The influence of macrophyte ecological groups on food web components of temperate freshwater lakes.

Aquatic macrophyte taxonomic composition, species abundance and cover determine the physical structure, complexity and heterogeneity of aquatic habitats - the structuring role of macrophytes. These traits influence richness, distribution, feeding and strength of the relationships between food web communities in lakes. The aim of this study was to determine how lakes with different dominating macrophyte ecological groups affect planktonic food web components, emphasising the influence on young of year (YOY) fish and large (≥1 +) fish community. We hypothesised that different dominating macrophyte ecological groups have different structural effects on food web components and YOY fish growth, abundance and feeding. Studied lakes categorised into three different macrophyte ecological groups - lakes dominated by emergent, floating+floating-leaved or submerged vegetation. We found that all dominating ecological groups had a strong influence on plankton communities (except heterotrophic bacterioplankton and nanoflagellates), YOY fish and large fish. Floating-leaved plant dominance was positively related to planktonic food web structure and YOY fish weight, length, abundance and the consumption of zooplankton as a prey of all major species of YOY fishes. Larger fish tended to favour the presence of emergent vegetation. This conclusion has important implications for local managers and conservationists in respect to the maintenance and protection of littoral habitats and fish resources.

Factors influencing the pigment composition and dynamics of photoautotrophic picoplankton in shallow eutrophic lakes.

Photoautotrophic picoplankton (0.2-2 µm) can be a major contributor to primary production and play a significant part in the ecosystem carbon flow. However, the understanding about the dynamics of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic components of picoplankton in shallow eutrophic freshwater environments is still poor. Very few studies in these ecosystems reveal the taxonomic composition of picoeukaryotes. The main objective of this study was to investigate the seasonal dynamics of phototrophic picoplankton with the emphasis on the eukaryote community composition in a large shallow, eutrophic lake of the northern temperate zone (Lake Võrtsjärv). Phytoplankton pigments were employed to determine the taxonomic composition of photoautotrophic picoplankton. We found out that photoautotrophic picoplankton constitutes an important part of the phytoplankton community in Lake Võrtsjärv and its contribution can be highly variable (from ~9.3% to ~39%) in different years. The eukaryotic photoautotrophic picoplankton was dominated by diatoms followed by chrysophytes and other minor groups. Picoeukaryotes were prevailing in low-light conditions and low temperatures as their predominance in the picoplankton community was tightly linked to the presence or absence of ice cover. Ice cover strongly suppressed the growth of picocyanobacteria. Total phosphorus, turbidity and metazooplankton abundance had a clear relationship with photoautotrophic picoplankton chlorophyll a.

Importance of ciliates as food for fish larvae in a shallow sea bay and a large shallow lake.

We estimated the consumption of planktonic ciliates by fish larvae in the Väinameri Sea (a shallow semi-enclosed bay of the Baltic Sea) and Lake Võrtsjärv (a shallow and eutrophic lake). Our primary hypothesis was that planktonic ciliates constitute a substantial component of the diet of fish larvae in both environments. We also assumed that the contribution of ciliates to larval nutrition is bigger in lacustrine than in marine environment because ciliates are usually more abundant in lakes. The nutrition of field collected larval fish was determined by gut content analysis using epifluorescence microscopy. Our study revealed that ciliates occurred in the alimentary tracts of all fish species examined. We discovered that the consumption of ciliates by first-feeding fish larvae contributed approximately 40 and 60% of their total consumed carbon in the Väinameri and in Võrtsjärv, respectively. Ciliates represent essentially important food for fish larvae and sufficient protozoan food may enhance larval growth in the beginning of the exogenous feeding and shorten the most vulnerable period in larval stage before shifting to larger prey.

Effects of warming and nutrients on the microbial food web in shallow lake mesocosms.

We analysed changes in the abundance, biomass and cell size of the microbial food web community (bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, ciliates) at contrasting nutrient concentrations and temperatures during a simulated heat wave. We used 24 mesocosms mimicking shallow lakes in which two nutrient levels (unenriched and enriched by adding nitrogen and phosphorus) and three different temperature scenarios (ambient, IPCC A2 scenario and A2+%50) are simulated (4 replicates of each). Experiments using the mesocosms have been running un-interrupted since 2003. A 1-month heat wave was imitated by an extra 5 °C increase in the previously heated mesocosms (from 1st July to 1st August 2014). Changes in water temperature induced within a few days a strong effect on the microbial food web functioning, demonstrating a quick response of microbial communities to the changes in environment, due to their short generation times. Warming and nutrients showed synergistic effects. Microbial assemblages of heterotrophic nanoflagellates and ciliates responded positively to the heating, the increase being largest in the enriched mesocosms. The results indicate that warming and nutrients in combination can set off complex interactions in the microbial food web functioning.

The influence of zooplankton enrichment on the microbial loop in a shallow, eutrophic lake.

With increasing primary productivity, ciliates may become the most important members of the microbial loop and form a central linkage in the transformation of microbial production to upper trophic levels. How metazooplankters, especially copepods, regulate ciliate community structure in shallow eutrophic waters is not completely clear. We carried out mesocosm experiments with different cyclopoid copepod enrichments in a shallow eutrophic lake to examine the responses of ciliate community structure and abundance to changes in cyclopoid copepod biomass and to detect any cascading effects on bacterioplankton and edible phytoplankton. Our results indicate that an increase in copepod zooplankton biomass favours the development of small-sized bacterivorous ciliates. This effect is unleashed by the decline of predaceous ciliate abundance, which would otherwise graze effectively on the small-sized ciliates. The inverse relationship between crustacean zooplankton and large predaceous ciliates is an important feature adjusting not only the structure of the ciliate community but also the energy transfer between meta- and protozooplankton. Still we could not detect any cascading effects on bacterio- or phytoplankton that would be caused by the structural changes in the ciliate community.

Ciliate communities of a large shallow lake: association with macrophyte beds.

We investigated the influence of macrophyte composition on ciliate community structure in a large, shallow, eutrophic Lake Võrtsjärv. We hypothesized that macrophyte composition must have strong influence on the dispersal of ecologically different ciliate groups in a shallow lake and that more diverse macrophyte stands cause also a greater diversity in the ciliate community. In Võrtsjärv macrophyte distribution is spatially strongly polarized both in east-west and north-south directions in relation to abiotic factors. Phragmites australis and Myriophyllum spicatum were the most widespread species occurring in most parts of the lake. Correlation of environmental, macrophyte and planktonic ciliate variables confirmed the suggested spatial gradients. More diverse macrophyte stands supported a high species richness and abundance of epiplanktonic community but showed negative influence on the number and abundance of euplanktonic ciliate taxa. Opposite trends were found relative to the abundance of P. australis. Benthic ciliates showed a similar distribution pattern to euplanktonic taxa being most abundant in sites were the Shannon-Weaver index for macrophytes was low. Strong polarizing effect of the lake's vegetation on planktonic ciliate diversity was reflected in correlations of the number of ciliate taxa as well as the numbers of eu- and epiplanktonic taxa with geographic co-ordinates.

The effects of predation by planktivorous juvenile fish on the microbial food web.

The feeding impact of planktivorous fish on microbial organisms is still poorly understood. We followed the seasonal dynamics of the food web in two natural fishponds for two years: one was stocked with planktivorous whitefish while the other had no planktivorous fish. The aim of the study was the simultaneous assessment of the feeding behaviours of planktivorous fish and of bacterivorous meta-/protozooplankters. We hypothesized that in the presence of planktivorous fish there would be fewer metazooplankton, more protozoans and decreased numbers of bacteria. Our results showed that the amount of metazooplankton eaten by the fish was indeed negatively correlated with metazooplankton biomass. The feeding impact of planktivorous fish in shaping the microbial loop was remarkable. The main grazers of bacteria in the fishpond were ciliates, whereas in the pond without fish these were heterotrophic nanoflagellates. In the fishless pond the role of the top predator shifted to the predaceous metazooplankter Leptodora kindtii which controlled the abundance of herbivorous metazooplankters. We found a negative relationship between the number of bacteria and flagellates in the fishless pond, while the number of bacterivorous ciliates was suppressed by predaceous ciliates. Therefore the bacteria-grazing activity was higher in the absence of planktivorous fish.

From bacteria to piscivorous fish: estimates of whole-lake and component-specific metabolism with an ecosystem approach.

The influence of functional group specific production and respiration patterns on a lake's metabolic balance remains poorly investigated to date compared to whole-system estimates of metabolism. We employed a summed component ecosystem approach for assessing lake-wide and functional group-specific metabolism (gross primary production (GPP) and respiration (R)) in shallow and eutrophic Lake Võrtsjärv in central Estonia during three years. Eleven functional groups were considered: piscivorous and benthivorous fish; phyto-, bacterio-, proto- and metazooplankton; benthic macroinvertebrates, bacteria and ciliates; macrophytes and their associated epiphytes. Metabolism of these groups was assessed by allometric equations coupled with daily records of temperature and hydrology of the lake and measurements of food web functional groups biomass. Results revealed that heterotrophy dominated most of the year, with a short autotrophic period observed in late spring. Most of the metabolism of the lake could be attributed to planktonic functional groups, with phytoplankton contributing the highest share (90% of GPP and 43% of R). A surge of protozooplankton and bacterioplankton populations forming the microbial loop caused the shift from auto- to heterotrophy in midsummer. Conversely, the benthic functional groups had overall a very small contribution to lake metabolism. We validated our ecosystem approach by comparing the GPP and R with those calculated from O2 measurements in the lake. Our findings are also in line with earlier productivity studies made with 14C or chlorophyll a (chl-a) based equations. Ideally, the ecosystem approach should be combined with diel O2 approach for investigating critical periods of metabolism shifts caused by dynamics in food-web processes.

Ciliates are the dominant grazers on pico- and nanoplankton in a shallow, naturally highly eutrophic lake.

Abundance and biomass of the microbial loop members [bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), and ciliates] were seasonally measured in the naturally eutrophic and shallow (2.8 mean depth) Lake Võrtsjärv, which has a large open surface area (average 270 km2) and highly turbid water (Secchi depth <1 m). Grazing rates (filter feeding rates) on 0.5-, 3-, and 6-microm-diameter particles were measured to estimate pico- and nanoplankton grazing (filter feeding) by micro- and metazooplankton. Among grazers, HNF had a low abundance (<50 cells mL-1) and, due to their low specific filtering rates, they only grazed a minor fraction of the bacterioplankton (