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Convergence and divergence in organization of phytoplankton communities under various regimes of physical and biological control

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Abstract

The hypothesis that physical constraints may be as important, if not more important, than biological ones in shaping the structure of phytoplankton assemblage was tested by analyzing long-term (11–29 years) phytoplankton series in eight lakes and nine sites located along a latitudinal gradient in the Northern hemisphere. Phytoplankton biomass was used and similarity of assemblages in same months of the annual data sets was then calculated by subtracting the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index from 1. The extent of biological and physical forcing was partly based on “expert evaluation”: the importance of four physical (light availability, temperature, conductivity, and sediment stirring up) and five biological variables (basic nutrients [SRP-, DIN-, SRSi-availability] as estimators of competition straight, importance of grazing, and importance of parasitism) was evaluated month by month by arbitrarily scaling from 1 to 5 the intensity of each variable and then summing them in the appropriate subgroup. Since the number of physical variables is less than that of the biological ones, the latter was rescaled to reach the same maximum attainable value of physical variables. The results showed an extremely high variability, making evident that each lake, although showing the same metabolic processes, behaves as an individual with regard to its phytoplankton structure. More generally, it was possible to highlight a largely more important role of physical constraints in shaping both biomass and composition of phytoplankton. This is especially true in winter. In addition, the results were compared to the outcomes of the PEG model, since a plasticity in the structure of phytoplankton much greater than that reported in this widely acknowledged model has been recorded in the data set used. This high variability found in this study in relation to physical constraints might also explain the different patterns of phytoplankton growth observed from Northern temperate to Mediterranean lakes as well as those occurring in shallow and deep lakes.

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Acknowledgments

Data analyses were supported by the Hungarian National Science Foundation (OTKA Nr. K 75552). Phytoplankton studies on Lake Stechlin were supported by the Leibniz-Institute for Aquatic Ecology and Inland Fishery (Berlin/Stechlin-Neuglobsow, Germany). The long-term record of phytoplankton in Lake Kinneret was conducted by Tatiana Fishbein and funded by the Israel Water Authority. Analysis of long-term recording of phytoplankton in Lake Arancio was possible thanks to a grant from the University of Palermo (11108/2007), in Võrtsjärv supported by SF0170011508 from EME and in Neusiedlersee by the Biologische Station Illmitz. This study was presented as a contributed paper at the Bat Sheva de Rothschild seminar on Phytoplankton in the Physical Environment – The 15th Workshop of the International Association of Phytoplankton Taxonomy and Ecology (IAP) – held in Ramot, Israel, November 23–30, 2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Limnology, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10, 8200, Veszprém, Hungary

    Judit Padisák & Éva Hajnal

  2. Leibniz-Institute for Aquatic Ecology and Inland Fishery, Alte Fischerhütte 2, 16775, Stechlin-Neuglobsow, Germany

    Judit Padisák

  3. Department of Botanical Sciences, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 38, 90123, Palermo, Italy

    Luigi Naselli-Flores

  4. Department of Limnology and Hydrobotany, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14 (UZA I), 1090, Wien, Austria

    Martin T. Dokulil

  5. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Center for Limnology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

    Peeter Nõges

  6. Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Ltd, Box 447, 14950, Migdal, Israel

    Tamar Zohary

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  1. Judit Padisák
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  2. Éva Hajnal
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  3. Luigi Naselli-Flores
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  4. Martin T. Dokulil
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  5. Peeter Nõges
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  6. Tamar Zohary
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Correspondence to Judit Padisák.

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Guest editors: T. Zohary, J. Padisák & L. Naselli-Flores / Phytoplankton in the Physical Environment: Papers 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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Padisák, J., Hajnal, É., Naselli-Flores, L. et al. Convergence and divergence in organization of phytoplankton communities under various regimes of physical and biological control. Hydrobiologia 639, 205–220 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-0021-5

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