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Eco-fingerprinting of the dinoflagellate Borghiella dodgei: experimental evidence of a specific environmental niche

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Abstract

In Lake Tovel, an oligotrophic and weakly stratified lake, the dinoflagellate Borghiella dodgei Moestrup, Hansen et Daugbjerg, showed a peculiar spatial–temporal pattern with highest abundances in the bottom of the shallow side bay (4 m) along with remarkable abundance variations from year to year. We investigated B. dodgei’s growth in laboratory cultures and related results to their implication for bloom formation. B. dodgei was cultivated under different temperature, nutrient and light conditions. Growth rates, cell biovolume, cyst formation and pigment and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) concentrations were determined. Experiments showed that this alga (i) had higher growth rates at low temperatures (<7°C) and high irradiance levels (~250 μmol m−2 s−1), (ii) produced higher yields with organic supplements such as peptone, (iii) did not grow in the dark even with organic supplements, (iv) survived for long periods without a light source, (v) synthesised MAAs, (vi) showed an increase in cell volume with nutrient shortage and increasing temperatures (>7°C) and (vii) had high encystment rates with temperatures >7°C. These laboratory fingerprints allowed us to construct a theoretical model defining the species’ niche. Borghiella needed a mixture of low temperatures, high irradiance levels and sufficient quantities of dissolved organic nitrogen to form blooms. Such a strict combination was probably a transient situation and occurred in oligotrophic Lake Tovel only in early summers followed by heavy spring rains.

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Acknowledgements

This study was presented as a contributed article at the Bat Sheva de Rothschild seminar on Phytoplankton in the Physical Environment—the fifteenth workshop of the International Association of phytoplankton taxonomy and ecology (IAP). GF thanks Ø. Moestrup (Uni. Copenhagen—DK) for generously providing the Borghiella culture and introducing her to the world of dinoflagellates. The authors also thank R. Sommaruga (Uni. Innsbruck—A) for UVR measurements, D. Tait for DOC analyses, F. Corradini for chemical analyses, F. Ciutti and A. Gandolfi for comments, V. Pinamonti and G. Leonardi for sampling, L. Ress, D. Calliari and L. Dal Bello for cell counts. This study was partially funded by the research project ECOPLAN (Province of Trento, Italy).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IASMA Research and Innovation Centre-Fondazione Edmund Mach- Environment and Natural Resources Area, Via Mach 2-38010 S, Michele all’Adige, TN, Italy

    Giovanna Flaim & Ulrike Obertegger

  2. Institute of Botany, WG Hydrobotany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestraße 15, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Eugen Rott

  3. Department of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, 38123, Povo, TN, Italy

    Rita Frassanito & Graziano Guella

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  1. Giovanna Flaim
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  2. Eugen Rott
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  5. Ulrike Obertegger
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Correspondence to Giovanna Flaim.

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This article is dedicated to Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Walter Larcher (Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck), a leading pioneer in eco-physiological research of plants, on the occasion of his 80th birthday

Guest editors: T. Zohary, J. Padisák & L. Naselli-Flores / Phytoplankton in the Physical Environment: Articles from the 15th Workshop of the International Association for Phytoplankton Taxonomy and Ecology (IAP), held at the Ramot Holiday Resort on the Golan Heights, Israel, 23–30 November 2008

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Flaim, G., Rott, E., Frassanito, R. et al. Eco-fingerprinting of the dinoflagellate Borghiella dodgei: experimental evidence of a specific environmental niche. Hydrobiologia 639, 85–98 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-0013-5

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