Short-term interactions between phytoplankton and intertidal seagrass vegetation in a coastal lagoon (Bassin d'Arcachon, SW France)
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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| Date | 2012-12 | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Author(s) | de Wit Rutger1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, Troussellier Marc2, 2, Courties Claude3, 3, Buffan-Dubau Evelyne3, 3, 4, 4, Lemaire Emmanuelle4, 4 | ||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ Montpellier I, Ecol Syst Marins Cotiers Ecosym UMR 5119, Univ Montpellier 2, CNRS,IRD,Ifremer, F-34095 Montpellier 05, France. 2 : CNRS, UMR Environm & Palecoenvironm Ocean & Cotiers 580, F-33120 Arcachon, France. 3 : Univ Paris 06, Observat Oceanol, UMS 2348, CNRS, F-66651 Banyuls Sur Mer, France. 4 : Univ Bordeaux 1, F-33120 Arcachon, France. |
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| Source | Hydrobiologia (0018-8158) (Springer), 2012-12 , Vol. 699 , N. 1 , P. 55-68 | ||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1007/s10750-012-1153-6 | ||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Competition, Allelopathy, Zostera noltii, Sediment, Intertidal vegetation, Flow cytometry, Photosynthetic pigments | ||||||||||||
| Abstract | We experimentally simulated the temporality of the interactions between intertidal seagrasses and phytoplankton in the context of nutrient enrichment from continental origin. Phytoplankton development was retarded after 1-day exposure to intertidal Zostera noltii Hornemann vegetation samples, with respect to control treatments. This was not explained by resource competition and we hypothesized a direct interference between seagrass leaves and phytoplankton. After separation from the vegetation in 5-day incubations, the final yield of large phytoplankton, mainly diatoms and haptophytes, was determined by nutrient loading. In contrast, Synechococcus-like cells (SYN), phototrophic picoeukaryotes and nanophytoplankton decreased after day 3, most likely due to grazing control. A second experiment was designed to test the pelagos-benthos coupling in more detail. Therefore, we compared the effect of aboveground biomass of Z. noltii alone with the effect of the entire vegetation including the sediment. This experiment did not provide unequivocal support for our initial hypothesis on direct interference competition between Z. noltii leaves and phytoplankton. Surprisingly, we found a spectacular decrease of SYN, phototrophic picoeukaryotes and nanophytoplankton in treatments with Z. noltii vegetation including the sediment, which could be attributed to benthic grazing by suspension feeders. | ||||||||||||
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