Physiological and behavioral responses of phytoplankton communities to nutrient availability in a disturbed Mediterranean coastal lagoon
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2019-04 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Leruste A.1, 2, Pasqualini V.1, Garrido M.1, 3, Malet Nathalie4, de Wit R.2, Bec Beatrice2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : UMR SPE CNRS/UMS Stella Mare CNRS, Université de Corse, 20250, Corte, France 2 : MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation MARBEC, Université de Montpellier, IRD, Ifremer, CNRS. Bât. 24, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier cedex 5, France 3 : Environmental Agency of Corsica, 7 Avenue Jean Nicoli, 20250, Corte, France 4 : Ifremer, Laboratoire Environment Resources Provence-Azur-Corse (LER/PAC), Station de Bastia, Z.I. Furiani, Immeuble Agostini, 20600, Bastia, France |
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Source | Estuarine Coastal And Shelf Science (0272-7714) (Elsevier BV), 2019-04 , Vol. 219 , P. 176-188 | ||||||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1016/j.ecss.2019.02.014 | ||||||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | Growth rate, Dilution experiment, Eutrophication, Functional traits | ||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Short-term bioassays were conducted in Biguglia lagoon (Corsica) to study the physiological and behavioral responses of phytoplankton to N- and P-availability. Natural communities were collected in two stations representative of the two sub-basins, at three periods with contrasting environmental characteristics to address the impact of seasonal variability. These samples were separately enriched with a full N and P enrichment, and with enrichments minus N or minus P. Phytoplankton size structuration, diversity, and growth of the total phytoplankton, the micro-, nano- and ultraphytoplankton were evaluated using spectrofluorimetry, and optical microscopy. Results showed that the communities were fueled by NO3− in the wet periods (autumn and spring) and NH4+ in summer. The phytoplankton communities displayed highest cell size in autumn, with high abundances of nanoflagellates, and smallest cell size in summer with a large dominance of phycocyanin-rich picocyanobacteria. Blooms of dinoflagellates also occurred during the wet periods, coinciding with high N:P ratios. The full enrichment has not stimulated phytoplankton growth in autumn, suggesting the importance of other controlling factors such as light, a possible NH4+ inhibition or the use of mixotrophic abilities. In spring, communities have displayed single P-limitation in the northern basin and different N and P co-limitations in the southern basin. In summer, the full enrichment consistently stimulated the growth of all cell sizes. The communities showed high N and P co-limitations, which is consistent with growing observations in aquatic ecosystems, and reflects the different functional responses of phytoplankton communities to the nutrient availability. |
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