A broad spatio-temporal view of the Western English Channel observatory

Smyth, Tim; Fishwick, James; Al-Moosawi, Lisa; Cummings, Denise; Harris, Carolyn; Kitidis, Vassilis; Rees, Andrew P.; Martinez‐Vicente, Victor; Woodward, E Malcolm S

doi:10.1093/plankt/fbp128

Cited by 174 publications

(206 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Station L4 is located 13 km from the coast, and is periodically affected by riverine inputs from the Tamar and Plym estuaries caused by variations in the tide, rainfall and wind mixing, and which result in the short-term freshening of surface sea water (Smyth et al, 2010). It is possible that the significant changes in mycoplankton diversity and abundance in relation to the reductions in salinity at Station L4 are caused by fungi being transported from the neighbouring riverine systems to the coastal station.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The site is dynamic and influenced by periodic estuarine incursions from the neighbouring Tamar and Plym rivers. During the summer, the water column becomes thermally stratified at Station L4 and nutrient depletion occurs (Smyth et al, 2010). Here we present a multi-year time series assessment of mycoplankton diversity and abundance, correlating observed changes with cooccurring environmental parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-year assessment of coastal planktonic fungi reveals environmental drivers of diversity and abundance

2016

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Mycoplankton have so far been a neglected component of pelagic marine ecosystems, having been poorly studied relative to other plankton groups. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of how mycoplankton diversity changes through time, and the identity of controlling environmental drivers. Using Fungi-specific high-throughput sequencing and quantitative PCR analysis of plankton DNA samples collected over 6 years from the coastal biodiversity time series site Station L4 situated off Plymouth (UK), we have assessed changes in the temporal variability of mycoplankton diversity and abundance in relation to co-occurring environmental variables. Mycoplankton diversity at Station L4 was dominated by Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota, with several orders within these phyla frequently abundant and dominant in multiple years. Repeating interannual mycoplankton blooms were linked to potential controlling environmental drivers, including nitrogen availability and temperature. Specific relationships between mycoplankton and other plankton groups were also identified, with seasonal chytrid blooms matching diatom blooms in consecutive years. Mycoplankton α-diversity was greatest during periods of reduced salinity at Station L4, indicative of riverine input to the ecosystem. Mycoplankton abundance also increased during periods of reduced salinity, and when potential substrate availability was increased, including particulate organic matter. This study has identified possible controlling environmental drivers of mycoplankton diversity and abundance in a coastal sea ecosystem, and therefore sheds new light on the biology and ecology of an enigmatic marine plankton group. Mycoplankton have several potential functional roles, including saprotrophs and parasites, that should now be considered within the consensus view of pelagic ecosystem functioning and services.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-year assessment of coastal planktonic fungi reveals environmental drivers of diversity and abundance

2016

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“…As the phytoplankton community was in the transitional phase from diatoms to nanophytoplankton, the in situ silicate concentration was maintained to reproduce the silicate concentrations typical of this time of year (Smyth et al, 2010). Media transfer and sample acquisition was facilitated by peristaltic pumps and daily dilution rates were set between 10 and 13% of the incubation bottle volume following 24 h acclimation.…”

Section: Elevated Pco 2 Perturbation Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of elevated CO2 on phytoplankton community biomass and species composition during a spring Phaeocystis spp. bloom in the western English Channel

et al. 2017

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A 21-year time series of phytoplankton community structure was analysed in relation to Phaeocystis spp. to elucidate its contribution to the annual carbon budget at station L4 in the western English Channel (WEC).Between 1993-2014 Phaeocystis spp. contributed $4.6% of the annual phytoplankton carbon and during the March À May spring bloom, the mean Phaeocystis spp. biomass constituted 17% with a maximal contribution of 47% in 2001. Upper maximal weekly values above the time series mean ranged from 63 to 82% of the total phytoplankton carbon ($42-137 mg carbon (C) m À3 ) with significant interannual variability in Phaeocystis spp. Maximal biomass usually occurred by the end of April, although in some cases as early as mid-April (2007) and as late as late May (2013).The effects of elevated pCO 2 on the Phaeocystis spp. spring bloom were investigated during a fifteenday semi-continuous microcosm experiment. The phytoplankton community biomass was estimated at $160 mg C m À3 and was dominated by nanophytoplankton (40%, excluding Phaeocystis spp.), Phaeocystis spp. (30%) and cryptophytes (12%). The smaller fraction of the community biomass comprised picophytoplankton (9%), coccolithophores (3%), Synechococcus (3%), dinoflagellates (1.5%), ciliates (1%) and diatoms (0.5%). Over the experimental period, total biomass increased significantly by 90% to $305 mg C m À3 in the high CO 2 treatment while the ambient pCO 2 control showed no net gains. Phaeocystis spp. exhibited the greatest response to the high CO 2 treatment, increasing by 330%, from $50 mg C m À3 to over 200 mg C m À3 and contributing $70% of the total biomass.Taken together, the results of our microcosm experiment and analysis of the time series suggest that a future high CO 2 scenario may favour dominance of Phaeocystis spp. during the spring bloom. This has significant implications for the formation of hypoxic zones and the alteration of food web structure including inhibitory feeding effects and lowered fecundity in many copepod species.Crown

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“…Meroplanktonic larvae have been an object of study at the L4 monitoring site, an inshore site in the Western English Channel, where samples have been taken weekly since 1988 (Smyth et al 2010;Fileman et al 2014). This sampling program has shown that at brief times of the year, meroplankton can account for on average up to 32 % of the total zooplankton community (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding selectivity of bivalve larvae on natural plankton assemblages in the Western English Channel

et al. 2014

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A broad spatio-temporal view of the Western English Channel observatory

Cited by 174 publications

References 47 publications

Multi-year assessment of coastal planktonic fungi reveals environmental drivers of diversity and abundance

Multi-year assessment of coastal planktonic fungi reveals environmental drivers of diversity and abundance

Effects of elevated CO2 on phytoplankton community biomass and species composition during a spring Phaeocystis spp. bloom in the western English Channel

Feeding selectivity of bivalve larvae on natural plankton assemblages in the Western English Channel

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