Hemispheric‐scale patterns of climate‐related shifts in planktonic diatoms from North American and European lakes

A synthesis of over 200 diatom‐based paleolimnological records from nonacidified/nonenriched lakes reveals remarkably similar taxon‐specific shifts across the Northern Hemisphere since the 19th century. Our data indicate that these diatom shifts occurred in conjunction with changes in freshwater habitat structure and quality, which, in turn, we link to hemispheric warming trends. Significant increases in the relative abundances of planktonic Cyclotella taxa (P<0.01) were concurrent with sharp declines in both heavily silicified Aulacoseira taxa (P<0.01) and benthic Fragilaria taxa (P<0.01). We demonstrate that this trend is not limited to Arctic and alpine environments, but that lakes at temperate latitudes are now showing similar ecological changes. As expected, the onset of biological responses to warming occurred significantly earlier (P<0.05) in climatically sensitive Arctic regions (median age=ad 1870) compared with temperate regions (median age=ad 1970). In a detailed paleolimnological case study, we report strong relationships (P<0.005) between sedimentary diatom data from Whitefish Bay, Lake of the Woods (Ontario, Canada), and long‐term changes in air temperature and ice‐out records. Other potential environmental factors, such as atmospheric nitrogen deposition, could not explain our observations. These data provide clear evidence that unparalleled warming over the last few decades resulted in substantial increases in the length of the ice‐free period that, similar to 19th century changes in high‐latitude lakes, likely triggered a reorganization of diatom community composition. We show that many nonacidified, nutrient‐poor, freshwater ecosystems throughout the Northern Hemisphere have crossed important climatically induced ecological thresholds. These findings are worrisome, as the ecological changes that we report at both mid‐ and high‐latitude sites have occurred with increases in mean annual air temperature that are less than half of what is projected for these regions over the next half century.     

北京四校园人工湖浮游藻类与富营养化特征分析

浮游藻类作为重要的生物指标已被广泛运用于各种水体的富营养化监测与评价中.论文对北京市4个校园人工湖的浮游藻类群落组成及季节变化展开调查,探讨了浮游藻类生物指标和富营养化的关系及其季节变化规律.调查期间,镜鉴得到39个属,隶属于蓝藻,绿藻和硅藻门.4个水体生物密度的季节平均值均高于500 cell·mL^-1,多样性指数普遍介于2～3之间.TN,TP和COD显示各水体都已处于富营养化状态.综合生物指标和水质指标进行聚类分析,结果显示:4个人工湖不同季节的水体可分为绿藻型,蓝,绿藻型和硅藻型三大类富营养化水体:荷花池,荷塘浮游藻类群落相似性最高,而荷塘、未名湖夏季富营养化程度最接近.     

Increase in photosynthetic efficiency as a strategy of planktonic organisms exploiting deep lake layers

1. The photosynthetic efficiencies of the mixotrophic ciliate Ophrydium naumanni and the autotrophic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium paradoxum were investigated using laboratory and field experiments in Lake Moreno Oeste (41°5′S and 71°33′W, 758 m a.s.l.), in the Nahuel Huapi System (North Patagonia, Argentina). 2. The effect of different underwater light intensities on net primary production (NPP) was assessed during one summer. Additionally, laboratory experiments were carried out to obtain photosynthesis‐irradiance response curves for each species. 3. Ophrydium naumanni and G. paradoxum dominated the metalimnetic (30 m depth) deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) in the lake. 4. Despite these deep higher abundances, the cell‐specific production of both species was higher at 10 m than at 30 m (DCM) depth. In addition, at 5 m depth, NPP was reduced by PAR + UV‐A radiation. 5. Both species exhibited a positive NPP at very low irradiance but the mixotrophic ciliate was more efficient in exploiting the DCM irradiance level both in situ and at comparable light intensities in laboratory experiments. Light acclimatised O. naumanni showed a higher NPP at lower irradiances and photoinhibition at medium and high irradiances. 6. Under the strong wind‐driven turbulence commonly found in Patagonian lakes, organisms cannot select their position in the epilimnetic water column and will be dragged to potentially harmful UV radiation levels. Thus, metalimnetic DCM colonisation by these two species represents a tradeoff between higher survival and lower cell‐specific NPP.     

Spatial and temporal variability of surface water in the Kuroshio source region, Pacific Ocean, over the past 21,000 years: evidence from planktonic foraminifera

The Kuroshio Current is the major western boundary current of the North Pacific Ocean and has had a large impact on surface water character and climate change in the northwestern Pacific region. The Kuroshio Current becomes a distinctive surface flow in the Ryukyu Arc region after diverging from the North Equatorial Current and passing through the Okinawa Trough. Therefore, the Ryukyu Arc area can be called the Kuroshio source region. We reconstructed post-21-ka time–space changes in surface water masses in the Ryukyu Arc region using 15 piston cores which were dated by planktonic δ¹⁸O stratigraphy and AMS ¹⁴C ages. Our analysis utilized spatial and temporal changes in planktonic foraminiferal assemblages which were classified into the Kuroshio, Subtropical, Coastal, and Cold water groups on the basis of modern faunal distributions in the study region. These results indicate that the Kuroshio Current and adjacent surface water masses experienced major changes during: (1) the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and (2) the so-called Pulleniatina minimum event (PME) from 4,500 to 3,000 yr BP. The Kuroshio LGM event corresponds to severe global cooling and is marked by decreases in planktonic δ¹⁸O values and estimated sea-surface temperature (SST) with the dominance of the Cold water group of planktonic foraminifera. Cooling within the Kuroshio source region was enhanced during the LGM event because the Kuroshio Current was forced eastward due to the formation of a land bridge between Taiwan and the southern Ryukyu Arc which prohibited its flow into the Okinawa Trough. Except for the severe reduction and disappearance of the Pulleniatina group, no clear cooling signal was identified during the PME based on δ¹⁸O values, estimated SST values and variations in the composition of planktonic foraminiferal faunas. The PME assemblages are marked by high abundances of Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, a distinctive Kuroshio type species, along with other species assigned to the Coastal and Central water groups. Subtle ecological differences exist between Pulleniatina obliquiloculata and N. dutertrei; i.e. P. obliquiloculata exhibits lower rates of reproduction under conditions of lower primary productivity in the central Equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Niño-like conditions in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean result in lower rates of surface transport in the Kuroshio Current. In turn, this response triggers lower rates of primary productivity in central equatorial surface waters as well as in the upstream Kuroshio source region, ultimately resulting in a lower abundance of P. obliquiloculata. Thus, we interpret the PME as a possible proxy signal of El Niño-like conditions and enhancement of the El Niño Southern Oscillation climate system after the PME in the tropical and sub-tropical Pacific Ocean.     

Late Quaternary Protoperidinium cysts as indicators of paleoproductivity in the northern Arabian Sea

The reliability of organic-walled cysts of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Protoperidinium as paleoproductivity indicators and the influence of bottom water oxygenation on cyst preservation is assessed by using Arabian Sea records of the past 125 kyr as a natural laboratory. Multidisciplinary geochemical, micropaleontological and palynological datasets are integrated to analyze the relationship between Protoperidinium cyst concentrations and other paleoproductivity proxies. Differential preservation potential is quantified in order to establish threshold oxidative degradation values for a possible application of quantitative Protoperidinium cyst records in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Results indicate that variations in Protoperidinium cyst concentration closely correspond to other marine productivity and/or upwelling proxies. Although oxygenation will lead to significant cyst degradation, and thus decreased concentrations, down-core patterns in Protoperidinium cyst concentration still primarily reflect changes in sea surface productivity. In view of differential preservation among dinoflagellate cysts, down-core variations in relative abundance of Protoperidinium should be treated with caution.     

Carbonate dissolution and planktonic foraminiferal assemblages observed in three piston cores collected above the lysocline in the western equatorial Pacific

Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages were analyzed in three piston cores recovered from depths above the recent sedimentary lysocline (3.5 km) in the western Pacific Ocean for the purposes of (1) evaluating the effects of carbonate dissolution on fossil assemblages and (2) the impact of dissolution on paleoceanographic reconstructions for the past 300 kyr. We used the perfect test ratio (PTR) of Globorotalia menardii as an indicator of carbonate dissolution. Down-core variations of the PTR indicate that significant dissolution occurred during reglaciation steps represented by isotope stages 7–6, 5–4, and 3–2. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) based on the relative abundances of dominant species of planktonic foraminifera indicate that down-core changes in factor 1 loadings correlate with variations in PTR and with variations in the percentage of coarse fraction (>63 μm) present in the sediments. These correlations indicate that foraminiferal assemblages were apparently altered by dissolution events despite the fact that they were deposited at water depths shallower than the modern lysocline. We also estimated variations in paleo-sea surface temperature (paleo-SST) using the transfer function FP-12E. A negative correlation was found in communality as calculated from PCA and factor 1 loadings; this trend is distinct for the case of communality lower than 0.9. Thus, we conclude that estimated paleo-SST values based upon analysis of planktonic foraminifera are biased by carbonate dissolution.     

The Effect of pH on Copper Toxicity to Blue-Green Algae

The effect of pH on copper toxicity to two planktonic blue-green algae, Aphanizomenon gracile and Oscillatoria redekei, was investigated. Growth rates of the algae without copper treatment decrease with pH, Aphanizomenon is earlier and more affected than Oscillatoria. On the other hand, pH-lowering leads sooner to a toxicity enhancement in Oscillatoria. In the acid range, toxicity retardation occurs in Aphanizomenon. At pH 5.1, shortening of the interval between copper toxicity and copper stimulus is characteristic for both species.     

Food and predation as major factors limiting two natural populations of Daphnia cucullata Sars

A detailed analysis of two euplanktonic populations carried out in the same period, 18 May–11 August, 1978, in two neighboring Mazurian lakes revealed different patterns of changes in population densities and significant differences in fecundity, age structure and mean sizes of individuals despite similar epilimnion temperatures in the lakes. Similar densities were maintained in both populations although food limitation was less important and predation more intense in one than in the other of the two lakes. The relative importance of food limitation and predation is discussed in lakes of low and high fertility. It is also suggested that both low food concentration and high selective predation pressure favors small clutch sizes in cladocerans.     

GENERAL FEATURES OF PHOTOPROTECTION BY ENERGY DISSIPATION IN PLANKTONIC DIATOMS (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE)1

Planktonic diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) have to cope with large fluctuations of light intensity and periodic exposure to high light. After a shift to high light, photoprotective dissipation of excess energy characterized by the nonphotochemical quenching of fluorescence (NPQ) and the concomitant deepoxidation of diadinoxanthin to diatoxanthin (DT) were measured in four different planktonic marine diatoms (Bacillariophyceae): Skeletonema costatum (Greville) Cleve, Cylindrotheca fusiformis Reimann et Lewin, Thalassiosira weissflogii (Grunow) Fryxell et Hasle, and Ditylum brightwellii (West) Grunow in comparison to the model organism Phaeodactylum tricornutum Böhlin. Upon a sudden increase of light intensity, deepoxidation was rapid and de novo synthesis of DT also occurred. In all species, NPQ was linearly related to the amount of DT formed during high light. In this report, we focused on the role of DT in the dissipation of energy that takes place in the light‐harvesting complex. In S. costatum for the same amount of DT, less NPQ was formed than in P. tricornutum and as a consequence the photoprotection of PSII was less efficient. The general features of photoprotection by harmless dissipation of excess energy in planktonic diatoms described here partly explain why diatoms are well adapted to light intensity fluctuations.     

Studies on the biology of Chaoborus flavicans (Meigen) (Diptera: Chaoboridae) in a fish-free eutrophic pond,Japan

Population dynamics of Chaoborus flavicans larvae of various instars was studied from November 1986 to December 1987 in a eutrophic, fish-free pond, Japan. First and 2nd instar larvae were observed from late April to late October, indicating a reproductive period of about half a year. C. flavicans overwintered in the 4th instar larvae. In water column samples, total density of all instars was 680–23680 m^-2, and pupal density 0–2600 m^-2; larvae of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd instars showed 5–6 density peaks in 1987, suggesting that 5–6 generations occur during a year (peaks of the 4th instar larvae were not clear, probably due to their longer development than those of younger instars). In sediment samples, no 1st and 2nd instar larvae were found, 3rd instar larvae were found occasionally but density of the 4th instar larvae was 280–18600 m^-2, and pupal density varied between 0–502 m^-2. Fouth instar larvae accumulated in sediment in the cold season and in the water column in the warm season; high temperature and low oxygen concentration were the most important factors limiting the distribution of larvae in the sediment in summer in the NIES pond. The dry weight of total C. flavicans larvae was 0.08–4.2 g m^-2 in sediment samples and 24–599 μg l^-1 (0.10–2.40 g m^-2) in water column samples. Comparisons of maximum densities in the NIES pond in different years and in waters of different trophic status show that density is generally higher in eutrophic than in oligotrophic habitats. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.