The present study demonstrates the effects of the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of a crude oil, enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation (UVBR: 280 to 320 nm), and the combination of WSF and enhanced UVBR on a natural plankton assemblage (<150 μm) isolated from the lower St. Lawrence Estuary. To study the separate and dual effects of WSF and UVBR, 12 microcosms (9 l) were immersed in the water column of larger mesocosms (polyethylene bags; 1800 l), providing 4 treatments, each in triplicate: (1) NUVBR + WSF (natural UVBR with WSF), (2) HUVBR + WSF (enhanced UVBR with WSF), (3) NUVBR (natural UVBR without WSF), and (4) HUVBR (enhanced UVBR without WSF). During 5 d we monitored the incident radiation, WSF and nutrient concentrations, abundance and production of heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton. Strong deleterious effects of WSF and lower effects of UVBR were observed on the phytoplankton assemblage, with a decrease in growth rates accompanied by an increase in mean cell size which reflected a perturbation of the cell division cycle. Using the NUVBR treatement as reference conditions, the above effects resulted in a reduction of 84, 79 and 60% of total abundance of the phytoplankton fraction < 20 μm in the HUVBR + WSF, NUVBR + WSF and HUVBR treatments, respectively. Significant higher values of bacterial abundances were observed in the WSF-added treatments compared to NUVBR without WSF. However, bacterial thymidine incorporation exhibited diel variations, suggesting cumulative UVBR-induced DNA and/or PAHinduced DNA damages, and possible repair mechanisms with the co-occurrence of more available growth substrates from stressed phytoplankton. The absence of significant differences between both WSF-added treatments under the 2 different UVBR conditions suggests that there is no additive interaction between WSF and UVBR. This study provides therefore the first evidence of a non-synergistic interaction between both stresses, and suggests that UVBR-induced effects on marine microorganisms can be completely masked by the strong deleterious effects of soluble petroleum hydrocarbons.KEY WORDS: Ultraviolet radiation · Dissolved hydrocarbons · Non-synergistic effect · Phytoplankton · BacteriaResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

The impact of UV-B radiation (UVBR; 280-320 nm) on lower levels of a natural plankton assemblage (bacteria, phytoplankton and microzooplankton) from the St. Lawrence Estuary was studied during 9 days using several immersed outdoor mesocosms. Two exposure treatments were used in triplicate mesocosms: natural UVBR (N treatment, considered as the control treatment) and lamp-enhanced UVBR (H treatment, simulating 60% depletion of the ozone layer). A phytoplankton bloom developed after day 3, but no significant differences were found between treatments during the entire experiment for phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a and cell carbon) nor for phytoplankton cell abundances from flow cytometry and optical microscopy of three phytoplankton size classes (picoplankton, nanoplankton and microplankton). In contrast, bacterial abundances showed significantly higher values in the H treatment, attributed to a decrease in predation pressure due to a dramatic reduction in ciliate biomass (approximately 70-80%) in the H treatment relative to the N treatment. The most abundant ciliate species were Strombidinium sp., Prorodon ovum and Tintinnopsis sp.; all showed significantly lower abundances under the H treatment. P. ovum was the less-affected species (50% reduction in the H treatment compared with that of the N control), contrasting with approximately 90% for the other ones. Total specific phytoplanktonic and bacterial production were not affected by enhanced UVBR. However, both the ratio of primary to bacterial biomass and production decreased markedly under the H treatment. In contrast, the ratio of phytoplankton to bacterial plus ciliate carbon biomass showed an opposite trend than the previous results, with higher values in the H treatment at the end of the experiment. These results are explained by the changes in the ciliate biomass and suggest that UVBR can alter the structure of the lower levels of the planktonic community by selectively affecting key species. On the other hand, linearity between particulate organic carbon (POC) and estimated planktonic carbon was lost during the postbloom period in both treatments. On the basis of previous studies, our results can be attributed to the aggregation of carbon released by cells to the water column in the form of transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs) under nutrient limiting conditions. Unexpectedly, POC during such a period was higher in the H treatment than in controls. We hypothesize a decrease in the ingestion of TEPs by ciliates, in coincidence with increased DOC release by phytoplankton cells under enhanced UVBR. The consequences of such results for the carbon cycle in the ocean are discussed.

The effects of ultraviolet-B radiation (UVBR) on the bacterivory of a natural marine protozoan community were examined as part of a 7 d experiment designed to study the effects of different UVBR intensities on the summer planktonic assemblage of the lower St. Lawrence Estuary. Quebec, Canada. The experiment was conducted in large containers (mesocosms) subjected to 1 of the following UVBR regimes: excluded UVBR (WWB), natural UVBR (NUVB), and natural UVBR enhanced with either 2 lamps (LUVB) or 3 lamps (HUVB). Incubations with fluorescently labeled bacteria were conducted daily as a tool to understand the interaction between the potential bacterivores (heterotrophic ciliates and nanoflagellates) and bacteria within the studied system. UVBR intensities had no significant effects on the estimated clearance and ingestion rates (CR and IR, respectively) until Day 5 of the experiment. During the following 2 d, characterized by low nutrient concentration, both CR and IR decreased with the increase of the daily UVBR (at 305 and 320 nm) doses received. The maximum difference between treatments was observed on Day 7, where both clearance and ingestion rate values in the NUVB, LUVB and HUVB treatments were significantly lower than the WUVB treatment. Our data suggest that over a 1 d period and under conditions of high nutrient concentrations, protozoan bacterivory is not affected by W B R increases. When nutrient concentrations become low, bacterivores become more susceptible to damaging UVBR effects. We think that the deterioration of food quality, itself resulting from the synergistic action of nutrients and UVBR stresses, is responsible for the increased sensitivity of bacterivores to UVBR. UVBR-induced decreases in bacterivory would represent a considerable loss to the higher tropic levels that feed upon bacterivores.

No abstract

In July 1996, bacterial abundance and incorporation of [ 3 H]thymidine ( 3 H-TdR) were determined every 4 h during a mesocosm experiment initially designed to study the effects of different intensities of ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation on the summer planktonic community of the lower St. Lawrence Estuary. Water was obtained from the quay of the Maurice Lamontagne Institute (Mont-joli, Qué.) and incubated in experimental mesocosms (1500 L total volume, n = 8) with continuous mixing provided by a pumping system. During 72 h, different UVB intensities showed no significant effects on the bacterial incorporation of 3 H-TdR. This indicates that in the presence of other trophic levels and with continuous mixing, bacterioplankton responses to UVB are substantially different from those reported in axenic bacterial cultures or even whole-water incubations exposed to UVB at fixed depths. In conjunction with this observation, 3 H-TdR incorporation exhibited a significant periodic variation within all experimental treatments. The periodicity consisted of a 16-h cycle occurring independently of the time of the day. When the 3 H-TdR incorporation was normalized to cell abundance, the resulting cell-specific thymidine incorporation exhibited the same periodic oscillatory pattern. On the other hand, other factors suspected of inducing such a variability showed no consistent oscillation. In addition to suggesting an endogenously controlled activity of the studied bacterial community, the results of the present study indicate that failure of taking temporal variations of bacterial activity into account may introduce an error of almost 50% in the estimation of the daily thymidine incorporation rates. This represents a considerable error, because several studies rely on this measurement to estimate bacterial carbon production and to establish carbon budgets within different oceanic provinces.