Morphological variability of Aulacoseira granulata (Ehr.) Simonsen (Bacillariophyceae) in the Lower Paraná River (Argentina)

In this paper we consider the morphological variation within a natural population of Aulacoseira granulata (Ehr.) Simonsen in relation to environmental factors. This species was dominant in the phytoplankton of the Lower Paraná River (Argentina) and exhibited seasonal fluctuations of cell dimensions. The mean cell diameter was directly correlated with the river water level and inversely with pH and nitrate concentrations, whereas cell length was directly correlated with transparency and nitrate concentration and inversely with suspended solids. This pattern was similar to that observed for filament length. The cell length : diameter ratio was inversely related to water level and discharge and directly related to pH, transparency, and nitrate concentration. Maximum diameters did not coincide with maximum lengths. A tendency to maintain cell volume throughout the annual cycle was observed, which probably relates to both buoyancy and photosynthetic capacity. These results associate the water ascendancy and the size recovery phases to discharge. Cells become smaller on the ebbing of the flood phase, and the decreasing depth increases the probability that the alga will be disentrained from the turbulent field. The loss during low water would act as a stimulus for auxosporulation, contributing to the production of large cells to start off the next population. Received: August 12, 2000 / Accepted: November 14, 2000     

Observations on Aulacoseira nipponica from Lake Biwa, Japan, and Aulacoseira solida from North America (Bacillariophyceae)

A recent diatom, Aulacoseira nipponica (Skvortzow) Tuji comb. et stat. nov., is described from Lake Biwa, Japan, where they had been identified previously as Aulacoseira solida (Eulenstein) Krammer. These forms are compared with populations of A. solida from North America. The Japanese species differs from the North American specimens in characteristics related to the density of striae and form of the rimoportulae.     

PHYLOGENY OF AULACOSEIRA (BACILLARIOPHYTA) BASED ON MOLECULES AND MORPHOLOGY1

The phylogeny of 67 populations representing 45 species of Aulacoseira Thwaites was estimated by maximum parsimony methods using a combination of nucleotide sequence data and qualitative and quantitative morphological characteristics of the silica cell wall gathered primarily from original observation by LM and SEM. A new type of character using continuous quantitative variables that describe the ontogenetic‐allometric trajectories of cell wall characteristics over the life cycle (size range) of diatoms is introduced. In addition to the 45 Aulacoseira species, the phylogeny also incorporated one Miosira Krammer, Lange‐Bertalot, and Schiller species and two outgroup species (Melosira varians Agardh and Stephanopyxis nipponica Gran & Yendo). Fifteen species, represented by 24 populations, also contained molecular data from the nuclear genome (18S rDNA), and 11 of these species (18 populations) contained data from the chloroplast genome (rbcL) as well, which were sequenced or downloaded from GenBank. The phylogeny of Aulacoseira is composed of five major clades: 1) an A. crenulata (Ehrenburg) Thwaites and A. italica (Ehrenburg) Simonsen clade, which is the most basal; 2) an A. granulata (Ehrenburg) Simonsen complex clade; 3) an A. ambigua (Grunow) Simonsen clade; 4) an A. subarctica (O. Müller) Haworth and A. distans (Ehrenburg) Simonsen clade; and 5) an A. islandica (O. Müller) Simonsen clade that also contained endemic species from Lake Baikal, Siberia and many extinct Aulacoseira taxa. Monophyly of Aulacoseira can only be achieved if Miosira is no longer given separate generic status.     

Long‐term trends in the diatom composition of the spring bloom of a German reservoir: is Aulacoseira subarctica favoured by warm winters?

1. Long‐term data on the meteorology, hydrology, physicochemistry and plankton of a reservoir and its tributaries in SE Germany run from 1976 until now. This dimictic reservoir changed from mesotrophic to eutrophic in the 1970s, remained eutrophic in the 1980s and returned to the mesotrophic state after a sharp reduction in P loading in 1990. 2. Phytoplankton biomass reaches an annual maximum in spring and consists almost entirely of diatoms. While Asterionella formosa was dominant until 1990, Aulacoseira subarctica became more frequent at the end of the 1990s and was particularly abundant in years with short winters. 3. Statistical analyses suggested that these changes were triggered primarily by the mild winters that were frequent after 1988. Climate‐related hydrophysical variables and the initial biomass of the diatoms at the beginning of the year, considered as an ‘inoculum’, were identified as most important. These variables explained 39% of the total variance of the relative abundance, whereas the change in trophic conditions was responsible for about 20%. 4. The absolute and relative abundance of A. subarctica was positively related to short ice cover, early ice‐out and a long‐lasting spring circulation. Owing to its physiological traits, and particularly its ability to survive under low‐light conditions, A. subarctica benefitted from short, mild winters. Under such conditions, it could sustain or establish a high initial biomass, whereas the concentrations of the other diatoms decreased over winter. However, this advantage may be lost if further warming causes an early onset of summer stratification. Because of its low population growth rate and requirement for high turbulence, A. subarctica needs long, cold springs to exploit the improved starting conditions and to become abundant. 5. In contrast to A. subarctica, A. formosa required a substantial soluble reactive phosphorus supply to compete successfully. The eutrophic conditions until 1990 were the prerequisite for its mass growth under low‐light and low‐temperature conditions during the spring. After reduction in P concentration from 1990, A. formosa declined and other diatom species became more abundant. 6. These other diatoms may be viewed as ‘stopgaps’ when conditions were not favourable for A. subarctica or A. formosa. Diatoma elongatum exploited brief circulation periods in years with low P loading. Synedra acus and Fragilaria crotonensis, because of their poor competitive ability at low light intensity, reached high density in the upper water column in the transitional period between spring circulation and summer stratification. 7. Our study suggests that climate‐related variables have crucial impacts on the spring phytoplankton dynamics of deep stratified waterbodies. They can mask the consequences of changes in the trophic conditions and, corresponding to the functional traits of the different phytoplankton species, also decisively control their relative abundances. In this reservoir, the warmer winters and prolonged spring circulations did not only lead to high phytoplankton biomass (despite considerably reduced nutrient loads) but also cause a marked shift in the diatom assemblage during the spring bloom.     

AULACOSEIRA SKVORTZOWII SP. NOV. (BACILLARIOPHYTA), A POORLY UNDERSTOOD DIATOM FROM LAKE BAIKAL,RUSSIA1

Aulacoseira skvortzowii sp. nov. is a diatom taxon present in modern plankton assemblages and sedimentary deposits from Lake Baikal, Russia. It has been previously reported as A. islandica (O. Müll.) Simonsen, A. islandica ssp. helvetica (O. Müll.) Simonsen, a sporangial frustule of A. baicalensis (K. Meyer) Simonsen, and Aulacoseira “spore”. However, its microstructure, ecology, and ability to form true resting spores provide ample criteria to describe this diatom as Aulacoseira skvortzowii sp. nov.     

CYTOPLASMIC MASSES PRESERVED IN EARLY HOLOCENE DIATOMS: A POSSIBLE TAPHONOMIC PROCESS AND ITS PALEO‐ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS1

In Lake Suigetsu, central Japan, greenish/light‐brown granules identified as cytoplasmic masses had been preserved in siliceous cell walls of freshwater diatoms in annual layers of lacustrine muds since the early Holocene. The lacustrine muds consisted of alternating dark‐colored (rich in diatom valves, clay, and organic matter) and light‐colored (mainly diatom valves) laminae. The greenish/light‐brown granules were predominately preserved in frustules of the genus Aulacoseira preserved in the dark‐colored laminae. The dark‐colored laminae were inferred to have formed annually under stratified water caused by surface water warming in summer that caused the formation of an organic‐rich anoxic layer on the lake bottom that favored granule preservation. The good preservation of cytoplasmic masses in dark‐colored laminae suggested a cause for diatom assemblage periodicity, a phenomenon that was commonly noted in temperate lakes: the cells containing these masses could be potential seed stocks for subsequent spring blooms. Frustules of the most abundant granule‐containing species, Aulacoseira nipponica (Skvortzow) Tuji, in the dark‐colored laminae of the Early Holocene muds were abundant in the overlying light‐colored laminae, suggesting that these species reproduced abundantly in springtime yielding a massive diatom bloom.     

西江颗粒直链藻种群生态特征

西江肇庆段是珠江干流汇入珠三角河网水域的咽喉通道,结合长期定点连续采样和空间季节性调查,重点对2009年西江干流肇庆段的颗粒直链藻(Aulacoseira granulata)的种群生态学特征进行系统分析。结果显示:全年中,颗粒直链藻在总种群中所占百分比均值为25.37%,与总种群丰度存在极显著正相关关系,这表明颗粒直链藻是西江浮游植物群落的重要优势种。调查期间发现了颗粒直链藻的4种形态,包括原变种(var.granulata)、极狭变种(var.angustissima)、弯曲变种(var.curvata)和极狭变种螺旋变型(var.angustissima f.spiralis)。其中,原变种占有绝对优势地位,其相对百分组成的年均值为91.47%,推测为原变种的形态结构比其它3种形态更容易适应外界环境变化,进而形成优势群体。颗粒直链藻总密度的周年变化呈现明显的双峰型,两个峰值分别出现在8月和11月,主要得益于适宜的水温、相对稳定的水体和较高的营养盐水平,这些均有助于颗粒直链藻的生长繁殖。第一个高峰之前,颗粒直链藻总密度未出现明显的波动,这很可能是由于水体径流量增大导致的稀释作用和频繁降雨导致的水体剧烈波动对颗粒直链藻增长的负作用掩盖了水温上升所带来的益处。从空间分布来看,颗粒直链藻总丰度的最大值一般出现在S1、S5和S6站点,这与营养盐最大值的空间分布格局是一致的。     

珠江下游颗粒沟链藻Aulacoseira granulata (Ehrenberg) Simonsen及形态相近种赫组基沟链藻Aulacoseira herzogii (Lemmerman) Simonsen的形态学研究

采用扫描电镜(SEM)技术,对采自珠江下游的沟链藻属2个物种颗粒沟链藻Aulacoseira granulata(Ehrenberg)Simonsen和赫组基沟链藻A.herzogii(Lemmerman)Simonsen的形态特征进行了观察和描述,并与其他相近种的形态异同点进行了比较分析。     

Investigation of morphological change of Aulacoseira baicalensis using a small desktop incubator controlling light and temperature

A desktop incubator with temperature control over the range 1–20°C (±0.5°C) was designed to hold two microtitre plates. Illumination of individual wells in the plate was by a matrix of 96 light-emitting diodes, whose intensity, period and pulsation could be controlled individually in each of 12 rows of eight chambers. The incubator was used to test how the length of light period affected cell length of the planktonic diatom Aulacoseira baicalensis, which only grows below 4°C. Short cells (mean length 26 µm) were formed under a 8-h : 16-h light–dark cycle, intermediate cells (mean length 35 µm) under a 4-h : 20-h light–dark cycle and longer cells (mean 38 µm) under a 2-h : 22-h light–dark cycle. These were similar to changes in mean cell length from 28 to 49 µm found in Lake Baikal during a decrease in light period caused by increased convective mixing from 15 m under-ice to 94 m after ice break-up. The laboratory experiments confirmed that decreasing light period was the environmental cue that initiated the production of long cells that then developed into resting stages.     

Aulacoseira subarctica: taxonomy,physiology, ecology and palaeoecology

Knowledge of the morphology, taxonomy, physiology, ecology and palaeoecology of the filamentous freshwater diatom Aulacoseira subarctica (O. Müller) Haworth is reviewed from the literature. The species is widely distributed across Northern Europe, Scandinavia and North America, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, in the last usually as fo. subborealis. The species is rare in the Tropics and positive identifications are lacking for Africa. The importance of correct identification is stressed because literature reports of its occurrence often need revision. A comparison is made between two sites with detailed records of its seasonal cycle. Blelham Tarn, England, is a clear-water seasonally stratified lake; Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland, is a very large turbid and unstratified lake. In spite of their contrasting characters, Aulacoseira subarctica succeeds in both lakes. In Blelham Tarn, there is a strong seasonal cycle of growth, dormancy on the sediment and further growth on re-suspension. In Lough Neagh, there is a large deposition of cells at the end of the spring bloom but few of these cells survive grazing by benthic animals. Fossil occurrences are summarized from the species’ initial appearance in the Pliocene and its later occurrence during the last inter-glacial (Eemian) deposits in NW Europe, where it is an important ecological indicator. Palaeolimnological studies are reviewed to describe the contemporary distribution and ecological preference of this widespread diatom. Aulacoseira subarctica usually appears in response to moderate increases in nutrients but is disadvantaged by further enrichment. In Blelham Tarn the species only became abundant during the twentieth century, reaching a peak between 1930 and 1960. With nutrient enrichment, abundance has declined. In Lough Neagh, it has been present for much of the post-glacial period and still thrives today in spite of the highly enriched state of the lake. The species has disappeared from many eutrophic lakes and its sustained existence in Lough Neagh is anomalous. Lough Neagh may continue to offer a favourable habitat in spite of the poor light climate because the water depth, lack of stratification and long water retention time reduce losses to a sustainable level.