Toward a phenological mismatch in estuarine pelagic food web?

Alterations of species phenology in response to climate change are now unquestionable. Until now, most studies have reported precocious occurrence of life cycle events as a major phenological response. Desynchronizations of biotic interactions, in particular predator-prey relationships, are however assumed to strongly impact ecosystems' functioning, as formalized by the Match-Mismatch Hypothesis (MMH). Temporal synchronicity between juvenile fish and zooplankton in estuaries is therefore of essential interest since estuaries are major nursery grounds for many commercial fish species. The Gironde estuary (SW France) has suffered significant alterations over the last three decades, including two Abrupt Ecosystem Shifts (AES), and three contrasted intershift periods. The main objective of this study was to depict modifications in fish and zooplankton phenology among inter-shift periods and discuss the potential effects of the resulting mismatches at a community scale. A flexible Bayesian method was used to estimate and compare yearly patterns of species abundance in the estuary among the three pre-defined periods. Results highlighted (1) an earlier peak of zooplankton production and entrance of fish species in the estuary and (2) a decrease in residence time of both groups in the estuary. Such species-specific phenological changes led to changes in temporal overlap between juvenile fish and their zooplanktonic prey. This situation questions the efficiency and potentially the viability of nursery function of the Gironde estuary, with potential implications for coastal marine fisheries of the Bay of Biscay.

Climatic facilitation of the colonization of an estuary by Acartia tonsa.

Global change has become a major driving force of both terrestrial and marine systems. Located at the interface between these two realms, estuarine ecosystems are probably the place where both direct and indirect effects of human activities conspire together to affect biodiversity from phytoplankton to top predators. Among European estuarine systems, the Gironde is the largest estuary of Western Europe and many studies have provided evidence that it has been affected by a variety of anthropogenic stressors such as thermal and chemical pollution, physical alterations and exploitation, especially for maritime traffic. In such a context, species introduction is also a current major issue with the establishment of strong competitive species that could lead to ecosystem reorganization with potential decrease or even disappearance of native species. In the Gironde estuary, this hypothesis was proposed for the invasive shrimp species Palaemon macrodactylus as a decrease in the native species abundance was observed at the same time. Although species introduction often takes place via ballast water, the influence of climate-driven changes on the establishment of new species remains a key issue. The calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa, observed in the Gironde estuary for the first time in 1983, have since colonized most part of the estuary, reaching a level of abundance comparable to the dominant native species Eurytemora affinis. In this study, using both the concept of the ecological niche sensu Hutchinson (fundamental and realized niches) and statistical models, we reveal that the dynamics of the colonization of A. tonsa was facilitated by environmental conditions that have become closer to its environmental optimum with respect to temperature and salinity.

Early evaluation of coastal nutrient over-enrichment: new procedures and indicators.

Recent studies have provided compelling evidence for an accelerated anthropogenic impact on coastal systems, resulting in intense inputs of materials and nutrients from the continent. This has led scientists and policymakers to encourage the implementation of monitoring programmes, which have resulted in the multiplicity of datasets. However surprisingly, only a few attempts have been made to couple observations with statistical and mathematical tools to detect, as soon as the data become available perturbations in coastal systems. Here, we propose new mathematical procedures to evaluate the state of a system, based on the building of relative reference state and indicators of nutrient over-enrichment. The techniques were tested in some French coastal systems using data from the programme SOMLIT. Applied to this dataset, the multivariate procedures rapidly identified and evaluated anthropogenic nutrient anomalies from the continent on three sites (Wimereux, Roscoff and Villefranche-sur-Mer) from 1997 onwards.

The particulate 7Be/210Pbxs and 234Th/210Pbxs activity ratios as tracers for tidal-to-seasonal particle dynamics in the Gironde estuary (France): implications for the budget of particle-associated contaminants.

The short-lived natural radionuclides (7)Be (T(1/2)=53 days), (234)Th(xs) (T(1/2)=24.1 days) and (210)Pb(xs) (T(1/2)=22.3 years), i.e. (234)Th and (210)Pb in excesses of that supported within particles by the decay of their parent isotopes, were analysed in suspended particulate matter (SPM) to study the particle dynamics in the Gironde fluvial estuarine system (France), strongly impacted by heavy metal pollution. From surveys of this land-ocean interface in 2006 and 2007, we established a times series of these radioisotopes and of their activity ratios ((7)Be/(210)Pb(xs) and (234)Th/(210)Pb(xs) ARs) in particles sampled under different hydrological conditions. The particulate (7)Be/(210)Pb(xs) AR varies along the fluvial estuarine system mainly due to variations in (7)Be activities, controlled by riverine, oceanic and atmospheric inputs and by resuspension of old (7)Be-deficient sediments. These processes vary with river discharge, tidal cycle and season. Therefore, seasonal particle transport processes can be described using variations of the SPM (7)Be/(210)Pb(xs) ARs. During high river discharge, the SPM (7)Be/(210)Pb(x) ARs decrease from river to the ocean. The turbidity maximum zone (TMZ) is dispersed and the particles, and the associated contaminants, are rapidly transported from river to coastal waters, without significant retention within the TMZ. During low river discharge, the TMZ intrudes into the fluvial estuary, and the lowest (7)Be/(210)Pb(x) ARs are observed there due to resuspension of (7)Be-deficient sediments. Away from the TMZ, from the middle to lower estuary, SPM (7)Be/(210)Pb(x) ARs increase, indicating that the particles have been recently tagged with (7)Be. We explain this trend as being caused by marine input of dissolved radionuclides, as traced by SPM (234)Th/(210)Pb(xs) ARs, followed by scavenging in the estuary. This result indicates that particle transport models based on (7)Be and trace-metal budgets must consider oceanic dissolved inputs as an additional source of (7)Be and, possibly, of contaminants to estuaries.

Pelagic food web patterns: do they modulate virus and nanoflagellate effects on picoplankton during the phytoplankton spring bloom?

As agents of mortality, viruses and nanoflagellates impact on picoplankton populations. We examined the differences in interactions between these compartments in two French Atlantic bays. Microbes, considered here as central actors of the planktonic food web, were first monitored seasonally in Arcachon (2005) and Marennes-Oléron (2006) bays. Their dynamics were evaluated to categorize trophic periods using the models of Legendre and Rassoulzadegan as a reference framework. Microbial interactions were then compared through 48 h batch culture experiments performed during the phytoplankton spring bloom, identified as herbivorous in Marennes and multivorous in Arcachon. Marennes was spatially homogeneous compared with Arcachon. The former was potentially more productive, featuring a large number of heterotrophic pathways, while autotrophic mechanisms dominated in Arcachon. A link was found between viruses and phytoplankton in Marennes, suggesting a role of virus in the regulation of autotroph biomass. Moreover, the virus-bacteria relation was weaker in Marennes, with a bacterial lysis potential of 2.6% compared with 39% in Arcachon. The batch experiments (based on size-fractionation and viral enrichment) revealed different microbial interactions that corresponded to the spring-bloom trophic interactions in each bay. In Arcachon, where there is a multivorous web, flagellate predation and viral lysis acted in an opposite way on picophytoplankton. When together they both reduced viral production. Conversely, in Marennes (herbivorous web), flagellates and viruses together increased viral production. Differences in the composition of the bacterial community composition explained the combined flagellate-virus effects on viral production in the two bays.

Infection dynamics of Marteilia refringens in flat oyster Ostrea edulis and copepod Paracartia grani in a claire pond of Marennes-Oléron Bay.

The protozoan parasite Marteilia refringens has been partly responsible for the severe decrease in the production of the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis Linnaeus in France since the 1970s. The calanoid copepod Paracartia grani Sars was recently found to be a host for M. refringens in French shallow-water oyster ponds ('claires'). This study reconsidered M. refringens transmission dynamics in the light of this finding, taking into account not only oyster infection dynamics and environmental factors but also data concerning the copepod host. P. grani population dynamics in the claire under study revealed that this species is the dominant planktonic copepod in this confined ecosystem. During winter, M. refringens overwintered in O. edulis, with P. grani existing only as resting eggs in the sediment. The increase in temperature in spring controlled and synchronized both the release of M. refringens sporangia in the oyster feces, and the hatching of the benthic resting eggs of the copepod. Infection of oysters by M. refringens was limited to June, July and August, coinciding with (1) the highest temperature recorded in the claire, and (2) the highest abundance of P. grani. PCR detection of M. refringens in P. grani during the summer period was linked to the release of parasite sporangia by the oyster. Our results are supported by previous results on the effective transmission of this parasite from the oyster to the copepod.