Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecophysiology of stromatolitic microbial mats, Stocking Island, exuma cays, Bahamas

  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Intertidal stromatolites, covered by cyanobacterial mats, were recently discovered at Stocking Island, Exuma Cays, Bahamas. Ecophysiological responses (CO2 fixation, N2 fixation, and photoacclimation) of these cyanobacterial mats to experimental manipulations were examined to identify potential environmental variables controlling community structure and function. The mats exhibit horizontal zonation that shifts from soft to crusty to hard in a seaward direction. Cluster analysis of chemotaxonomic photopigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids) revealed that visually distinct mat types are composed of distinct phototrophic assemblages. Under reduced irradiance, diatoms within the mats photoacclimated by increasing accessory photopigments (diadinoxanthin, fucoxanthin, and chlorophyll c 1 c 2) and cyanobacteria reduced the photoprotective carotenoid echinenone. In a 4-day nutrient addition bioassay experiment, nitrate, phosphate, dissolved organic carbon, and trace metal enrichments did not enhance CO2 fixation, but phosphate enrichments tripled N2 fixation rates. The addition of DCMU increased N2 fixation rates relative to nonamended light and dark rates, indicating light (photosystem I) enhanced nitrogenase activity. Soft mats appear to represent the early stages of colonization and stabilization of mat communities. Active growth following stabilization results in the formation of partially-lithified crusty mats, which eventually become highly-lithified and form hard mats. Collectively, our results suggest that Stocking Island stromatolitic mats have low growth rates and consequently exhibit slow responses to increased nutrient availability and changes in ambient irradiance. In general, intertidal stromatolitic mats at Stocking Island appear to exhibit low rates of CO2 and N2 fixation relative to nonlithifying temperate cyanobacteral mats. Although production is low, respiration is likewise low, leading to the suggestion that high production to respiration ratios (P:R) may be necessary for lithification of intertidal stromatolitic mats.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bebout B, Paerl H, Crocker K, Prufert L (1978) Diel interactions of oxygenic photosynthesis and N2 fixation (acetylene reduction) in a marine microbial mat community. Appl Environ Microbiol 53:2353–2362

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bebout B, Fitzpatrick M, Paerl H (1993) Identification of the sources of energy for nitrogen fixation and physiological characterization of nitrogen-fixing members of a marine microbial mat community. Appl Environ Microbiol 59:1495–1503

    Google Scholar 

  3. Black M (1933) The algal sediments of Andros Island, Bahamas. Phil Roy Soc Lond 222:165–191

    Google Scholar 

  4. Blumwald E, Tel-Or E (1983) Salt adaptation of the cyanobacterium Synechoccus 6311 growing in continuous culture (turbidostat). Plant Physiol 74:183–185

    Google Scholar 

  5. Canfield D, Des Marais D (1993) Biogeochemical cycles of carbon, sulfur, and free oxygen in a microbial mat. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57:3971–3984

    Google Scholar 

  6. Chafetz H, Buczynski C (1992) Bacterially induced lithification of microbial mats. Palaios 7:277–293

    Google Scholar 

  7. Drexler A, Morse J, Kornicker W (1988) Controls on carbonate mineral accumulation in Bahamian basins and adjacent Atlantic Ocean sediments. J Sed Petrol 58:120–130

    Google Scholar 

  8. Falkowski P, LaRoche J (1991) Acclimation to spectral irradiance in algae. J Phycol 27:8–14

    Google Scholar 

  9. Fields M (1989) Yachtsman's guide to the Bahamas. Tropic Isle Publishers, Miami

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fischer A (1965) Fossils, early life, and atmospheric history. Proc Natl Acad Sci (US) 53:1205–1215

    Google Scholar 

  11. Gallagher J, Wood A, Alberte R (1984) Ecotypic differentiation in the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum: influence of light intensity on the photosynthetic apparatus. Mar Biol 82:121–134

    Google Scholar 

  12. Klein B (1988) Variations of pigment content in two benthic diatoms during growth in batch cultures. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 115:237–248

    Google Scholar 

  13. Krumbein W (1979) Photolithotrophic and chemoorganotrophic activity of bacteria and algae as related to beachrock formation and degradation (Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai). Geomicrobiol J 1:139–203

    Google Scholar 

  14. LaPointe B (1987) Phosphorus- and nitrogen-limited photosynthesis and growth of Gracilaria tikvahiae (Rhodophyceae) in the Florida Keys: An experimental field study. Mar Biol 93:561–568

    Google Scholar 

  15. Mann C, Nelson W (1989) Microbialitic structures in Story's Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahama Islands. Palaios 4:287–293

    Google Scholar 

  16. Merz M (1992) The biology of carbonate precipitation by cyanobacteria. Facies 26:105–124

    Google Scholar 

  17. Monty C (1976) The origin and development of cryptalgal fabrics. In: Walter M (ed) Stromatolites. Elsevier, New York, pp 193–249

    Google Scholar 

  18. Moore L (1987) Water chemistry of the coastal saline lakes of the Clifton-Preston Lakeland System, Southwestern Australia, and its influence on stromatolite formation. Aust J Mar Freshwater Res 38:647–660

    Google Scholar 

  19. Neumann A, Gebelein C, Scoffin T (1970) The composition, structure, and erodability of subtidal mats, Abaco, Bahamas. J Sed Petrol 40:274–297

    Google Scholar 

  20. Paerl H (1984) Cyanobacterial carotenoids: their roles in maintaining optimal photosynthetic production among aquatic bloom forming genera. Oecologia 61:143–149

    Google Scholar 

  21. Pearl H (1990) Physiological ecology and regulation of N2 fixation in natural waters. Adv Microb Ecol 11:305–344

    Google Scholar 

  22. Paerl H (1993) Interaction of nitrogen and carbon cycles in the marine environment. In: Ford T (ed) Aquatic microbiology: an ecological approach. Blackwell Scientific Publ., Oxford, pp 343–381

    Google Scholar 

  23. Paerl H, Bebout B, Prufert L (1989) Naturally occurring patterns of oxygenic photosynthesis and N2 fixation in a marine microbial mat: physiological and ecological ramifications. In: Cohen Y, Rosenberg E (eds) Microbial mats: physiological ecology of benthic microbial communities. Am Soc Microbiology, Washington DC, pp 362–341

    Google Scholar 

  24. Paerl H, Joye S, Fitzpatrick M (1993) Evaluation of nutrient limitation of CO2 and N2 fixation in marine microbial mats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 101:297–306

    Google Scholar 

  25. Paerl H, Bebout B, Joye S, Des Marais D (1993) Microscale characterization of dissolved organic matter production and uptake in marine microbial mat communities. Limnol Oceanogr 38:1150–1161

    Google Scholar 

  26. Perry M, Talbot M, Alberte R (1981) Photoadaptation in marine phytoplankton: response of the photosynthetic unit. Mar Biol 62:91–101

    Google Scholar 

  27. Pinckney J, Bebout B, Paerl H (1994) Salinity and nutrient controls of N2 and CO2 fixation in a tropical hypersaline lagoon: what regulates microbial mat growth? J Exp Mar Biol Ecol (in review).

  28. Reid R, Browne K (1991) Intertidal stromatolites in a fringing holocene reef complex, Bahamas. Geology 19:15–18

    Google Scholar 

  29. Revsbech N, Jorgensen B, Brix O (1981) Primary production of microalgae in sediments measured by oxygen microprofile, H14CO3 - fixation, and oxygen evolution measurements. Limnol Oceanogr 26:717–730

    Google Scholar 

  30. Richardson K, Beradall J, Raven J (1983) Adaptation of unicellular algae to irradiance: an analysis of strategies. New Phytol 93:157–191

    Google Scholar 

  31. Riding R (1992) Tmporal variation in calcification in marine cyanobacteria. J Geol Soc London 149:979–989

    Google Scholar 

  32. Stal L, Van Gemerden H, Krumbein W (1985) Structure and development of a benthic microbial mat. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 31:111–125

    Google Scholar 

  33. Rowan K (1989) Photosynthetic pigments of algae. Cambridge Univ Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  34. Stewart W, Fitzgerald G, Burris R (1967) In-situ studies of N2 fixation using the acetylene reduction technique. Proc Natl Acad Sci 58:2071–2078

    Google Scholar 

  35. Villbrandt M, Stal L, Krumbein W (1990) Interactions between nitrogen fixation and oxygenic photosynthesis in a marine microbial mat. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 74:59–72

    Google Scholar 

  36. Walter M (1983) Archean stromatolites: evidence of the earth's earliest benthos. In: Schopf J (ed) Earth's earliest biosphere. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., pp 187–213

    Google Scholar 

  37. Webb K, Dupaul W, Wiebe W, Scotile W, Johannes R (1975) Enewetak (Eniwetok) Atoll: aspects of the nitrogen cycle on a coral reef. Limnol Oceanogr 20:198–210

    Google Scholar 

  38. Whittle G, Kendall C, Dill R, Rouch L (1993) Carbonate cement fabrics displayed: a traverse across the margin of the Bahamas platform near Lee Stocking Island in the Exuma Cays. Mar Geol 110:213–243

    Google Scholar 

  39. Whitton B, Potts M (1982) Marine littoral. In: Carr N, Whitton B (eds) The biology of cyanobacteria. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp 515–542

    Google Scholar 

  40. Wright S, Jeffrey S, Mantoura R, Llewellyn C, Bjørnland T, Repeta D, Welschmeyer N (1991) An improved HPLC method for the analysis of chlorophylls and carotenoids from marine phytoplankton. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 77:183–196

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, 28557, Morehead City, North Carolina, USA

    J. Pinckney & H. W. Paerl

  2. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, 33149, Miami, Florida, SA

    R. P. Reid

  3. Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, Fahrenheitstrasse 1, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    B. Bebout

Authors
  1. J. Pinckney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. W. Paerl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. P. Reid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. B. Bebout
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pinckney, J., Paerl, H.W., Reid, R.P. et al. Ecophysiology of stromatolitic microbial mats, Stocking Island, exuma cays, Bahamas. Microb Ecol 29, 19–37 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217420

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217420

Keywords

Search

Navigation