ipomoea aquatica and Utricularia reflexa with phytoplankton densities in a small water body in northern Nigeria

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies ◽

10.2478/s13545-012-0015-1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mathias Chia ◽

Michael Adelanwa ◽

Zakari Ladan ◽

Dora Iortsuun ◽

Sewuese Adanyi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Body ◽

Community Dynamics ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

The Other ◽

Phytochemical Screening ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Ipomoea Aquatica ◽

Small Water ◽

Small Water Body ◽

Ft Ir

AbstractThe interactions of Ipomoea aquatica and Utricularia reflexa with phytoplankton densities were studied in a small water body in Zaria, Nigeria from June to November 2007. The negative effects of both macrophytes on 10 out of 15 phytoplankton taxa, including Staurastrum sp., Netrium sp., Ulothrix sp., Marssionella sp. and Closterium sp. were differentiated from other environmental effects. U. reflexa, on the other hand, showed positive associations with species like Actinocyclus sp., Palmellopsis sp., Spirotaenia sp., Microcystis sp. and Marssionella sp. Qualitative phytochemical screening and FT-IR analyses confirmed the presence of glycosides, anthraquinone, saponins, steroids, triterpenes, flavonoids, and alkaloids in Ipomoea aquatica and Utricularia reflexa. The observed variations in phytoplankton community dynamics were closely related to the presence of these macrophytes as well as the environmental conditions in the pond.

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