Changes in the plankton community following introduction of filter-feeding planktivorous fish

1. We conducted enclosure experiments in a shallow eutrophic lake, in which a biomass gradient of the filter-feeding planktivore, silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Valenciennes, was created, and subsequent community changes in both zooplankton and phytoplankton were examined. 2. During a summer experiment, a bloom of Anabaena flos-aquae developed (approximate to 8000 cells mL(-1)) solely in an enclosure without silver carp. Concurrent with, or slightly preceding the Anabaena bloom, the number of rotifer species and their abundance increased from seven to twelve species (1700-14 400 organisms L-1) after the bloom in this fish-free enclosure. Protozoans and bacteria were generally insensitive to the gradient of silver carp biomass. 3. During an autumn experiment, on the other hand, large herbivorous crustaceans were more efficient than silver carp in suppressing the algae, partly because the lower water temperature (approximate to 24 degrees C) inhibited active feeding of this warm-water fish and also formation of algal colonies. Heterotrophic nanoflagellate and bacterial densities were also influenced negatively by the crustaceans. 4. Correspondence analysis (CA) was applied to the weekly community data of zooplankton and phytoplankton. A major effect detected in the zooplankton community was the presence/absence of silver carp rather than the biomass of silver carp, whereas that in the phytoplankton community was the fish biomass before the Anabaena bloom, but shifted to the presence/absence of the fish after the bloom.

Changes in the structure of a zooplankton community during a Ceratium (dinoflagellate) bloom in a eutrophic fishless pond

The community structure of zooplankton was studied in a eutrophic, fishless Japanese pond. The ecosystem was dominated by a dinoflagellate, Ceratium hirundinella, two filter-feeding cladocerans, Daphnia rosea and Ceriodaphnia reticulata, and an invertebrate predator, the dipteran Chaoborus flavicans. The midsummer zooplankton community showed a large change in species composition (the Daphnia population crashed) when a heavy Ceratium bloom occurred. It is shown that (i) the rapid density decline of D.rosea in mid-May was mainly caused by a shortage of edible phytoplankton, which was facilitated by the rapid increase in C.hirundinella abundance; (ii) the low density of D.rosea in June-July was considered to be mainly caused by the blooming of Ceratium hirundinella (which may inhibit the feeding process of D.rosea), while predation by C.flavicans larvae, the changing temperature, the interspecific competition and the scarcity of edible algae were not judged to be important; (iii) the high summer biomass of the planktonic C.flavicans larvae was maintained by the bloom of C.hirundinella, because >90% of the crop contents of C.flavicans larvae were C.hirundinella during this period. The present study indicates that the large-sized cells or colonies of phytoplankton are not only inedible by most cladocerans, but the selective effect of the blooming of these algae can also influence the composition and dominance of the zooplankton community, especially for the filter-feeding Cladocera, in a similar way as the selective predation by planktivorous fish. The large-sized phytoplankton can also be an important alternative food for ominivorous invertebrate predators such as Chaoborus larvae, and thus may affect the interactions between these predators and their zooplanktonic prey. In this way, such phytoplankton may play a very important role in regulating the dynamics of the aquatic food web, and become a driving force in shaping the community structure of zooplankton.

Soil microbial community analysis using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-fingerprinting method that is commonly used for comparative microbial community analysis. The method can be used to analyze communities of bacteria, archaea, fungi, other phylogenetic groups or subgroups, as well as functional genes. The method is rapid, highly reproducible, and often yields a higher number of operational taxonomic units than other, commonly used PCR-fingerprinting methods. Sizing of terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) can now be done using capillary sequencing technology allowing samples contained in 96- or 384-well plates to be sized in an overnight run. Many multivariate statistical approaches have been used to interpret and compare T-RFLP fingerprints derived from different communities. Detrended correspondence analysis and the additive main effects with multiplicative interaction model are particularly useful for revealing trends in T-RFLP data. Due to biases inherent in the method, linking the size of T-RFs derived from complex communities to existing sequence databases to infer their taxonomic position is not very robust. This approach has been used successfully, however, to identify and follow the dynamics of members within very simple or model communities. The T-RFLP approach has been used successfully to analyze the composition of microbial communities in soil, water, marine, and lacustrine sediments, biofilms, feces, in and on plant tissues, and in the digestive tracts of insects and mammals. The T-RFLP method is a user-friendly molecular approach to microbial community analysis that is adding significant information to studies of microbial populations in many environments.

Particle-attached and free-living bacterial communities in a contrasting marine environment: Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong

Diversity of particle-attached and free-living marine bacteria in Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong, and its adjacent coastal and estuarial environments was investigated using DNA fingerprinting and clone library analysis. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of 16S rRNA genes showed that bacterial communities in three stations of Victoria Harbor were similar, but differed from those in adjacent coastal and estuarine stations. Particle-attached and free-living bacterial community composition differed in the Victoria Harbor area. DNA sequencing of 28 bands from DGGE gel showed Alphaproteobacteria was the most abundant group, followed by the Bacteroidetes, and other Proteobacteria. Bacterial species richness (number of DGGE bands) differed among stations and populations (particle-attached and free-living; bottom and surface). BIOENV analysis indicated that the concentrations of suspended solids were the major contributing parameter for the spatial variation of total bacterial community structure. Samples from representative stations were selected for clone library (548 clones) construction and their phylogenetic distributions were similar to those of sequences from DGGE. Approximately 80% of clones were affiliated to Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria. The possible influences of dynamic pollution and hydrological conditions in the Victoria Harbor area on the particle-attached and free-living bacterial community structures were discussed.

Particle-attached and free-living bacterial communities in a contrasting marine environment: Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong

Diversity of particle-attached and free-living marine bacteria in Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong, and its adjacent coastal and estuarial environments was investigated using DNA fingerprinting and clone library analysis. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of 16S rRNA genes showed that bacterial communities in three stations of Victoria Harbor were similar, but differed from those in adjacent coastal and estuarine stations. Particle-attached and free-living bacterial community composition differed in the Victoria Harbor area. DNA sequencing of 28 bands from DGGE gel showed Alphaproteobacteria was the most abundant group, followed by the Bacteroidetes, and other Proteobacteria. Bacterial species richness (number of DGGE bands) differed among stations and populations (particle-attached and free-living; bottom and surface). BIOENV analysis indicated that the concentrations of suspended solids were the major contributing parameter for the spatial variation of total bacterial community structure. Samples from representative stations were selected for clone library (548 clones) construction and their phylogenetic distributions were similar to those of sequences from DGGE. Approximately 80% of clones were affiliated to Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria. The possible influences of dynamic pollution and hydrological conditions in the Victoria Harbor area on the particle-attached and free-living bacterial community structures were discussed.

Characteristics of the microzooplankton community in Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, China

The species composition and abundance of microzooplankton at 10 marine and five coastal stations (Hongdao, Daguhe, Haibohe, Huangdao and Hangxiao) in the Jiaozhou Bay (Qingdao, China) were studied in 2001. The microzooplankton community was found to be dominated by Tintinnopsis beroidea, Tintinnopsis urnula, Tintinnopsis brevicollis and Cvdonellopsis sp. The average abundance of microzooplankton was highly variable among stations. Specifically, the abundance of microzooplankton was higher at inshore stations and lower in the center of the bay (St. 5), bay mouth (St. 9) and outside the bay (St. 10). The highest average annual densities (346 ind./L) was observed at St. 3, while the lowest (55 ind./L) was at St. 10. Two abundance peaks were recorded in May (324 ind./L) and February (300 ind./L). The distribution of microzooplankton in three sampling layers at the 10 stations was relatively homogenous and the abundance decreased slightly as the water depth increased. At coastal stations, the highest average annual density was recorded at Hongdao Station (677 ind./L), followed by Daguhe Station (616 ind./L), Haibohe Station (400 ind./L), Huangdao Station (275 ind./L) and Hangxiao Station (73 ind./L). Furthermore, a 24-h sampling analysis conducted at Hangxiao Station revealed that the microzooplankton assemblages were characterized by a bimodal diel vertical migration pattern, with the highest densities occurring at dusk (154 ind./L), followed by dawn (146 ind./L), noon (93 ind./L) and midnight (77 ind./L). The density of microzooplankton in the Jiaozhou Bay was in the middle range of the densities of temperate coastal waters worldwide.

Effects of increased pCO(2) and temperature on the North Atlantic spring bloom. I. The phytoplankton community and biogeochemical response

The North Atlantic spring bloom is one of the largest annual biological events in the ocean, and is characterized by dominance transitions from siliceous (diatoms) to calcareous (coccolithophores) algal groups. To study the effects of future global change on these phytoplankton and the biogeochemical cycles they mediate, a shipboard continuous culture experiment (Ecostat) was conducted in June 2005 during this transition period. Four treatments were examined: (1) 12 degrees C and 390 ppm CO2 (ambient control), (2) 12 degrees C and 690 ppm CO2 (high pCO(2)) (3) 16 degrees C and 390 ppm CO2 (high temperature), and (4) 16 degrees C and 690 ppm CO2 ('greenhouse'). Nutrient availability in all treatments was designed to reproduce the low silicate conditions typical of this late stage of the bloom. Both elevated pCO(2) and temperature resulted in changes in phytoplankton community structure. Increased temperature promoted whole community photosynthesis and particulate organic carbon (POC) production rates per unit chlorophyll a. Despite much higher coccolithophore abundance in the greenhouse treatment, particulate inorganic carbon production (calcification) was significantly decreased by the combination of increased pCO(2) and temperature. Our experiments suggest that future trends during the bloom could include greatly reduced export of calcium carbonate relative to POC, thus providing a potential negative feedback to atmospheric CO2 concentration. Other trends with potential climate feedback effects include decreased community biogenic silica to POC ratios at higher temperature. These shipboard experiments suggest the need to examine whether future pCO2 and temperature increases on longer decadal timescales will similarly alter the biological and biogeochemical dynamics of the North Atlantic spring bloom.

Onshore-offshore variations of copepod community in northern South China Sea

Copepod communities in onshore and offshore waters show a gradient from primarily near shore to primarily oceanic species. Understanding the transition between these communities is fundamental to determining the range of coastal influence. Copepod communities in the northern South China Sea (nSCS) were studied based on samples collected by vertically towing a net in 10 February-6 March (winter) and 26 August-6 September (summer) of 2004. Calanoida species richness, total copepod abundance, Shannon-Weaver diversity index, and onshore-offshore occurrence of dominant species showed obvious change from onshore to offshore waters. Although the offshore stations had lower abundance than the shelf stations, they had more species and larger diversity index. Abundance of some species (groups) with dominance index > 5% (Calanus sinicus, Euchaeta spp., Temora spp., Paracalanus parvus, and Subeucalanus subtenuis) declined from onshore to offshore waters. Warm water species (Pleuromamma abdominalis, P. gracilis, and P. robusta) occurred in offshore waters in both cruises. Station (q-type) cluster analysis in winter and summer separated copepod community into onshore and offshore communities at similar to 40% level of similarity. The two communities were divided at the position of similar to 100-m isobath. In summer, C. sinicus occurred in the upwelling area east of Hainan Island, indicating the presence of an oversummering stock of this species.

Influence of filtering and biodeposition by the cultured scallop Chlamys farreri on benthic-pelagic coupling in a eutrophic bay in China

In coastal ecosystems, suspension-cultured bivalve filter feeders may exert a strong impact on phytoplankton and other suspended particulate matter and induce strong pelagic-benthic coupling via intense filtering and biodeposition. We designed an in situ method to determine spatial variations in the filtering-biodeposition process by intensively suspension-cultured scallops Chlamys farreri in summer in a eutrophic bay (Sishili Bay, China), using cylindrical biodeposition traps directly suspended from longlines under ambient environmental conditions. Results showed that bivalve filtering-biodeposition could substantially enhance the deposition of total suspended material and the flux of C, N and P to the benthos, indicating that the suspended filter feeders could strongly enhance pelagic-benthic coupling and exert basin-scale impacts in the Sishili Bay ecosystem. The biodeposition rates of 1-yr-old scallops varied markedly among culture sites (33.8 to 133.0 mg dry material ind.(-1) d(-1)), and were positively correlated with seston concentrations. Mean C, N and P biodeposition rates were 4.00, 0.51, 0.11 mg ind.-1 d-1, respectively. The biodeposition rates of 2-yr-old scallops were almost double these values. Sedimentation rates at scallop culture sites averaged 2.46 times that at the reference site. Theoretically, the total water column of the bay could be filtered by the cultured scallops in 12 d, with daily seston removal amounting to 64%. This study indicated that filtering-biodeposition by suspension-cultured scallops could exert long-lasting top-down control on phytoplankton biomass and other suspended material in the Sishili Bay ecosystem. In coastal waters subject to anthropogenic N and P inputs, suspended bivalve aquaculture could be advantageous, not only economically, but also ecologically, by functioning as a biofilter and potentially mitigating eutrophication pressures. Compared with distribution-restricted wild bivalves, suspension-cultured bivalves in deeper coastal bays may be more efficient in processing seston on a basin scale.

Simultaneous enumeration of diatom, protozoa and meiobenthos from marine sediments using Ludox-QPS method

The Ludox-QPS method is a newly developed technique, which combines the Ludox HS 40 density centrifugation and quantitative protargol stain, to enumerate marine ciliates with good taxonomic resolution. We tested the method for simultaneous enumeration of diatoms, protozoa and meiobenthos and compared its extraction efficiency for meiobenthos with that of the routine Ludox-TM centrifugation and a modified protocol using Ludox HS 40. We conducted the evaluation with a sample size of 8.3 ml each from sandy, muddy-sand and muddy sediments collected from the intertidal area of the Yellow Sea in summer 2006 and spring 2007. The Ludox-QPS method not only produced high extraction efficiencies of 97 +/- 1.3% for diatoms and 97.6 +/- 0.8% for ciliates, indicating a reliable enumeration for eukaryotic microbenthos, but also produced excellent extraction efficiencies of on average 97.3% for total meiobenthos, 97.9% for nematodes and 97.8% for copepods from sands, muddy sands and mud. By contrast, the routine Ludox-TM centrifugation obtained only about 74% of total meiobenthos abundance with one extraction cycle, and the modified Ludox HS 40 centrifugation yielded on average 93% of total meiobenthos: 89.4 +/- 2.0% from sands, 93 +/- 4.1% from muddy sands and 97.1 +/- 3.0% from mud. Apart from the sediment type, sample volume was another important factor affecting the extraction efficiency for meiobenthos. The extraction rate was increased to about 96.4% when using the same modified Ludox centrifugation for a 4 ml sediment sample. Besides the excellent extraction efficiency, the Ludox-QPS method obtained higher abundances of meiobenthos, in particular nematodes, than the routine Ludox centrifugation, which frequently resulted in an uncertain loss of small meiobenthos during the sieving process. Statistical analyses demonstrated that there were no significant differences between the meiobenthos communities revealed by the Ludox-QPS method and the modified Ludox HS 40 centrifugation, showing the high efficiency of the Ludox-QPS method for simultaneous enumeration of diatom, protozoa and meiobenthos. Moreover, the comparatively high taxonomic resolution of the method, especially for diatoms and ciliates, makes it feasible to investigate microbial ecology at community level.

Community structure of macrobenthos in coastal water off Rushan, southern Shandong Peninsula, and the relationships with environmental factors

To understand the present actuality of the marine ecosystem in the southern coastal water region of the Shandong Peninsula and the impact of the global change and the human activities to the marine ecosystem of the region, the macrobenthic community structure was researched based on data from 26 sampling stations carried out on four seasonal cruises from December 2006 to November 2007. The data was analyzed using PRIMER 6.0 and SPSS 15.0 software packages. The results showed that 236 macrobenthic species in total were collected from the research region by the field works. Most of the species belong to Polychaeta (76 species), Mollusca (75) and Crustacea (60). Of which, 33 species were common species by the four cruises. The dominant species were different among the four seasons, however, the polychaete species Nephtys oligobranchia and Sternaspis scutata were always dominant in the four seasons. The abundances and biomasses of the macrobenthos from the research region were variable in tire four seasons. The results of CLUSTER and MDS analysis showed that the similarities of macrobenthic structures among the stations were low, most of the similarities were at about 40% of similarity values, only that of two stations were up to 60%. In accordance with the similarity values of the macrobenthic structures, the 26 stations were clustered as six groups at arbitrary similarity level of 30%. The ABC curve indicated that the marcofauna communities in the research region had riot been disturbed distinctly. The results of BIOENV and BVSTEP (Spearman) analysis implied that the concentrations of organic matter in bottom water and heavy metal copper in sediment, water depth and temperature of bottom were the most significant environmental factors to affect the macrobentic community.