An indoor pelagic mesocosm facility to simulate multiple water-column characteristics

Authors

Ulf Båmstedt, Henrik Larsson

Mesocosms are important research tools in aquatic ecology because they close the gap between laboratory studies at the individual or lower organization level and field studies at the population and ecosystem level. However, most mesocosm studies regarding the pelagic environment do not consider the effects of physical factors like water-column stratification, turbulence and mixing. Neglecting such factors might bias the results compared to the natural system. Using a unique indoor mesocosm facility, we present results on how different water-column stratifications can be made and how they act as barriers for exchange between water layers. Turbulent mixing, simulated by vertically rotating incubation vessels, is shown to be of high importance for primary production, generating up to nine times higher production in humus-rich water than incubation vessels at fixed depths. Convective stirring is shown to be an attractive method for generating different turbulence conditions, and different temperature settings can be used to get turnover times from 84 h or more down to 17 min for a 5-m water parcel. We also demonstrate how an anoxic bottom layer can be achieved by stimulating heterotrophic bacteria through addition of bioavailable organic carbon.

Effect of suspended clay on growth rates of the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii

Authors

Brasil, Jandeson; Huszar, Vera L.M.; Attayde, José L.; Marinho, Marcelo M.; Van Oosterhout, Frank; Lürling, Miquel

Recent studies have shown that sediment resuspension may lead to the collapse of C. raciborskii dominance, which suggests that clay might have a negative effect on the growth of C. raciborskii. To test the hypothesis that suspended clay creates an unfavorable environment for growth of C. raciborskii, we exposed four different strains of this species to various concentrations of the clays kaolinite and bentonite, and monitored the biomass of each strain over the course of 1-week microcosm experiments. Contrary to our hypothesis, C. raciborskii was able to grow in suspensions of both clays. While kaolinite clay caused higher turbidity than bentonite, the growth rates of all four C. raciborskii strains were higher in kaolinite than in bentonite suspensions. C. raciborskii could still grow in clay concentrations that cause turbidity far above the levels found in natural lakes. Our study suggests that the reported collapse of C. raciborskii blooms with high concentrations of suspended sediments in tropical shallow lakes is probably not caused by the effects of suspended clay on light attenuation, but rather is a consequence of cell sinking or, possibly a response to disturbance events responsible for sediment suspension.

Influence of vertical mixing on light-dependency of phytoplankton growth

Authors

Jan Köhler, Lan Wang, Alexis Guislain, Tom Shatwell

Phytoplankton growth depends not only on mean intensity but also on the dynamics of the light supply. In surface mixed layers, phytoplankton may rapidly move between strong light and almost darkness. The nonlinear light-dependency of growth may differ between constant and fluctuating light because of the different frequency distribution of light and/or acclimation processes. The present study compares for the first time light-dependency of photosynthesis and growth of phytoplankton communities in situ under defined mixing conditions and at fixed depths. Maximum growth rates per day were not significantly different, but the growth efficiency was much higher under constant light than under fluctuating light of sub-saturating daily irradiance. Phytoplankton incubated under fluctuating light needed about three times higher mean daily irradiances to balance photosynthesis and losses than under constant light. The difference in growth efficiency was mostly caused by the different frequency distribution of underwater light, as was estimated by a photosynthesis model of sufficient temporal resolution. The present study indicates a considerable overestimation of phytoplankton growth at sub-saturating light in well-mixed water layers by the common growth measurements under constant light. This implies an underestimation of the compensation light intensities and respective overestimations of the critical mixing depths.

Induced change in Arthrospira sp. (Spirulina) intracellular and extracellular metabolites using multifactor stress combination approach

Authors

Imene Chentir, Amel Doumandji, Jihene Ammar, Fatma Zili, Mourad Jridi, Giorgos Markou, Hatem Ben Ouada

The interactive effects of light intensity, NaCl, nitrogen, and phosphorus on intracellular biomass content and extracellular polymeric substance production were assessed for Arthrospira sp. (Spirulina) in a two-phase culture process using principal component analysis and central composite face design. Under high light intensity (120 μmol photons m−2 s−1) and low NaCl (1 gL−1), NaNO3, and K2HPO4 (0.5 g L−1), the carbohydrate content was maximized to 26.61%. Interaction of both K2HPO4 (1.6 gL−1) and NaCl (1.19 gL−1) with low NaNO3 (0.5 gL−1) achieved the maximum content of lipids (15.62%), while high NaCl (40 gL−1), K2HPO4, and NaNO3 (4.5 gL−1) enhanced mainly total carotenoids (0.85%). Conversely, under low light intensity of 10 μmol photons m−2 s−1 combined with 11.76 gL−1 of NaCl, 0.5 gL−1 of NaNO3, and 2.68 gL−1 of K2HPO4, the phycobiliprotein content reached its highest level (16.09%). The maximum extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production (0.902 gg−1 DW) was triggered under moderate light of 57.25 μmol photons m−2 s−1 and interaction of high NaCl (40 gL−1) and K2HPO4 (4.5 gL−1) with low NaNO3 (0.5 gL−1). The maximization ratios of intracellular biomass content in terms of carbohydrate, lipid, total carotenoid, phycobiliprotein, and EPS production were 3.55-, 1.73-, 9.55-, 2.92-, and 1.46-fold, respectively, greater than those obtained at optimal growth conditions. This study demonstrated that the multiple stress factors applied to the adopted two-phase culture process could be a promising strategy to produce biomass enriched in various high-value compound.

Patterns and drivers of deep chlorophyll maxima structure in 100 lakes: The relative importance of light and thermal stratification

Authors

Taylor H. Leach, Beatrix E. Beisner, Cayelan C. Carey, Patricia Pernica, Kevin C. Rose, Yannick Huot, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Isabelle Domaizon, Hans-Peter Grossart, Bastiaan W. Ibelings, Stéphan Jacquet, Patrick T. Kelly, James A. Rusak, Jason D. Stockwell, Dietmar Straile, Piet Verburg

The vertical distribution of chlorophyll in stratified lakes and reservoirs frequently exhibits a maximum peak deep in the water column, referred to as the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). DCMs are ecologically important hot spots of primary production and nutrient cycling, and their location can determine vertical habitat gradients for primary consumers. Consequently, the drivers of DCM structure regulate many characteristics of aquatic food webs and biogeochemistry. Previous studies have identified light and thermal stratification as important drivers of summer DCM depth, but their relative importance across a broad range of lakes is not well resolved. We analyzed profiles of chlorophyll fluorescence, temperature, and light during summer stratification from 100 lakes in the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) and quantified two characteristics of DCM structure: depth and thickness. While DCMs do form in oligotrophic lakes, we found that they can also form in eutrophic to dystrophic lakes. Using a random forest algorithm, we assessed the relative importance of variables associated with light attenuation vs. thermal stratification for predicting DCM structure in lakes that spanned broad gradients of morphometry and transparency. Our analyses revealed that light attenuation was a more important predictor of DCM depth than thermal stratification and that DCMs deepen with increasing lake clarity. DCM thickness was best predicted by lake size with larger lakes having thicker DCMs. Additionally, our analysis demonstrates that the relative importance of light and thermal stratification on DCM structure is not uniform across a diversity of lake types.