TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of small-scale turbulence on lower trophic levels under different nutrient conditions
AU - Iversen, Kriss Rokkan
AU - Primicerio, Raul
AU - Larsen, Aud
AU - K. Egge, Jorun
AU - Peters, Francesc
AU - Guadayol, Óscar
AU - Jacobsen, Anita
AU - Havskum, Harry
AU - Marrasé, Cèlia
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - Small-scale turbulence affects the pelagic food web and energy flow in marine systems and the impact is related to nutrient conditions and the assemblage of organisms present. We generated five levels of turbulence (2*10-9 to 1*10-4 W kg-1) in land-based mesocosms (volume 2.6 m3) with and without additional nutrients (31:16:1 Si:N:P μM) to asses the effect of small-scale turbulence on the lower part of the pelagic food web under different nutrient conditions. The ecological influence of nutrients and small-scale turbulence on lower trophic levels was quantified using multivariate statistics (RDA), where nutrients accounted for 31.8% of the observed biological variation, while 7.2% of the variation was explained by small-scale turbulence and its interaction with nutrients. Chlorophyll a, primary production rates, bacterial production rates and diatom and dinoflagellate abundance were positively correlated to turbulence, regardless of nutrient conditions. Abundance of autotrophic flagellates, total phytoplankton and bacteria were positively correlated to turbulence only when nutrients were added. Impact of small-scale turbulence was related to nutrient conditions, with implications for oligotrophic and eutrophic situations. The effect on community level was also different compared to single species level. Microbial processes drive biogeochemical cycles, and nutrient-controlled effects of small-scale turbulence on such processes are relevant to foresee altered carbon flow in marine systems.
AB - Small-scale turbulence affects the pelagic food web and energy flow in marine systems and the impact is related to nutrient conditions and the assemblage of organisms present. We generated five levels of turbulence (2*10-9 to 1*10-4 W kg-1) in land-based mesocosms (volume 2.6 m3) with and without additional nutrients (31:16:1 Si:N:P μM) to asses the effect of small-scale turbulence on the lower part of the pelagic food web under different nutrient conditions. The ecological influence of nutrients and small-scale turbulence on lower trophic levels was quantified using multivariate statistics (RDA), where nutrients accounted for 31.8% of the observed biological variation, while 7.2% of the variation was explained by small-scale turbulence and its interaction with nutrients. Chlorophyll a, primary production rates, bacterial production rates and diatom and dinoflagellate abundance were positively correlated to turbulence, regardless of nutrient conditions. Abundance of autotrophic flagellates, total phytoplankton and bacteria were positively correlated to turbulence only when nutrients were added. Impact of small-scale turbulence was related to nutrient conditions, with implications for oligotrophic and eutrophic situations. The effect on community level was also different compared to single species level. Microbial processes drive biogeochemical cycles, and nutrient-controlled effects of small-scale turbulence on such processes are relevant to foresee altered carbon flow in marine systems.
U2 - 10.1093/plankt/fbp113
DO - 10.1093/plankt/fbp113
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0142-7873
VL - 32
SP - 197
EP - 208
JO - Journal of Plankton Research
JF - Journal of Plankton Research
IS - 2
ER -
