Exploring the impact of multi-decadal environmental changes on the population genetic structure of a marine primary producer

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring the impact of multi-decadal environmental changes on the population genetic structure of a marine primary producer

AU - Lundholm, Nina

AU - Ribeiro, Sofia

AU - Godhe, Anna

AU - Nielsen, Lene Rostgaard

AU - Ellegaard, Marianne

PY - 2017/5

Y1 - 2017/5

N2 - Many marine protists form resting stages that can remain viable in coastal sediments for several decades. Their long-term survival offers the possibility to explore the impact of changes in environmental conditions on population dynamics over multidecadal time scales. Resting stages of the phototrophic dinoflagellate Pentapharsodinium dalei were isolated and germinated from five layers in dated sediment cores from Koljö fjord, Sweden, spanning ca. 1910–2006. This fjord has, during the last century, experienced environmental fluctuations linked to hydrographic variability mainly driven by the North Atlantic Oscillation. Population genetic analyses based on six microsatellite markers revealed high genetic diversity and suggested that samples belonged to two clusters of subpopulations that have persisted for nearly a century. We observed subpopulation shifts coinciding with changes in hydrographic conditions. The large degree of genetic diversity and the potential for both fluctuation and recovery over longer time scales documented here, may help to explain the long-term success of aquatic protists that form resting stages.

AB - Many marine protists form resting stages that can remain viable in coastal sediments for several decades. Their long-term survival offers the possibility to explore the impact of changes in environmental conditions on population dynamics over multidecadal time scales. Resting stages of the phototrophic dinoflagellate Pentapharsodinium dalei were isolated and germinated from five layers in dated sediment cores from Koljö fjord, Sweden, spanning ca. 1910–2006. This fjord has, during the last century, experienced environmental fluctuations linked to hydrographic variability mainly driven by the North Atlantic Oscillation. Population genetic analyses based on six microsatellite markers revealed high genetic diversity and suggested that samples belonged to two clusters of subpopulations that have persisted for nearly a century. We observed subpopulation shifts coinciding with changes in hydrographic conditions. The large degree of genetic diversity and the potential for both fluctuation and recovery over longer time scales documented here, may help to explain the long-term success of aquatic protists that form resting stages.

U2 - 10.1002/ece3.2906

DO - 10.1002/ece3.2906

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28480012

SN - 2045-7758

VL - 7

SP - 3132

EP - 3142

JO - Ecology and Evolution

JF - Ecology and Evolution

IS - 9

ER -