| 1. |
- Diehl, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Inverse relationship of epilithic algae and pelagic phosphorusin unproductive lakes : Roles of N2 fixers and light
- 2018
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Ingår i: Freshwater Biology. - Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 0046-5070 .- 1365-2427. ; 63:7, s. 662-675
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Phosphorus (P) often limits the biomass of primary producers in freshwater lakes. However, in unproductive northern lakes, where anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is low, N instead of P can limit primary producers. In addition, light can be limiting to primary producers at high concentrations of coloured dissolved organic matter (cDOM), as cDOM is the major determinant of light penetration in these lakes.2. To address resource limitation of epilithic algal biomass, we repeatedly sampled epilithon (periphyton on stony substrata) in 20 lakes covering a large, correlated cDOM and N-deposition gradient across boreal and subarctic Sweden. Across these lakes, pelagic total N (TN) and total P (TP) were positively correlated, and benthic light supply was negatively correlated, with cDOM. Microscopically determined algal biovolume and epilithic carbon (C), N and P were subsequently regressed against benthic light supply and pelagic TN and TP.3. Patterns in epilithic biovolume were driven by N2-fixing cyanobacteria, which accounted for 2%–90% of total epilithic biovolume. Averaged over the growing season, epilithic algal biovolume, C and N were negatively related to TP and positively to TN, and were highest in the clearest, most phosphorus-poor lakes, where epilithon was heavily dominated by potentially N2-fixing cyanobacteria.4. A structural equation model supports the hypothesis that cDOM had two counteracting effects on total epilithic algal biovolume: a positive one by providing N to algae that depend on dissolved N for growth, and a negative one by shading N2-fixing cyanobacteria, with the negative effect being somewhat stronger.5. Together, these findings suggest that (1) light and N are the main resources limiting epilithic algal biomass in boreal to subarctic Swedish lakes, (2) epilithic cyanobacteria are more competitive in high-light and low-nitrogen environments, where their N2-fixing ability allows them to reach high biomass, and (3) epilithic N increases with N2 fixer biomass and is—seemingly paradoxically—highest in the most oligotrophic lakes. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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| 2. |
- Liess, Antonia, et al.
(författare)
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Hot tadpoles from cold environments need more nutrients - life history and stoichiometry reflects latitudinal adaptation
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 82:6, s. 1316-1325
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. High-latitude species (and populations within species) are adapted to short and cold summers. They often have high growth and development rates to fully use the short growing season and mature before the onset of winter. Within the context of ecological stoichiometry theory, this study combines ecology with evolution by relating latitudinal life-history adaptations to their molecular consequences in body nutrient composition in Rana temporaria tadpoles. Temperature and food quality were manipulated during the development of tadpoles from Arctic and Boreal origins. We determined tadpole growth rate, development rate, body size and nutrient content, to test whether (i) Arctic tadpoles could realize higher growth rates and development rates with the help of higher-quality food even when food quantity was unchanged, (ii) Arctic and Boreal tadpoles differed in their stoichiometric (and life history) response to temperature changes, (iii) higher growth rates lead to higher tadpole P content (growth rate hypothesis) and (iv) allometric scaling affects tadpole nutrient allocation. We found that especially Arctic tadpoles grew and developed faster with the help of higher-quality food and that tadpoles differed in their stoichiometric (and life history) response to temperature changes depending on region of origin (probably due to different temperature optima). There was no evidence that higher growth rates mediated the positive effect of temperature on tadpole P content. On the contrary, the covariate growth rate was negatively connected with tadpole P content (refuting the growth rate hypothesis). Lastly, tadpole P content was not related to body size, but tadpole C content was higher in larger tadpoles, probably due to increased fat storage. We conclude that temperature had a strong effect on tadpole life history, nutrient demand and stoichiometry and that this effect depended on the evolved life history.
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| 3. |
- Maaroufi, Nadia, et al.
(författare)
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Nutrient optimization of tree growth alters structure and function of boreal soil food webs
- 2018
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 428, s. 46-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nutrient optimization has been proposed as a way to increase boreal forest production, and involves chronic additions of liquid fertilizer with amounts of micro- and macro-nutrients adjusted annually to match tree nutritional requirements. We used a short-term (maintained since 2007) and a long-term (maintained since 1987) fertilization experiment in northern Sweden, in order to understand nutrient optimization effects on soil microbiota and mesofauna, and to explore the relationships between plant litter and microbial elemental stoichiometry. Soil microbes, soil fauna, and aboveground litter were collected from the control plots, and short- and long-term nutrient optimization plots. Correlation analyses revealed no relationships between microbial biomass and litter nutrient ratios. Litter C:N, C:P and N:P ratios declined in response to both optimization treatments; while only microbial C:P ratios declined in response to long-term nutrient optimization. Further, we found that both short- and long-term optimization treatments decreased total microbial, fungal, and bacterial PLFA biomass and shifted the microbial community structure towards a lower fungi:bacterial ratio. In contrast, abundances of most fungal- and bacterial-feeding soil biota were little affected by the nutrient optimization treatments. However, abundance of hemi-edaphic Collembola declined in response to the long-term nutrient optimization treatment. The relative abundances (%) of fungal-feeding and plant-feeding nematodes, respectively, declined and increased in response to both short-term and long-term treatments; bacterial-feeding nematodes increased relative to fungal feeders. Overall, our results demonstrate that long-term nutrient optimization aiming to increase forest production decreases litter C:N, C:P and N:P ratios, microbial C:P ratios and fungal biomass, whereas higher trophic levels are less affected. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
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| 4. |
- Meunier, Cédric L., et al.
(författare)
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Allochthonous carbon is a major driver of the microbial food web : a mesocosm study simulating elevated terrestrial matter runoff
- 2017
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Ingår i: Marine Environmental Research. - : Elsevier. - 0141-1136 .- 1879-0291. ; 129, s. 236-244
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change predictions indicate that coastal and estuarine environments will receive increased terrestrial runoff via increased river discharge. This discharge transports allochthonous material, containing bioavailable nutrients and light attenuating matter. Since light and nutrients are important drivers of basal production, their relative and absolute availability have important consequences for the base of the aquatic food web, with potential ramifications for higher trophic levels. Here, we investigated the effects of shifts in terrestrial organic matter and light availability on basal producers and their grazers. In twelve Baltic Sea mesocosms, we simulated the effects of increased river runoff alone and in combination. We manipulated light (clear/shade) and carbon (added/not added) in a fully factorial design, with three replicates. We assessed microzooplankton grazing preferences in each treatment to assess whether increased terrestrial organic matter input would: (1) decrease the phytoplankton to bacterial biomass ratio, (2) shift microzooplanlcton diet from phytoplankton to bacteria, and (3) affect microzooplankton biomass. We found that carbon addition, but not reduced light levels per se resulted in lower phytoplanlcton to bacteria biomass ratios. Microzooplankton generally showed a strong feeding preference for phytoplanlcton over bacteria, but, in carbon-amended mesocosms which favored bacteria, microzooplankton shifted their diet towards bacteria. Furthermore, low total prey availability corresponded with low microzooplankton biomass and the highest bacteria/phytoplankton ratio. Overall our results suggest that in shallow coastal waters, modified with allochthonous matter from river discharge, light attenuation may be inconsequential for the basal producer balance, whereas increased allochthonous carbon, especially if readily bioavailable, favors bacteria over phytoplankton. We conclude that climate change induced shifts at the base of the food web may alter energy mobilization to and the biomass of microzooplankton grazers.
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| 5. |
- Wagenhoff, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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Thresholds in ecosystem structural and functional responses to agricultural stressors can inform limit setting in streams
- 2017
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Ingår i: Freshwater Science. - : University of Chicago Press. - 2161-9549 .- 2161-9565. ; 36:1, s. 178-194
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Setting numeric in-stream objectives (limits, criteria) to inform limits on catchment loads for major land use stressors is a promising policy instrument to prevent ecosystem degradation. Management objectives can be informed by thresholds identified from stressor response shapes of ecological indicators based on field survey data. Use of multiple structural and functional indicators and different organism groups provides multiple lines of evidence to make objectives more robust. We measured a suite of ecological indicators during a regional field survey in New Zealand. We built flexible boosted regression tree (BRT) models with a predictor set consisting of nutrient, sediment, and environmental variables and investigated the fitted functions for different types of thresholds across each stressor gradient. Congruence of impact initiation (II) thresholds for N among macroinvertebrate metrics and 2 periphyton indicators provided multiple lines of evidence for ecosystem change with small increases in N concentrations above background levels. Impact cessation (IC) on macroinvertebrate metrics at total N = 0.5 mg/L (below N concentrations that saturate important ecosystem processes) highlighted sensitivity of macroinvertebrate communities to eutrophication. We found few stressor response relationships for sediment. We suggest use of sediment-specific macroinvertebrate metrics and a reliable measure of deposited fine sediment in the future. Few indicators responded to phosphorus (P) concentration. Limited information for setting P objectives highlights the need to develop alternative indicators of P loading. Statistical analysis based on single-stressor inferential threshold models suggested that these models carry high risk of identifying spurious thresholds and are less suitable for setting management objectives. II and IC thresholds of multiple ecological indicators can be used to set robust objectives aimed at different levels of protection of ecosystem health.
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