| 1. |
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Biological Oceanography of the Baltic Sea
- 2017
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- This is the first comprehensive science-based textbook on the biology and ecology of the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s largest brackish water bodies. The aim of this book is to provide students and other readers with knowledge about the conditions for life in brackish water, the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem and its environmental problems and management. It highlights biological variation along the unique environmental gradients of the brackish Baltic Sea Area (the Baltic Sea, Belt Sea and Kattegat), especially those in salinity and climate.The first part of the book presents the challenges for life processes and ecosystem dynamics that result from the Baltic Sea’s highly variable recent geological history and geographical isolation. The second part explains interactions between organisms and their environment, including biogeochemical cycles, patterns of biodiversity, genetic diversity and evolution, biological invasions and physiological adaptations. In the third part, the subsystems of the Baltic Sea ecosystem – the pelagic zone, the sea ice, the deep soft sea beds, the phytobenthic zone, the sandy coasts, and estuaries and coastal lagoons – are treated in detail with respect to the structure and function of communities and habitats and consequences of natural and anthropogenic constraints, such as climate change, discharges of nutrients and hazardous substances. Finally, the fourth part of the book discusses monitoring and ecosystem-based management to deal with contemporary and emerging threats to the ecosystem’s health.
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| 2. |
- Bradshaw, Clare, et al.
(författare)
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Joint effects of gamma radiation and cadmium on subcellular-, individual-and population-level endpoints of the green microalga Raphidocelis subcapitata
- 2019
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Ingår i: Aquatic Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0166-445X .- 1879-1514. ; 211, s. 217-226
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Interpreting and predicting the combined effects of toxicants in the environment is an important challenge in ecotoxicology. How such effects are connected across different levels of biological organisation is an additional matter of uncertainty. Such knowledge gaps are particularly prominent with regards to how ionising radiation interacts with contaminants. We assessed the response of twelve endpoints at the subcellular, individual and population level in a green microalga when exposed singly and jointly to gamma radiation and cadmium (Cd). We used a fully factorial experimental design where observed effects were compared to those predicted by the Independent Action (IA) model for mixture toxicity to determine whether they deviated from additivity. Subcellular endpoints (e.g., catalase, thiamine diphosphate, xanthophyll cycle pigments) showed an increased antioxidant and/or photoprotective response. However, our results indicate that this protection was not sufficient to prevent lipid peroxidation, which also increased with dose. At ecologically relevant doses, most interactions between gamma radiation and Cd regarding subcellular-, individual- and population-level endpoints were additive as predicted by the IA model. However, exposure to binary mixtures displayed antagonistic interactions between gamma radiation and Cd at the higher end of the tested dose spectrum. No correlations were observed between subcellular endpoints and higher-level endpoints, but there were linkages between individual and population endpoints. Our results suggest that antagonistic interactions between gamma radiation and Cd can occur at higher doses and that these interactions seem to disseminate from subcellular and individual to population level. Possible consequences for aquatic primary production and food-web interactions are discussed.
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| 3. |
- Chamberlain, E. J., et al.
(författare)
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Impacts of sea ice melting procedures on measurements of microbial community structure
- 2022
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Ingår i: Elementa. - : University of California Press. - 2325-1026. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microorganisms play critical roles in sea ice biogeochemical processes. However, microbes living within sea ice can be challenging to sample for scientific study. Because most techniques for microbial analysis are optimized for liquid samples, sea ice samples are typically melted first, often applying a buffering method to mitigate osmotic lysis. Here, we tested commonly used melting procedures on three different ice horizons of springtime, first year, land-fast Arctic sea ice to investigate potential methodological impacts on resulting measurements of cell abundance, photophysiology, and microbial community structure as determined by 16S and 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Specifically, we compared two buffering methods using NaCl solutions (“seawater,” melting the ice in an equal volume of 35-ppt solution, and “isohaline,” melting with a small volume of 250-ppt solution calculated to yield meltwater at estimated in situ brine salinity) to direct ice melting (no buffer addition) on both mechanically “shaved” and “non-shaved” samples. Shaving the ice shortened the melting process, with no significant impacts on the resulting measurements. The seawater buffer was best at minimizing cell lysis for this ice type, retaining the highest number of cells and chlorophyll a concentration. Comparative measurements of bacterial (16S) community structure highlighted ecologically relevant subsets of the community that were significantly more abundant in the buffered samples. The results for eukaryotic (18S) community structure were less conclusive. Taken together, our results suggest that an equivalent-volume seawater-salinity buffered melt is best at minimizing cell loss due to osmotic stress for springtime Arctic sea ice, but that either buffer will reduce bias in community composition when compared to direct melting. Overall, these findings indicate potential methodological biases that should be considered before developing a sea ice melting protocol for microbiological studies and afterwards, when interpreting biogeochemical or ecological meaning of the results.
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| 4. |
- Diez, Beatriz, et al.
(författare)
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High cyanobacterial nifh gene diversity in arctic seawater and sea ice brine
- 2012
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Ingår i: Environmental Microbiology Reports. - : Wiley. - 1758-2229. ; 4:3, s. 360-366
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although cyanobacterial diazotrophs are common in Arctic terrestrial and freshwater habitats, they have been assumed to be absent from Arctic marine habitats. We report here a high diversity of cyanobacterial nifH genes in Fram Strait and the Greenland Sea. The nifH gene encodes the iron protein of the nitrogenase enzyme complex, which is essential for biological N2 fixation. Using primers specific for nifH genes we uncovered communities of autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria in sea ice brine and seawater between latitudes 65 and 81 degrees N. Cyanobacteria (Oscillatoriales and Chroococcales) with known marine planktonic and benthic distributions were distinguished, alongside a mix of metabolically versatile eubacteria (nifH Clusters I and III). Using primers selective for cyanobacterial nifH genes we identified filamentous non-heterocystous Trichodesmium-like and LPP (Leptolyngbya, Phormidium and Plectonema)-like Oscillatoriales, as well as Cyanothece-like Chroococcales in a brine sample from 81 degrees N. The occurrence of Trichodesmium-like cyanobacteria was further confirmed by sequences of the hetR gene of Trichodesmium. Microscopic examinations confirmed the presence of viable filamentous and unicellular cyanobacteria. Our results reveal the potential for microbial N2 fixation in the Arctic seas. However, it is still left to determine if these genes are also metabolically active before any biogeochemical importance of diazotrophy in the polar oceans can be assessed.
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| 5. |
- Diez, Beatriz, et al.
(författare)
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Water nutrient stoichiometry modifies the nutritional quality of phytoplankton and somatic growth of crustacean mesozooplankton
- 2013
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Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 489, s. 93-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here, we investigated how changes in water nutrient stoichiometry may change the nutritional quality of phytoplankton for mesozooplankton. For 6 d, we added nutrients to nine 1300 l mesocosms with natural summer phytoplankton from the Baltic Sea to create communities that were N-limited (P-treatment), Si-limited (PN-treatment) and not limited by nutients (PNSi-treatment). With the addition of P, no major changes occurred in phytoplankton biomass or species composition with time. With the addition of P and N, with or without excess of Si, C: N ratios approached the Redfield ratio, biomass increased and diatoms and dinoflagellates became dominant. Analysis of the 18S rRNA gene showed that the availability and diversity of phytoplankton other than diatoms and dinoflagellates, like prasinophytes or heterotrophic flagellates and ciliates, were not affected by the nutrient treatments. We then tested how the modified phytoplankton communities affected somatic growth in a natural mesozooplankton community dominated by the copepod genus Acartia. After 6 d of grazing, the zooplankton more than doubled their C content per individual when grazing on the Si-limited phytoplankton (PN-treatment) while total community biomass was maintained. In the other 2 treatments, the C content per individual remained the same and total community biomass decreased by ca. 60%, which suggests that the zooplankton was not optimally fed. Thus, a phytoplankton community with stoichiometry close to the Redfield ratio provided the best nutritional quality for the zooplankton, but not when the diatoms were Si saturated. This study shows that nutrient stoichiometry in the seawater can affect zooplankton growth by modification of the phytoplankton community. It also shows that the food quality of phytoplankton does not depend only on the taxonomic composition, but also on the nutrient stoichiometry.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Fernández-Gómez, Beatriz, et al.
(författare)
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Bacterial community structure in a sympagic habitat expanding with global warming : brackish ice brine at 85-90 degrees N
- 2019
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Ingår i: The ISME Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 13:2, s. 316-333
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Larger volumes of sea ice have been thawing in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) during the last decades than during the past 800,000 years. Brackish brine (fed by meltwater inside the ice) is an expanding sympagic habitat in summer all over the CAO. We report for the first time the structure of bacterial communities in this brine. They are composed of psychrophilic extremophiles, many of them related to phylotypes known from Arctic and Antarctic regions. Community structure displayed strong habitat segregation between brackish ice brine (IB; salinity 2.4-9.6) and immediate sub-ice seawater (SW; salinity 33.3-34.9), expressed at all taxonomic levels (class to genus), by dominant phylotypes as well as by the rare biosphere, and with specialists dominating IB and generalists SW. The dominant phylotypes in IB were related to Candidatus Aquiluna and Flavobacterium, those in SW to Balneatrix and ZD0405, and those shared between the habitats to Halomonas, Polaribacter and Shewanella. A meta-analysis for the oligotrophic CAO showed a pattern with Flavobacteriia dominating in melt ponds, Flavobacteriia and Gammaproteobacteria in solid ice cores, Flavobacteriia, Gamma- and Betaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria in brine, and Alphaproteobacteria in SW. Based on our results, we expect that the roles of Actinobacteria and Betaproteobacteria in the CAO will increase with global warming owing to the increased production of meltwater in summer. IB contained three times more phylotypes than SW and may act as an insurance reservoir for bacterial diversity that can act as a recruitment base when environmental conditions change.
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| 8. |
- Haubner, Norbert, et al.
(författare)
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ABIOTIC STRESS MODIFIES THE SYNTHESIS OF ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL AND BETA-CAROTENE IN PHYTOPLANKTON SPECIES
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Phycology. - : Wiley. - 0022-3646 .- 1529-8817. ; 50:4, s. 753-759
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We performed laboratory experiments to investi-gate whether the synthesis of the antioxidants -tocopherol (vitamin E) and -carotene in phytoplankton depends on changes in abiotic factors. Cultures of Nodularia spumigena, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Skeletonema costatum, Dunaliella tertiolecta, Prorocentrum cordatum, and Rhodomonas salina were incubated at different tempe-ratures, photon flux densities and salinities for 48h. We found that abiotic stress, within natural ecological ranges, affects the synthesis of the two antioxidants in different ways in different species. In most cases antioxidant production was stimulated by increased abiotic stress. In P.tricornutumKAC 37 and D.tertiolectaSCCAP K-0591, both good producers of this compound, -tocopherol accumulation was negatively affected by environmentally induced higher photosystem II efficiency (F-v/F-m). On the other hand, -carotene accumulation was positively affected by higher F-v/F-m in N.spumigena KAC 7, P.tricornutum KAC 37, D.tertiolecta SCCAP K-0591 and R.salina SCCAP K-0294. These different patterns in the synthesis of the two compounds may be explained by their different locations and functions in the cell. While -tocopherol is heavily involved in the protection of prevention of lipid peroxidation in membranes, -carotene performs immediate photo-oxidative protection in the antennae complex of photosystem II. Overall, our results suggest a high variability in the antioxidant pool of natural aquatic ecosystems, which can be subject to short-term temperature, photon flux density and salinity fluctuations. The antioxidant levels in natural phytoplankton communities depend on species composition, the physiological condition of the species, and their respective strategies to deal with reactive oxygen species. Since -tocopherol and -carotene, as well as many other nonenzymatic antioxidants, are exclusively produced by photo-synthetic organisms, and are required by higher trophic levels through dietary intake, regime shifts in the phytoplankton as a result of large-scale environmental changes, such as climate change, may have serious consequences for aquatic food webs.
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| 9. |
- Hillebrand, Helmut, et al.
(författare)
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Warming leads to higher species turnover in a coastal ecosystem
- 2010
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 16:4, s. 1181-1193
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The responses of ecological communities and ecosystems to increased rates of environmental change will be strongly influenced by variation in the diversity of community composition. Yet, our understanding of how diversity is affected by rising temperatures is inconclusive and mainly based on indirect evidence or short-term experiments. In our study, we analyse the diversity and species turnover of benthic epilithic communities within the thermal flume of a nuclear power plant at the Swedish coast. This flume covers the range of predicted future temperature rises. Species composition was significantly different between control sites and sites with higher temperatures. We found that temperature had little effect on the number of species in three functional groups (macroinvertebrates, benthic diatoms, and macrophytes, which here comprise multicellular algae and macroscopic colonies of unicellular algae and cyanobacteria), neither at single sampling dates nor summed for the entire observation year. However, species turnover significantly increased with increasing temperature for diatoms, macrophytes and invertebrates. Different temperature regimes resulted in significantly different species composition and indicator species. Thus, increasing temperatures in the thermal flume increased temporal beta-diversity and decreased compositional stability of communities, although observed richness did not change at any point in time. We highlight the need to investigate the consequences of such declines in compositional stability for functional stability of ecosystem processes.
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| 10. |
- Hylander, Samuel, et al.
(författare)
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Concentrations of sunscreens and antioxidant pigments in Arctic Calanus spp. in relation to ice cover, ultraviolet radiation, and the phytoplankton spring bloom
- 2015
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Ingår i: Limnology and Oceanography. - : Wiley. - 0024-3590 .- 1939-5590. ; 60, s. 2197-2206
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arctic zooplankton ascend to shallow depths during spring to graze on the yearly occurring phytoplankton bloom. However, in surface waters they are exposed to detrimental ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels. Here, we quantified concentrations of substances known to have UVR-protective functions, namely mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) and the carotenoid astaxanthin, from March to May in Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis and Calanus hyperboreus. Ice cover was 100% in the beginning of March, started to break up during April and was gone by the end of May. UVR-exposure in the water column was tightly linked to the ice conditions and water UVR-transparency was up to 6 m (depth where 1% radiation remains). Concentrations of MAAs in C. finmarchicus and C. glacialis increased sharply during ice break-up and peaked concurrently with maximum chlorophyll a (Chl a) levels. MAA-concentrations in C. hyperboreus increased later in accordance with its later arrival to the surface. The concentration of astaxanthin increased in all three species over time but there was no synchrony with ice conditions or the phytoplankton bloom. Even though only the upper 6 m of the water column was affected by UV-radiation, MAAs in the copepods were tightly correlated to the UV-threat. Hence, changes in ice cover are projected to have a large impact on the UVR-exposure of zooplankton emphasizing the importance of the timing of zooplankton ascent from deep waters in relation to the phytoplankton bloom and the ice break-up.
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