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Ecoenzyme activity ratios reveal interactive effects of nutrient inputs and UVR in a Mediterranean high-mountain lake

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Abstract

To understand how atmospheric dust deposition and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can affect remote, freshwater ecosystems through changes in their microbial metabolism, it is important to have tools that allow us detecting alterations and anticipating potential shifts in the functioning of microbial communities. Ecoenzyme activities (EA) are easy to measure and their ratios can be used to assess system microbial metabolism of freshwater bodies, thus evaluating the effects of global change stressors. We carried out an in situ full factorial experiment to determine how the interaction between the addition of C and P, and UVR affect the microbial metabolism of a Mediterranean high-mountain lake. Overall, activities of five ecoenzymes involved in the degradation of C-compounds and in the acquisition of N and P revealed that, under natural conditions, the growth of heterotrophic prokaryotes was dependent on organic compounds released by algae, which is consistent with a higher constraint of bacterial carbon production by C than by P or N, as suggested by EA ratios. Accordingly, the addition of a labile C source did not lead to any significant response of microbial communities, but the addition of P provoked a clear change in the microbial metabolism of the lake, promoting the growth of phytoplankton and leading heterotrophic prokaryotes to be more constrained by P, and to a lesser extent by N, in relation to C. UVR played a secondary role, probably because microbial communities inhabiting high-mountain lakes possess several evolutionary adaptations to high UVR levels. Changes in the microbial metabolism of our model lake under different scenarios of nutrient inputs and UVR can therefore be evaluated by EA ratios.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER (CGL2011-23681 and CGL2015-67682-R), and by the Junta de Andalucía (Grant Number Excelencia P09-RNM-5376). We thank Robert L. Sinsabaugh, James J. Elser and Jaroslav Vrba for comments and suggestions that helped a lot to improve the quality of the manuscript. The authors are indebted to Javier Seoane Pinilla for his assistance with the statistical analyses and to Daniel W. Roush for his assistance with the English edition of the manucript.

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  1. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Sergio Velasco Ayuso, Juan Manuel Medina-Sánchez & Presentación Carrillo

  2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Sergio Velasco Ayuso & René Guénon

  3. Instituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Presentación Carrillo

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  1. Sergio Velasco Ayuso
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Velasco Ayuso, S., Medina-Sánchez, J.M., Guénon, R. et al. Ecoenzyme activity ratios reveal interactive effects of nutrient inputs and UVR in a Mediterranean high-mountain lake. Biogeochemistry 132, 71–85 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0288-3

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