Dinoflagellate cyst records in recent sediments from Daya Bay, South China Sea

Nine sediment cores of 8–26 cm in length were collected from two basins of Daya Bay, the South China Sea, by Tokyo University Fisheries Oceanography Laboratory core sampler in August 2001 to investigate the distribution of dinoflagellate resting cysts. In the present study, 51 different cyst morphotypes representing 22 genera were identified from 65 sediment samples. Among them, there were 21 autotrophic species and 30 heterotrophic ones. Cyst species richness in each sample varied from 12 to 29, while the values of Shannon‐Weaver diversity index (H′) were between 0.15 and 4.13. There were an obvious increase in both species richness and values of H′in 2–6 cm sediments. Cyst concentrations varied from 154 to 113 483 cysts per gram dry weight sediment, and were much higher in upper sediments. Scrippsiella trochoidea was the most dominant cyst type, which took up over 90% of cyst assemblages in the upper sediments. The abrupt increase of S. trochoidea cysts in the surface sediments reflected the bloom of this species in Daya Bay in 2000. The results from cyst assemblages showed some trend of changes in water quality in this area, and indicated a typical type of pollution caused by cultural eutrophication, which started in the 1980s and greatly accelerated in the middle of 1990s. Cysts of Alexandrium, mainly those of Alexandrium catenella and Alexandrium tamarense complex, occurred frequently and abundantly in this area, with the highest concentration and relative frequency of 503 cysts per gram dry weight sediment and 22.3%, respectively. The high abundance of Alexandrium cysts provided rich ‘seed bed’ for Alexandrium blooms and was also an important source of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins, especially in winter.     

深圳湾表层沉积物中甲藻孢囊的垂直分布

采集了深圳湾3个采样点约20cm的表层沉积物样品,研究了甲藻孢囊的垂直分布。共分析鉴定出孢囊类型37种,其中5种为我国沿海未报道的新记录类型,原多甲藻类孢囊是该海域种类最丰富的孢囊类型。除上表层沉积物外,深圳湾甲藻孢囊密度较低,孢囊密度大多在500cysts／gDWt以下,总孢囊密度变化范围为83～4036cysts／gDWt之间。锥状斯氏藻是深圳湾甲藻孢囊的优势种类,上表层沉积物中该孢囊密度的急剧上升证实了2000年附近海域所发生的该藻赤潮。而裸甲藻类孢囊含量明显比南海其他海域高。孢囊的香农-威弗种类多样性指数为1．50～3．96之间,并且在非养殖区、离岸海域及较深层次沉积物中较高,而孢囊密度则呈相反的变化趋势。种类多样性的下降及孢囊密度的上升在一定程度上说明深圳湾污染的变化趋势,富营养化程度非养殖区大于养殖区,近岸海域大于离岸海域,并且近年来污染逐渐加剧。     

Effects of live coral,epilithic algal communities and substrate type on algal recruitment

The recruitment of algae is a critical process during algal colonization and invasions, including coral-to-algal phase shifts. Although algae are widely assumed to colonize and kill corals, there is very little known about the recruitment dynamics of coral reef algae. This study tested the ability of two dominant macroalgae (Fucales including Sargassum spp. and Lobophora variegata) to settle and grow on healthy coral tissue. The study also explored the effects of interactions with prior occupants, and of abiotic substrate properties (texture, and ceramic and carbonate material). The results indicate that healthy corals were able to prevent attachment or survival of recruits of these macroalgae. This is a significant point, since it suggests that the replacement of corals by algae may often require prior stress or death in the coral tissue. Pre-conditioning of plates at different sites had some effects, but these were relatively minor, whereas there was considerable variation within sites. Some of this variation appeared to be related to the amount of turf algae or crustose coralline algae on the plates. Recruitment was generally, but not always, higher on plates with rougher texture. Overall, this preliminary exploration indicates considerable potential for variability in outcomes of algal colonization, with implications for the dynamics of algal invasions. In particular, the results do not support suggestions that planktonic algal propagules can directly settle on and colonize healthy coral tissue.Communicated by Topic Editor D. Barnes     

Growth light level and photon absorption by cells of Chlamydomonas rheinhardii,Dunaliella tertiolecta (Chlorophyceae,Volvocales), Scenedesmus obliquus (Chlorophyceae,Chlorococcales) and Euglena viridis (Euglenophyceae,Euglenales)

Reductions in the growth light level (40 to 6 μmol m^-2 s^-1) resulted in increases in chlorophyll and protein per cell for all of the species examined. Only Dunaliella tertiolecta exhibited a reduction in chlorophyll a:b ratio with decreases in the photon flux density. However, the specific absorption coefficient (ā? _i ) normalized to chlorphyll a (ā? _a remained invariant for all of the microalgae studied. Constant values for the specific absorption coefficient normalized to the total pigment content (ā? _a+b ) were also found for the species Chlamydomonas rheinhardii, Euglena viridis and Scenedesmus obliquus. In contrast ā? _a+b for D. tertiolecta decreased with a reduction in light level due to an increase in the proportion of chlorophyll b. Differences in ā? _i were related to cell size and pigment content and possible reasons for the constancy of ā? _a discussed. Increases in the absorption cross sections (¯sQ _a ) were also found at reduced light levels due to an increase in the absorptance per cell (α_cell). The lower α_cell for D. tertiolecta, compared with C. rheinhardii was exactly compensated for by a larger light-capturing area. Although the increase in α_cell does not compensate for the reduction in the incident light level, it does reduce this range by half on an absorbed light basis.     

Stratification and dynamics of microbial loop communities in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica

1. Lake Fryxell, situated in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, offers the opportunity to study microbial loop processes in the absence of crustacean zooplankton and other higher organisms. This is the first study of Lake Fryxell to provide detailed temporal and vertical variations of microbial loop organisms.
2. Protozoan communities are concentrated around the chemocline (9–10 m) in Lake Fryxell. Phototrophic nanoflagellates (PNAN), heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNAN) and ciliates formed deep maxima of 14 580, 694 and 58 cells mL−1 respectively. Although abundance and biomass at the chemocline was high, diversity of protozoa was low, Plagiocampa accounting for> 80% of the total ciliate biomass.
3. In the mixolimnion (4.5–8 m), protozoa were less abundant, but more diverse, with 24 ciliate morphotypes being identified within this region of the water column. Inter-annual variability of protozoan biomass and abundance was greater in the mixolimnion than at the chemocline due to more variable nutrient and prey concentrations.
4. Physicochemical gradients in Lake Fryxell were very stable because the perennial ice cover reduced wind driven currents. As a consequence, ciliate species occurred in distinct depth strata, Monodinium being most abundant directly beneath the ice cover, Askenasia having maximum abundance at 8 m and Plagiocampa dominating ciliate biomass at the chemocline. The lack of vertical mixing reduced seasonal successions of PNAN and ciliate species. Three cryptophyte species dominated the PNAN community at all times (>79% of total biomass).     

中国渤海海域甲藻孢囊的种类多样性和生态地理分布

在渤海湾24个站位采集0–10 cm表层沉积物144份样品, 进行甲藻孢囊的种类多样性和生态地理分布研究, 并分析渤海海域水体的富营养化趋势。在渤海海域共采集鉴定出6类32种甲藻孢囊, 包括原多甲藻类孢囊11种、裸甲藻类孢囊6种、膝沟藻类孢囊7种、钙质类孢囊5种、翼藻类孢囊2种及Tuberculodinioid类孢囊1种。其中, 自养型甲藻孢囊17种, 优势种为锥状斯氏藻(Scrippsiella trochoidea)孢囊, 丰富的孢囊库为锥状斯氏藻赤潮提供种源, 可作为该海域发生锥状斯氏藻赤潮的参考依据; 异养型甲藻孢囊15种, 优势种为无纹多沟藻(Polykrikos schwartzii)和锥形原多甲藻(Protoperidinium conicum)孢囊; 发现1种产麻痹性贝类毒素的孢囊--塔玛亚历山大藻(Alexandrium tamarense)孢囊, 但是仅在S6、S8和S14三个站位发现, 且孢囊数量较少。渤海甲藻孢囊组成与世界其它海域相似, 异养型甲藻孢囊种类丰富, 提示渤海海域富营养化程度较高。每个站位沉积物样品分为3层(每层约3 cm), 春夏两季表层、中层和底层之间孢囊组成差异不大, 平均种类数为5.58–7.29, 孢囊的平均密度范围在58.82–103.57 cysts·g^–1 DW之间; 孢囊种类丰富的站点, 孢囊密度也较高, 如S9、S14站位。对渤海海区表层沉积物中甲藻孢囊的生物多样性进行了统计分析, 发现表、中、底3层甲藻孢囊的平均种类多样性指数在春季(5月)分别为1.69、1.61和1.52; 略低于夏季(8月)的1.83、1.89和1.60。     

Development and Evaluation of a PCR Based Assay for Detection of the Toxic Dinoflagellate, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gymnodinium catenatum</Emphasis>(Graham) in Ballast Water and Environmental Samples

Gymnodinium catenatum is a bloom forming dinoflagellate that has been known to cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in humans. It is being reported with increased frequency around the world, with ballast water transport implicated as a primary vector that may have contributed to its global spread. Major limitations to monitoring and management of its spread are the inability for early, rapid, and accurate detection of G. catenatum in plankton samples. This study explored the feasibility of developing a PCR-based method for specific detection of G. catenatumin cultures and heterogeneous ballast water and environmental samples. Sequence comparison of the large sub unit (LSU) ribosomal DNA locus of several strains and species of dinoflagellates allowed the design of G. catenatum specific PCR primers that are flanked by conserved regions. Assay specificity was validated through screening a range of dinoflagellate cultures, including the morphologically similar and taxonomically closely related species G. nolleri. Amplification of the diagnostic PCR product from all the strains of G. catenatum but not from other species of dinoflagellates tested imply the species specificity of the assay. Sensitivity of the assay to detect cysts in ballast water samples was established by simulated spiked experiments. The assay could detect G. catenatum in all ‘blank’ plankton samples that were spiked with five or more cysts. The assay was used to test environmental samples collected from the Derwent river estuary, Tasmania. Based on the results we conclude that the assay may be utilized in large scale screening of environmental and ballast water samples.     

Impacts of space,local environment and habitat connectivity on macrophyte communities in conservation lakes

Aim  To assess the relative impacts of spatial, local environmental and habitat connectivity on the structure of aquatic macrophyte communities in lakes designated for their conservation value. Location  Selected lakes of conservation importance all over Scotland, representing a wide variety of lake habitat types and associated macrophyte communities. Methods  Local environmental variables and species occurrence were measured in the field. Spatial variables were generated using principal coordinates of neighbour matrices (PCNM) analysis. Connectivity between each lake and its neighbours was defined as either (i) all lakes within a radius of 5, 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100 km; (ii) all lakes in same river system; or (iii) all lakes in the same catchment and upstream of the lake. Using variance partitioning within canonical correspondence analysis, the relative impact of E = local environment, S = space and C = lake connectivity was compared on submerged (n = 119 lakes) and emergent (n = 96 lakes) macrophyte assemblages. Results  Local environmental conditions, such as total phosphorus, alkalinity/conductivity and the presence of invasive species, as well as spatial gradients were key drivers of observed variation in macrophyte communities; e.g., for submerged macrophytes, a combination of local to moderate factors relating to water chemistry and broad‐scale gradients reflecting elevation and climate are important. Spatially structured environmental variables explained a large portion of observed variation. Main conclusions  Our findings confirmed the need to manage local environmental pressures such as eutrophication, but suggested that the traditional catchment approach was insufficient. The spatial aggregation of environmental and connectivity factors indicated that a landscape scale approach should be used in lake management to augment the risk assessment to conservation species from the deterioration of suitable lake sites over broad biogeographic areas.     

The Ups and Downs of Life on the Edge: The Influence of Water Level Fluctuations on Biomass Allocation in two Contrasting Aquatic Plants

Plant communities at wetland edges typically exhibit strong zonation along water depth gradients, although community structure is not as simple as this common observation may suggest. Water levels fluctuate at many temporal scales and in varied patterns. Understanding of how water regime controls plant community structure requires information on how individual species are affected by water regime. The allocation of biomass to roots, tillers, stolons and inflorescences was measured over 16 weeks in two species of aquatic plants with contrasting life histories. Juncus articulatus L. produces large numbers of small seeds while Glyceria australis C. E. Hubb produces small numbers of large seeds. Both species also reproduce vegetatively. Changes in biomass allocation were measured in response to duration, frequency and amplitude of water level fluctuations. The fluctuations in water level were achieved by suspending plants in pots from chains and raising and lowering the pots in and out of water in replicate tanks. There were complex responses to water regime components. As is common to many emergents, both species increased allocation to above ground vegetative structures in response to increasing water depth. Differences between the species in overall patterns of allocation reflected differences in life history. Juncus articulatus showed greater overall biomass production and greater proportional resource allocation to inflorescences than Glyceria australis. There were other differences in response to components of water regime that distinguished the species, mainly in allocation to reproduction in response to the range of depths (amplitude) and extended dry periods. These different functional responses to aspects of water level fluctuations indicate it may be possible to manipulate species composition if water levels are controllable. The most important characteristics of water regime were threshold events such as extremes of depth and dry periods. These may not be captured in measures of water regime such as average water levels.     

Vegetation, climate and palaeoaltitude reconstructions of the Eastern Alps during the Miocene based on pollen records from Austria, Central Europe

Aim To reconstruct the flora, vegetation, climate and palaeoaltitude during the Miocene (23.03–5.33 Ma) in Central Europe. Location Six outcrop sections located in different basins of the Central Paratethys in Austria. Methods Pollen analysis was used for the reconstruction of the vegetation and climate. The altitude of the Eastern Alps that are adjacent to the Alpine Foreland and Vienna basins has been estimated using a new quantification method based on pollen data. This method uses biogeographical and climatological criteria such as the composition of the modern vegetation belts in the European mountains and Miocene annual temperature estimates obtained from fossil pollen data. Results Pollen changes from Early to Late Miocene have been observed. The vegetation during the Burdigalian and Langhian (20.43–13.65 Ma) was dominated by thermophilous elements such as evergreen trees, typical of a present‐day evergreen rain forest at low altitudes (i.e. south‐eastern China). During the Serravallian and Tortonian (13.65–7.25 Ma) several thermophilous elements strongly decreased, and some disappeared from the Central European region. This kind of vegetation was progressively substituted by one enriched in deciduous and mesothermic plants. Middle‐altitude (Cathaya, Cedrus and Tsuga) and high‐altitude (Abies and Picea) conifers increased considerably during the Langhian and later on during the Serravallian and Tortonian. Main conclusions Pollen changes are related to climatic changes and to the uplift of the Alpine massifs. The vegetation during the Burdigalian and Langhian reflects the Miocene climatic optimum. The decrease in thermophilous plants during the Serravallian and Tortonian can be interpreted as a climatic cooling and can be correlated with global and regional climatic changes. This study shows that the palaeoaltitude of the eastern part of the Eastern Alps during the Burdigalian was not high enough for Abies and Picea to form a forest. Therefore, we inferred that the summits of most of the mountains would have been less than 1800 m. The substantial increase of middle‐ and high‐altitude conifers in the pollen spectra suggests that the uplift rate increased during the Langhian in this region. Based on higher palaeoaltitude estimations for the pollen floras from the studied sections of Austria, we infer that the uplift of the easternmost part of the Alpine chain continued during the Serravallian and Tortonian.     

The roles of age,parentage and environment on bacterial and algal endosymbiont communities in Acropora corals

The bacterial and microalgal endosymbiont (Symbiodiniaceae spp.) communities associated with corals have important roles in their health and resilience, yet little is known about the factors driving their succession during early coral life stages. Using 16S rRNA gene and ITS2 metabarcoding, we compared these communities in four Acropora coral species and their hybrids obtained from two laboratory crosses (Acropora tenuis × Acropora loripes and Acropora sarmentosa × Acropora florida) across the parental, recruit (7 months old) and juvenile (2 years old) life stages. We tested whether microbiomes differed between (a) life stages, (b) hybrids and purebreds, and (c) treatment conditions (ambient/elevated temperature and pCO₂). Microbial communities of early life stage corals were highly diverse, lacked host specificity and were primarily determined by treatment conditions. Over time, a winnowing process occurred, and distinct microbial communities developed between the two species pair crosses by 2 years of age, irrespective of hybrid or purebred status. These findings suggest that the microbial communities of corals have a period of flexibility prior to adulthood, which can be valuable to future research aimed at the manipulation of coral microbial communities.     

Effects of algal canopy clearance on plant, fish and macroinvertebrate communities on eastern Tasmanian reefs

Changes in assemblages of plants, macroinvertebrates and fishes on three eastern Tasmanian reefs were monitored over 12 months in replicated control blocks and adjacent 10×12-m blocks cleared of fucoid, laminarian and dictyotalean algae. Removal of canopy-forming plants produced less change to biotic assemblages than reported in studies elsewhere, with the magnitude of change for fish and invertebrate taxa lower than variation between sites and comparable to variation between months.The introduced annual kelp Undaria pinnatifida exhibited the only pronounced response to canopy removal amongst algal taxa, with a fivefold increase in cleared blocks compared to control blocks. Marine reserves are suggested to assist reef communities resist invasion by U. pinnatifida, through an indirect mechanism involving increased predation pressure on sea urchins and reduced formation of urchin barrens that are amenable to U. pinnatifida propagation.Large invertebrates were more associated with turfing algae or the reef substratum than the macroalgal canopy. The herbivorous sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma and abalone Haliotis ruber showed the strongest response to clearing amongst common macroinvertebrate species, with a halving of population numbers. Observed densities of the common monacanthid fish Acanthaluteres vittiger also declined by about 50%. The relatively high level of resistance shown by eastern Tasmanian reef biota to patch disturbance was attributed largely to high diversity and biomass of turfing macroalgae damping effects of canopy clearance.     

Observations on the ultrastructure of the flagella and periplast in the Cryptophyceae

The flagella in Cryptomonas ovata Ehrenberg and two other un-named strains of Cryptomonas both bear stiff hairs with fine distal filaments of the same type as those found in the Xanthophyceae, the Chrysophyceae sensu stricto, the Phaeophyceae, the Bacillariophyceae, the Eustigmatophyceae and the Oomycetes. On the longer of the two flagella the hairs are 2·5 µm long and in two opposite rows whereas on the shorter flagellum they measure only 1 µm, are arranged in a single row and are more closely spaced. The long flagellum also bears a characteristic lateral swelling with a tuft of hairs of the same type as on the remainder of the flagellum, at approximately the level at which it emerges from the gullet. The hairs on the flagella of Hemiselmis rufescens Parke are distributed in a similar manner to those in Cryptomonas but they are more flexible and the swelling and tuft of hairs appear to be absent from the long flagellum. Hairs are apparently absent from the short flagellum of Chroomonas sp. The periplast in Cryptomonas ovata shows a hexagonal pattern in surface view and in sections of all three Cryptomonas strains appears as a typical plasmalemma underlain by a discontinuous layer of electron-dense material with variable substructure. The distribution of flagellar hairs and the structure of the periplast appear to be characters unique to the Cryptophyceae and these features emphasise the isolated position of this class of algae.     

Influence of tree age, tree size and crown structure on lichen communities in mature Alpine spruce forests

Testing the relations between tree parameters and the richness and composition of lichen communities in near-natural stands could be a first step to gather information for forest managers interested in conservation and in biodiversity assessment and monitoring. This work aims at evaluating the influence of tree age and age-related parameters on tree-level richness and community composition of lichens on spruce in an Alpine forest. The lichen survey was carried out in four sites used for long-term monitoring. In each site, tree age, diameter at breast height, tree height, the first branch height, and crown projection area were measured for each tree. Trees were stratified into three age classes: (1) <100 years old, immature trees usually not suitable for felling, (2) 100–200 years old, mature trees suitable for felling, and (3) >200 years old, over-mature trees normally rare or absent in managed stands. In each site, seven trees in each age class were selected randomly. Tree age and related parameters proved to influence both tree-level species richness and composition of lichen communities. Species richness increased with tree age and related parameters indicative of tree size. This relation could be interpreted as the result of different joint effects of age per se and tree size with its area-effect. Species turnover is also suspected to improve species richness on over-mature trees. Similarly to species richness, tree-level species composition can be partially explained by tree-related parameters. Species composition changed from young to old trees, several lichens being associated with over-mature trees. This pool of species, including nationally rare lichens, represents a community which is probably poorly developed in managed forests. In accordance to the general aims of near-to-nature forestry, the presence of over-mature trees should be enhanced in the future forest landscape of the Alps especially in protected areas and Natura 2,000 sites, where conservation purposes are explicitly included in the management guidelines.     

Pigment and lipid compositions of algal and bacterial communities in Ace Lake,Vestfold Hills,Antarctica

The compositions of carotenoids, chlorophylls and lipids at four depths in Ace Lake have been determined as a means of studying the vertical zonation of species in the lake and for comparison with the lipids found in the bottom sediments. The four major species of phytoplankton found in the lake were identified by electron microscopy. The most abundant phytoplankter was Pyramimonas gelidicola McFadden (Chlorophyta, Prasinophyceae) which occurred in greatest numbers at 10 m, the base of the oxylimnion. The pigments and lipids at this depth were mainly derived from this alga. At 11 m (the top of the anoxylimnion) only traces of lipids and pigments attributable to P. gelidicola were found, indicating only limited settling of algal cells through to the anoxylimnion, at least in summer. The pigments at 11 m were dominated by bacteriochlorophylls c derived from green photosynthetic bacteria Chlorobium spp. These pigments were also abundant at 23 m suggesting the presence of intact bacterial cells which had settled out from higher in the water column. Major non-polar lipid classes in the sediments included sterols, alcohols, hydrocarbons and an unusual suite of very long-chain unsaturated ketones and esters which have not previously been reported from antarctic environments. Several novel compounds, not found previously in either sediments or organisms, are reported. These include tri- and tetra-unsaturated straight-chain C₃₉ methyl ketones and C₄₀ ethyl ketones and the methyl ester of a tetra-unsaturated straight-chain C₃₆ fatty acid. The distributions of lipids in the sediment were markedly different from those in the water column indicating extensive bacterial degradation and recycling of labile lipids.     

Diet,food preference,and algal availability for fishes and crabs on intertidal reef communities in southern California

Synopsis Herbivory by wide-ranging fishes is common over tropical reefs, but rare in temperate latitudes where the effects of herbivorous fishes are thought to be minimal. Along the west coast of North America, herbivory by fishes on nearshore reefs is largely restricted to a few members of the Kyphosidae, distributed south of Pt. Conception. This paper presents information on natural diets and results from feeding choice experiments for two abundant kyphosids from intertidal habitats in San Diego, California —Girella nigricans andHermosilla azurea, and similar data for the lined shore crab,Pachygrapsus crassipes, which also forages over intertidal reefs. These results are compared with the availability of algae in intertidal habitats measured during summer and winter, on both disturbed and undisturbed habitats. The diets of juveniles ofG. nigricans andH. azurea collected from nearshore habitats were dominated by animal prey (mainly amphipods), but adults of these fishes, andP. crassipes, consumed algae nearly exclusively, with 26, 10, and 14 taxa of algae identified fromG. nigricans, H. azurea, andP. crassipes, respectively. Algae with sheet-like morphologies (e.g.Ulva sp.,Enteromorpha sp., members of the Delesseriaceae) were the principal algae in the diets of the fishes, and calcareous algae (e.g.Corallina sp.,Lithothrix aspergillum) and sheet-like algae (Enteromorpha sp.) comprised the greatest identifiable portion of the shore crab's diet. Feeding choice experiments indicated that the fishes preferred filamentous algae (e.g.Centroceras clavulatum, Polysiphonia sp.,Chondria californica) and sheet-like algae (e.g.Enteromorpha sp.,Ulva sp.,Cryptopleura crispa) over other algal morphologies, whereas the shore crab chose jointed calcareous algae (e.g.Lithothrix aspergillum, Corallina vancouveriensis, Jania sp.) most frequently. The diets and preferences for algae by the fishes were generally most similar to the assemblage of algae available in early successional (disturbed) habitats during summer when sheet-like and filamentous algae are abundant. The shore crab exhibited the opposite trend with a diet more similar to late successional (undisturbed) habitats.     

Mono- and digalactosyldiacylglycerol composition of dinoflagellates. III. Four cold-adapted,peridinin-containing taxa and the presence of trigalactosyldiacylglycerol as an additional glycolipid

Despite their importance in marine and freshwater microalgal assemblages, cold-adapted dinoflagellates have been the subject of few comprehensive lipid studies, particularly with respect to those lipids that comprise plastid membranes. In an effort to understand the differences between warm- and cold-adapted dinoflagellate glycolipid composition, four peridinin-containing, cold-adapted dinoflagellates were surveyed for intact forms of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), two common plastid lipids, using positive-ion electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) and electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS). It was determined that the dominant forms of MGDG and DGDG in these cold-adapted, peridinin-containing dinoflagellates possessed C₁₈ fatty acids and did not, with the exception of a 20:5/18:5 form of DGDG in a cold-adapted Gymnodinium sp. from the Baltic Sea, have C₂₀ fatty acids. This finding is in contrast to an earlier study of 35 peridinin-containing, warm-adapted dinoflagellates, which discovered a cluster dominated by C₁₈ fatty acids and a cluster dominated by both C₂₀ and C₁₈ fatty acids. The key difference in MGDG and DGDG production between the former group and the cold-adapted dinoflagellates examined in this study is that the cold-adapted species’ DGDG fatty acids were less saturated. Each cold-adapted dinoflagellate possessed both 18:5/18:5 and 18:5/18:4 DGDG, while most of the warm-adapted dinoflagellates contained only 18:5/18:4 DGDG. This survey also revealed the presence of a putative 18:1/14:0 trigalactosyldiacylglycerol (TGDG) as a dominant glycolipid in Gymnodinium sp. TGDG, previously unreported in dinoflagellates, was also discovered in Gymnodinium sp. in the forms of 18:1/16:0 and 18:1/18:1 TGDG, as minor lipids. Since the fatty acids associated with TGDG are not those found with dominant forms of MGDG or DGDG, TGDG may be produced by a different biosynthetic pathway.     

Growth of Daphnia longispina L. in a polyhumic lake under various availabilities of algal,bacterial and detrital food

The availability and importance of food sources for growth of Daphnia longispina L. from a highly coloured fishless lake with anoxic hypolimnion were assessed by combining in situ and laboratory experiments. In in situ experiments populations were enclosed in tubes with natural temperature stratification and with or without anoxic hypolimnion. In the laboratory experiments the importance of food source (littoral zone vs pelagic epilimnion) was assessed by enclosing moss thalli and a natural zooplankton population in a large-scale flow-through system supplying food for experimental Daphnia. Growth of juveniles of Daphnia in epilimnetic water was determined in batch culture experiments and the importance of increasing concentrations of bacteria and algae for their growth and development was investigated with a small-scale flow-through system. Access to the anoxic hypolimnion enhanced the growth of Daphnia by 23–24%. Growth rates in the tubes with anoxic hypolimnion were 0.36 and 0.16 d^–1 in July and August respectively. In tubes without anoxia the corresponding values were 0.29 and 0.13. In batch-cultures the highest growth rate determined was 0.16 and the overall rates were lower than in in situ experiments. In batch culture Daphnia was able to grow in darkness for 10 days with a rate of 0.16. In the large-scale flow-through system Daphnia population fed with littoral water reproduced well despite the low concentration of algae and increased its number by a factor of c. 32 in 10 days. However, the animals were small and net production of Daphnia population thus lower under the littoral influence than in the control treatment. Population could survive and grew slowly on pelagial water processed by a natural zooplankton community and with very little algae left. It is thus possible that bacteria serve as a life-support system enabling the population survival over periods of algal shortage. Small-scale flow-through experiments revealed that Daphnia longispina is able to mature and reproduce on a bacterial diet if the food concentration is high enough and Daphnia on bacterial food could achieve growth rates similar to those on an algal diet. The threshold food level for Daphnia longispina was estimated to be c. 18.5 g C 1^–1. Detrital material is of limited value in nutrition of Daphnia even in a lake where more than 75% of carbon is bound in particulate detritus.     

Processes regulating the community composition and relative abundance of taxa in the diatom communities of the Malili Lakes, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia

Although high levels of endemism have been reported on Sulawesi Island for almost 150 years, the aquatic systems of the island have received little attention until recently. The diatoms of the ancient Malili Lakes, located on central Sulawesi, exhibit levels of endemism unequaled elsewhere in the world. Interestingly, the diatom community of the lakes is taxonomically impoverished, and the entire order Centrales is conspicuous by its absence. In this article we review the mechanisms contributing to the development and maintenance of community composition and relative abundance of taxa within the system, at within-lake and system-wide scales. Our findings demonstrate that stochastic processes related to biogeography and colonization have had little influence on the diatom flora of the lakes, and deterministic processes related to competition, selection, speciation, and adaptive radiation, functioning on very small spatial scales, have contributed greatly to the diversity, community structure, and endemism of the system.     

Response of bacterial communities to cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms in Lake Taihu,China

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms are prevalent around the world, influencing aquatic organisms and altering the physico-chemical properties in freshwater systems. However, the response of bacterial communities to toxic cyanobacterial blooms and associated microcystins (MC) remain poorly understood even though global concentrations of MC have increased dramatically in the past few decades. To address this issue, the dynamics of bacterial community composition (BCC) in the water column and how BCC is influenced by both harmful cyanobacterial blooms and environmental factors were investigated on a monthly basis from August 2013 to July 2014 in Lake Taihu, China. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) revealed that seasonal variation in BCC was significant, and that the succession of BCC greatly depends on changes in environmental conditions. Redundancy analysis (RDA) results showed that the overall variation of BCC was explained mainly by dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N), and Microcystis. The alpha biodiversity of the bacterial community was different among months with the highest diversity in February and the lowest diversity in October. Furthermore, significant negative relationships were found between alpha biodiversity indices and Microcystis abundance as well as with intracellular MC concentrations, indicating that Microcystis and associated MC may influence the bacterial community structure by reducing its biodiversity. This study shows that potential associations exist between toxic cyanobacterial blooms and bacterial communities but more investigations are needed to obtain a mechanistic understanding of their complex relationships.