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Planktonic diatom communities in temperate South-Central Chilean lakes with a focus on Asterionella formosa and the genus Aulacoseira

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Abstract

Paleolimnological records from temperate South-Central Chilean lakes revealed a recent and marked increase in the relative abundances of the key-planktonic diatom species Asterionella formosa and Aulacoseira distans. To better understand these changes, we studied the ecological niches of planktonic diatoms in 42 temperate Chilean lakes (36–43°S). We used morphological analysis of spring and early summer diatom communities, as well as sub-fossil sedimentary assemblages along gradients in mixing regime, light climate, and water chemistry. For Asterionella formosa and the species belonging to the genus Aulacoseira, morphology based enumerations were combined with molecular phylogenies using the 18S rDNA and rbcL genes to determine their taxonomic position and explore potential hidden diversity. Analysis of extant and sub-fossil communities revealed similar patterns, with small Discostella species (D. mascarenica and D. pseudostelligera) and Urosolenia eriensis being characteristic for large, well-mixed lakes, whereas Aulacoseira pusilla (previously erroneously identified as A. distans in Chile) is more dominant in smaller, warmer, and stratified water bodies. This suggests that recent increases in the latter taxon might be related to changes in the physical lake properties in the region, rather than a recent increase in nutrient concentrations. By contrast, Asterionella formosa occurred in lakes with a high Si concentration. Phylogenetic data of the most common species belonging to the genera Aulacoseira and Asterionella showed little evidence for hidden diversity in most of the taxa, except for the Aulacoseira granulata complex. This indicates that the Chilean strains are closely related to populations in the Northern Hemisphere. The results of this study will allow for more accurate diatom-based reconstructions of limnological changes in South-Central Chilean lakes. This is crucial to better understand climate dynamics in the region, as these lakes are known to be sensitive to alterations in windiness and precipitation in response to changes in the intensity and latitudinal position of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alejandro Peña, Alfonso Jara, Evelyn Habit, Wim Van Nieuwenhuyze, Tobias Schneider and Patricia Jana Pinninghoff for all logistic and technical support during the field work. We also thank the colleagues of the EULA team, with special thanks to Hernan Cid, for the help during the field work. Koen Van den Berge is thanked for his advice on the statistics used in this study. Sofie D’hondt is thanked for her help with the molecular analysis. We acknowledge the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders (FWO-Flanders, Belgium, funding of EVDV and EP as PhD students and PV as a postdoctoral fellow) for providing grants and funding the CHILT project and acknowledge the project CRHIAM ANID/FONDAP/15130015. Eveline Pinseel is currently funded by the Simons Foundation as a Postdoc Fellow in Marine Microbial Ecology (award ID 725407), and previously received funding from Fulbright Belgium and the Belgian American Educational Foundation. Two anonymous reviewers, and the editor-in-chief (Dr. Thomas J. Whitmore) and the associate Editor (Dr. Irene Gregory-Eaves) are thanked for their very useful comments on the previous version of this manuscript.

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  1. Eveline Pinseel

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, 850 W Dickson St SCEN, Fayetteville, AR, 72701-120, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Evelien Van de Vyver, Eveline Pinseel, Elie Verleyen, Pieter Vanormelingen, Jeroen Van Wichelen & Wim Vyverman

  2. Research Department, Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860, Meise, Belgium

    Eveline Pinseel

  3. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Havenlaan 88, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Jeroen Van Wichelen

  4. Institute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Rixt de Jong

  5. Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales/Centro EULA, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Roberto Urrutia

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  1. Evelien Van de Vyver
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Van de Vyver, E., Pinseel, E., Verleyen, E. et al. Planktonic diatom communities in temperate South-Central Chilean lakes with a focus on Asterionella formosa and the genus Aulacoseira. J Paleolimnol 68, 279–296 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-022-00247-8

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