桡足类与硅藻相互作用的研究进展

硅藻对桡足类繁殖的影响是近年来海洋生态学的热点问题,主要体现在降低了桡足类的产卵和孵化成功率。其可能原因在于硅藻大量繁殖后由于缺乏某种关键营养物质或自身产生某种抑制物阻碍了桡足类繁殖过程。但目前现场、室内实验结果不一：室内实验结果显示硅藻对桡足类繁殖的抑制作用主要是因为缺乏必要的多不饱和酸（PUFAs）。而现场实验结果则表明硅藻可产生次级代谢产物（小分子量的醛类）阻碍桡足类卵的孵化。由于目前对这种硅藻．桡足类相互作用机制和影响程度尚不清楚,如果这一现象在自然海区中普遍存在,传统上关于“硅藻-桡足类-鱼类”的海洋经典食物链观点势必存在极大的缺陷。文章介绍了这一问题的目前研究进展和将来的研究前景。     

重金属对海洋桡足类的影响研究进展

桡足类是海洋浮游动物种群的主要组成部分和重要的初级消费者,重金属污染对其影响可通过食物链传递到其他海洋生物甚至人类。综述了近20 a来重金属对桡足类影响的研究进展,包括重金属对桡足类的毒性和生理效应,重金属在桡足类体内蓄积及桡足类体内重金属的食物链(网)传递。并指出今后的研究重点:桡足类体内致毒重金属的存在形式,重金属食物暴露对桡足类生理生化影响机理,以及重金属对桡足类生活史的影响。     

海洋酸化对日本虎斑猛水蚤抗氧化性指标和繁殖发育的影响

本文选取海洋桡足类日本虎斑猛水蚤(Tigriopus japonicus)为模式生物,采用生化测定和实验生态学方法,研究不同酸化胁迫对桡足类体内抗氧化性指标[超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽硫转移酶(GST)和脂质过氧化(LPO)]、幼体发育时间、世代发育时间和产后代数的影响。结果表明:海水酸化可显著诱导桡足类的抗氧化性酶(SOD和CAT)的活性,而GST活性不受酸化影响,同时酸化可显著提高桡足类的LPO水平,可见该桡足类可通过SOD和CAT活性的提高来抵抗酸化胁迫引起的氧化胁迫;另外,酸化显著缩短桡足类的幼体发育时间和世代发育时间,并显著抑制其产后代数,提示酸化可以影响海洋桡足类的种群补充和动态;酸化引起该桡足类氧化胁迫的出现,继而对细胞生物大分子(如蛋白质、核酸等)造成氧化损伤,最终影响到该动物的个体水平和种群动态(如缩短发育时间和抑制繁殖力)。     

桡足类滞育规律研究

首次提出用滞育指数对桡足类滞育能力进行相对量化处理 ,并对 10 2种桡足类的滞育能力同迁移能力、体长、栖息地之间的关系进行了数学分析 ,初步得出了滞育在桡足类中的分布规律 :在桡足类中滞育与迁移呈负相关 ,两者之间存在一定程度的置换 ;个体较小的桡足类一般具有较强的滞育能力和较弱的迁移能力 ,个体较大的桡足类一般具有较弱的滞育能力和较强的迁移能力 ;淡水桡足类一般比海洋桡足类具有较强的滞育能力。最后探讨了这种分布模式的成因     

海水实验围隔中桡足类对海洋原甲藻摄食的研究

现场研究了发生严重海洋原甲藻（Ｐｒｏｒｏｃｅｎｔｒｕｍｍｉｃａｎｓ）水华后海水实验围隔中桡足类火腿许水蚤（Ｓｃｈｍａｃｋｅｒｉａｐｏｐｌｅｓｉａ）和长腹剑水蚤（Ｏｉｔｈｏｎａｓｐ．）的摄食强度．结果表明,体长在１２５ｍｍ以上的火腿许水蚤成体及其部分桡足幼体对海洋原甲藻的摄食率平均为１２１４０ｃｅｌｓ·ｉｎｄ－１·ｄ－１;体长不到１２５ｍｍ的部分火腿许水蚤桡足幼体和长腹剑水蚤成体及其桡足幼体的摄食率仅为１１３３ｃｅｌｓ·ｉｎｄ－１·ｄ－１．实验期间围隔中海洋原甲藻的浓度为８５０～１６１７０ｃｅｌｓ·ｍｌ－１,该藻的种群增长率为－０．００２～０．１５０．当海洋原甲藻细胞处于生长期时,桡足类的摄食不足以抑制该藻种群的增长,因此围隔中桡足类不可能阻止海洋原甲藻水华发生或使水华发生后迅速消退     

海洋浮游纤毛虫生长率研究进展

浮游纤毛虫是海洋环境中连接微食物网与经典食物链的重要中介,在浮游生态系统的物质循环和能量流动中发挥着重要的作用。从20世纪70年代末开始,国际上已在实验室内和海上现场开展了对浮游纤毛虫生长率的研究;国内在这方面起步比较晚,只有在实验室内对浮游纤毛虫生长率进行过少量研究,海上现场生长率的研究迄今尚无。对相关浮游纤毛虫生长率的研究成果进行了综述,以期为我国的相关研究提供借鉴。室内培养的研究结果表明,浮游纤毛虫的生长率与温度和饵料有关,在特定的温度下,饵料浓度低于生长阈值浓度时,纤毛虫停止生长,随饵料浓度的上升,生长率增加,饵料浓度增加到一定程度,生长率达到内禀生长率,此后,随饵料浓度增加不再增加。目前在实验室内测定了34种海洋浮游纤毛虫的内禀生长率,范围为0.1—3.05 d-1。在特定的饵料种类下,纤毛虫的内禀生长率与温度有关,温度过低停止生长甚至死亡,在此基础上,随温度升高,内禀生长率呈线性增加,温度增加到一定程度,内禀生长率降低。pH值升高对纤毛虫的生长有不利影响。估计自然海区纤毛虫生长率的方法主要是海水分粒级培养法,得出的生长率最大为3.3 d-1。自然海区的纤毛虫生长率受温度影响较大,缺氧区纤毛虫生长率的变化因纤毛虫类群而不同,纤毛虫生长是否受饵料影响(上行控制)在不同的海区有不同的结果。根据纤毛虫生物量和生长率可以估计纤毛虫生产力,大多数纤毛虫生产力的估计高于桡足类生产力。     

不同季节温升条件下余氯对桡足类的毒性

为探明桡足类对滨海电厂冷却水中余氯的忍受能力,在各季节于室内对采自乐清湾的12种桡足类进行30 min不同升温幅度(△T)(0、4.0、8.0、12.0℃)下的余氯胁迫,观察桡足类在24h后的死亡率,用概率单位法计算其余氯半致死浓度(Median lethal concentration,LC50).结果表明各季节桡足类余氯LC50随△T增大而显著降低(P＜0.001),且.多数种类呈显著线性回归关系(P＜0.05).对于哲水蚤目桡足类,余氯LC50随其粒径增大而升高.同一种桡足类在相同△T下,随适应水温升高,余氯LC50显著降低(P＜0.01).亚热带海区夏季自然水温较高,冷却系统轻微的升温即可加剧余氯对其的毒性.若以LC50×0.5来确定桡足类余氯安全浓度,则春、秋、冬季暴露时间≤30 min、△T≤12.0℃时,其余氯安全浓度分别为0.21-0.86 mg/L、0.26-0.86 mg/L、0.32-4.55 mg/L;夏季暴露时间≤30 min、△T≤8.0℃时,其余氯安全浓度为0.15-0.41 mg/L.当前电厂加氯浓度偏高对冷却水中桡足类造成较大影响,但排出水中余氯对其影响不大.基于生态安全考虑,根据对余氯较敏感的小型桡足类在不同季节下的余氯安全浓度,建议亚热带滨海电厂夏季余氯排放浓度不超过0.15 mg/L,其余季节不超过0.20 mg/L.     

河口近海桡足类休眠卵生态学研究进展

桡足类是水域生态系统的关键类群,在物质循环、能量流动和信息传递中起着重要作用.休眠卵是桡足类的重要生存策略,在抵抗不利环境、维持种群延续等方面起着重要作用.本文综述了河口近海桡足类休眠卵种类组成及其分布、休眠卵存活时间、休眠卵萌发率和沉积物中休眠卵丰度以及对水体的潜在补充量及其影响因素等.对河口近海桡足类休眠卵生态学研究提出了展望,以期为相关研究提供新的思路.     

海南岛西北沿岸海域浮游桡足类的分布及群落特征

为了解昌江沿岸海域生态系统的现状, 探讨海域环境因素对浮游动物的生存环境造成的影响。本文根据2008年11月至2009年7月在海南西部昌江沿岸水域21个测站、4个季度月调查所获的浮游桡足类样品数据, 对该海域浮游桡足类群落结构、分布、季节变化及影响因素进行了分析。本调查共鉴定出桡足类44种, 隶属4目17科24属, 其中秋季25种, 冬季23种, 春季22种, 夏季23种。本次调查共发现优势种6种, 分别是微刺哲水蚤(Canthocalanus pauper)、亚强次真哲水蚤(Subeucalanus subcrassus)、锥形宽水蚤(Temora turbinata)、刺尾纺锤水蚤(Acartia spinicauda)、椭形长足水蚤(Calanopia elliptica)和精致真刺水蚤(Euchaeta concinna), 优势种以近岸暖水种居多。浮游桡足类丰度季节变化明显: 冬季最高, 达409 ind./m³; 秋季次之, 为144 ind./m³, 春季为55 ind./m³, 夏季最低仅为17 ind./m³。其丰度的平面分布显示: 秋、冬季节分别在海区中部和南部形成明显密集区, 春、夏季节则大致呈现由外海向近岸逐渐递减的趋势。浮游桡足类的多样性指数(H')表现为夏季>春季>秋季>冬季, 春、夏季的均匀度指数(J')明显高于秋、冬季。本调查反映出该海区的桡足类群落具有热带—亚热带区系特征, 种类组成季节更替明显, 桡足类种群受海域水温和硅藻的影响明显, 受盐度影响不明显。     

附着基对分叉小猛水蚤(Tisbe furcata)种群密度及水体化学要素的影响

以分叉小猛水蚤(Tisbe furcata)为研究对象, 对比室内养殖条件下添加附着基与否对分叉小猛水蚤的种群密度的影响, 并同步分析水体化学要素(亚硝态氮、硝态氮、氨氮和磷酸盐)与桡足类种群密度的关系。研究结果表明, 加入附着基并未达到增加桡足类种群密度的效果, 反而有一定的抑制作用。对水体三氮一磷的分析表明亚硝态氮、硝态氮和磷酸盐含量均与桡足类种群密度呈极显著正相关, 而氨氮浓度与桡足类种群密度间没有相关性, 这与之前研究结果一致, 进一步验证了现有养殖方法的可靠性。此外, 添加附着基养殖池中快速升高的亚硝氮含量可能抵消了附着基的积极作用, 因此, 后续相关研究需要综合考量上述因素。     

Interactions between Benthic Copepods,Bacteria and Diatoms Promote Nitrogen Retention in Intertidal Marine Sediments

The present study aims at evaluating the impact of diatoms and copepods on microbial processes mediating nitrate removal in fine-grained intertidal sediments. More specifically, we studied the interactions between copepods, diatoms and bacteria in relation to their effects on nitrate reduction and denitrification. Microcosms containing defaunated marine sediments were subjected to different treatments: an excess of nitrate, copepods, diatoms (Navicula sp.), a combination of copepods and diatoms, and spent medium from copepods. The microcosms were incubated for seven and a half days, after which nutrient concentrations and denitrification potential were measured. Ammonium concentrations were highest in the treatments with copepods or their spent medium, whilst denitrification potential was lowest in these treatments, suggesting that copepods enhance dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium over denitrification. We hypothesize that this is an indirect effect, by providing extra carbon for the bacterial community through the copepods'' excretion products, thus changing the C/N ratio in favour of dissimilatory nitrate reduction. Diatoms alone had no effect on the nitrogen fluxes, but they did enhance the effect of copepods, possibly by influencing the quantity and quality of the copepods'' excretion products. Our results show that small-scale biological interactions between bacteria, copepods and diatoms can have an important impact on denitrification and hence sediment nitrogen fluxes.     

Chemical interactions in diatoms: role of polyunsaturated aldehydes and precursors

Chemicals produced by aquatic organisms, and especially micro-organisms, have received increasing attention in the last decade for their role in shaping interactions and communities. Several cases emphasize the fact that chemical signals or defence may modulate interspecific interactions. Notably, it has been shown that diatoms, unicellular algae and key primary producers in aquatic ecosystems produce a wide range of bioactive metabolites. Among these compounds, polyunsaturated short-chain aldehydes in vitro strongly impair the reproduction of various potential grazers. In the field, the relationship between aldehyde production and reproductive failure in copepods remains unclear. Recent studies have suggested that these putative defence compounds may also be involved in intercellular communication and in interactions with competitors. Potential effects of the aldehyde precursors on various organisms have also been described. This review presents an overview of various results obtained in the last decade that could help us to understand the role of polyunsaturated aldehydes and their precursors in the ecology of diatoms. It is focused on the dichotomy between freshwater and marine environments. Indeed, most of the results on anti-proliferative aldehydes concern marine planktonic diatoms, whereas they are also known to be produced by benthic and freshwater species.     

New insights into the complex architecture of siliceous copepod teeth

Copepods belong to the dominant marine zooplankton taxa and play an important role in particle and energy fluxes of the marine water column. Their mandibular gnathobases possess tooth-like structures, so-called teeth. In species feeding on large proportions of diatoms these teeth often contain silica, which is very probably the result of a coevolution with the siliceous diatom frustules. Detailed knowledge of the morphology and composition of the siliceous teeth is essential for understanding their functioning and their significance in the context of feeding interactions between copepods and diatoms. Based on analyses of the gnathobases of the Antarctic copepod Rhincalanus gigas, the present study clearly shows, for the first time, that the silica in the siliceous teeth features large proportions of crystalline silica that is consistent with the mineral α-cristobalite and is doped with aluminium. The siliceous structures have internal chitinous fibre networks, which are assumed to serve as scaffolds during the silicification process. The compact siliceous teeth of R. gigas are accompanied by structures with large proportions of the elastic protein resilin, likely reducing the mechanical damage of the teeth when the copepods feed on diatoms with very stable frustules. The results indicate that the coevolution with diatom frustules has resulted in gnathobases exhibiting highly sophisticated composite structures.     

PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON SECONDARY METABOLITES FROM ANTARCTIC BROWN ALGAE AND THEIR ECOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ianora, A. Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn, Villa Comunale 80121 Naples, Italy Traditionally, diatoms have been regarded as providing the bulk of the food that sustains the marine food chain to top consumers and important fisheries. However, this view has recently been challenged on the basis of laboratory studies showing that these small, unicellular algae possess anti-mitotic properties similar to the cytotoxic compounds isolated from numerous marine and terrestrial higher plants. In fact, when copepods, the principal predators of diatoms, are fed diatom diets, they produce abnormal eggs that either fail to develop to hatching or hatch into malformed nauplii that die soon afterwards. The aldehydes responsible for this anti-cell growth activity have recently been isolated and these compounds have been shown to arrest not only the development of copepod and sea urchin embryos, but also the proliferation of human carcinoma cells. In terrestrial environments, there are many reports of secondary metabolites produced by plants that interfere with the reproductive capacity of grazing animals, and which act as a form of population control. But this type of biological model is new for the marine environment where most of the attention on plant-animal interactions has focused on feeding deterrents and poisoning compounds. Such “birth-control” compounds may discourage herbivory by sabotaging future generations of grazers, thereby allowing diatom blooms to persist when grazing pressure would normally have caused them to crash.     

Do benthic and planktonic diatoms produce equivalent effects in crustaceans?

Hippolyte inermis Leach 1814 is a benthic shrimp characterized by a peculiar mechanism of sex reversal influenced by diatom foods. In fact, the appearance of primary females in spring is due to an apoptotic early disruption of the androgenic gland and of the male gonad, triggered by still unknown compounds present in diatoms of the genus Cocconeis. The influence of diatoms on the reproductive ecology and life cycle of planktonic crustaceans has been demonstrated previously: some planktonic diatoms produce aldehydes inducing apoptosis in the embryos and in the larvae of marine copepods, reducing their viability. Both benthic and planktonic diatoms therefore produce compounds having an apoptotic effect on some tissues of target crustaceans, although the ecological significance of the two processes is different: deleterious for copepod populations, regulative for shrimps associated with Posidonia oceanica. In the present article we experimentally administered specific planktonic diatoms, their fractions and compounds known to induce apoptosis in planktonic copepods, to H. inermis postlarvae, to check whether the apoptotic effect is due to an identical family of diatom compounds, and to establish whether the processes observed in the plankton and in the benthos, respectively, are analogous or homologous, from an ecological point of view. Our results indicated that diatom compounds acting in the two systems are different, since both planktonic diatoms and their aldehydes had negligible effects on the sex ratios of cultured shrimps.     

Feeding by an omnivorous planktonic copepod aetideus divergens Bradford

Aetideus divergens Bradford is representative of a large group of marine planktonic calanoid copepods which are omnivores or mixed feeders. Because very little quantitative information is available on the feeding behavior of these copepods, laboratory feeding experiments have been carried out with adult female A. divergens presented with various sizes and concentrations of diatoms and freshly hatched nauplii of Artemia. The copepod fed most efficiently on the largest size of diatom and on Artemia nauplii, but was peculiarly inefficient at feeding on small diatoms, even when they were available at very high concentrations. In this respect, the copepod differs from filterfeeding copepods, such as Calanus pacificus Brodsky. A possible explanation of this difference depends upon Aetideus being less capable of handling very small food particles than Calanus. Aetideus divergens and its congeners usually occur at subsurface depths not far below the mixed layer and seem to be adapted for feeding on large particles, possibly large phytoplanktonic organisms and fecal pellets, which sink out of the mixed layer.     

Diatoms, silicic acid and biogenic silica dynamics along the salinity gradient of the Scheldt estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands)

The Scheldt estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands) was sampled along the entire salinity gradient from 2003 to 2005 for silicic acid (DSi), biogenic silica (BSi), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and pigments. Net DSi consumption and/or release within the estuary were investigated by comparing measured DSi concentrations with (fully-transient) model simulations of the concentrations that would have been obtained in case of conservative transport. The DSi consumption was at maximum in May due to diatoms of presumably marine origin blooming in the lower estuary. DSi consumption decreased rapidly in July, probably because of the grazing pressure of copepods also of marine origin, and DSi was released from late summer onwards. Multiple regression analyses showed that most of the BSi did not follow the dynamics of the living diatoms but rather that of the SPM. They also suggested that diatoms were more silicified in the upper estuary than in the lower estuary. Phytoliths were not expected to contribute significantly to the BSi pool. As BSi dynamics strongly differed from those of diatoms and DSi, this study highlighted the importance of taking BSi into account when investigating estuarine silica dynamics. This study also revealed the fundamental role of the coupling between the biogeochemical and ecological functioning of the lower estuary and that of the adjacent coastal zone. This contrasts with the classical consideration that estuaries act as one-way filters for dissolved and particulate material of riverine origin.     

Copepod and microzooplankton grazing in mesocosms fertilised with different Si:N ratios: no overlap between food spectra and Si:N influence on zooplankton trophic level

We hypothesized that the trophic level of marine copepods should depend on the composition of the protist community. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated the phytoplankton composition in mesocosms and measured grazing rates of copepods and mesozooplankton in those mesocosms. Twelve mesocosms with Northeast Atlantic phytoplankton were fertilised with different Si:N ratios from 0:1 to 1:1. After 1 week, ten of the mesocosms were filled with natural densities of mesozooplankton, mainly calanoid copepods, while two remained as mesozooplankton-free controls. Both before and after the addition of copepods there was a positive correlation of diatom dominance with Si:N ratios. During the second phase of the experiment, copepod and microzooplankton grazing rates on different phytoplankton species were assessed by a modification of the Landry-Hassett dilution technique, where the bottles containing the different dilution treatments were replaced by dialysis bags incubated in situ. The results indicated no overlap in the food spectrum of microzooplankton (mainly ciliates) and copepods. Ciliates fed on nanoplankton, while copepods fed on large or chain-forming diatoms, naked dinoflagellates, and ciliates. The calculated trophic level of copepods showed a significantly negative but weak correlation with Si:N ratios. The strength of this response was strongly dependent on the trophic levels assumed for ciliates and mixotrophic dinoflagellates.     

Assimilation of Fe and carbon by marine copepods from Fe-limited and Fe-replete diatom prey

Previous studies have demonstrated that growth of marine phytoplankton, bacteria and protozoa can be limited by the availability of Fe. We report evidence that the amount of Fe assimilated by crustacean grazers is affected by the Fe status of their pry. ⁵⁹Fe and ¹⁴C radiotracers were used to follow the fate of Fe and carbon during trophic transfer from diatoms to copepods. Fe assimilation efficiency was higher for copepods ingesting Fe-limited Thalassiosira weissflogii (17%) compared to diatoms that were not limited by Fe (10%), but assimilated Fe was lost more rapidly by copepods ingesting Fe-limited prey. Fe:C assimilation ratios were lower in copepods (5-12 mol Fe:mol C) than the cellular ratios of the phytoplankton prey (17-35 mol Fe:mol C), suggesting that copepods do not accumulate Fe relative to C during grazing. The largest single fate for Fe and C after grazing was regeneration to dissolved pools. Fe:C ratios in dissolved pools were approximately equal to the ratios in the original prey, but Fe:C ratios were higher in particular pools (largely fecal pellets), which should facilitate the export of Fe from the euphotic zone relative to C. Although copepod grazing does recycle cellular Fe and C, our results indicate that grazing may also tend to enhance Fe stress for lower trophic levels by removing Fe from the euphotic zone faster than C.      

Planktonic microbes: Tiny cells at the base of the ocean's food webs

Phytoplankton in the size range 5-100 μm was originally thought to be the primary source of food for most life in the sea. However, smaller planktonic microbes, down to 0.2 μm in size, have been the focus of intensive investigation by marine scientists during the past two decades. These microbes attain high abundance and biomass in all parts of the world ocean. They include non-photosynthesizing bacteria, at least two types of photosynthesizing prokaryotes, and eukaryotic phototrophs. The new information has resulted in a greatly revised concept of how pelagic ecosystems in both marine and freshwater environments function. The original idea of a basically linear food chain from diatoms to copepods to fish has given way to an extremely complex model of trophic interactions within a microbial food web, which supports metazoan food webs via biomass production of both heterotrophic and autotrophic cells.