Annual phytoplankton succession results from niche-environment interaction

Caracciolo, Mariarita; Beaugrand, Grégory; Hélaouët, Pierre; Gévaert, François; Edwards, Martin; Lizon, Fabrice; Kléparski, Loïck; Goberville, Éric

doi:10.1093/plankt/fbaa060

Cited by 24 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(87 reference statements)

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“…Recurring patterns in photosynthetic taxa succession along disturbance gradients reflect intricate interplays between transient environmental components and taxa‐specific functional traits, for instance, related to resource utilization (light and nutrients) and resilience to mortality factors (grazing, viral infections, etc. ; Sommer et al, 2012; Chang et al, 2019; Caracciolo et al, 2021). Over a spring‐to‐summer succession, from sympagic (sea‐ice) to planktonic growth forms, Arctic diatoms collectively exploit a wide range of environmental conditions through an extensive habitat shift: from dimly lit sea‐ice brines (<1 μmol photons m −2 s −1 and minimal photoperiod; Hancke et al, 2018) to intensely illuminated open waters (up to approximately 1000 μmol photons m −2 s −1 and 24 h daylight; Massicotte et al, 2020; Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in growth light optima among diatom species support their succession during the spring bloom in the Arctic

et al. 2022

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Diatoms of the Arctic Ocean annually experience extreme changes of light environment linked to photoperiodic cycles and seasonal variations of the snow and sea‐ice cover extent and thickness which attenuate light penetration in the water column. Arctic diatom communities exploit this complex seasonal dynamic through a well‐documented species succession during spring, beginning in sea‐ice and culminating in massive phytoplankton blooms underneath sea‐ice and in the marginal ice zone. The pattern of diatom taxa sequentially dominating this succession is relatively well conserved interannually, and taxonomic shifts seem to align with habitat transitions. To understand whether differential photoadaptation strategies among diatom taxa explain these recurring succession sequences, we coupled laboratory experiments with field work in Baffin Bay at 67.5°N. Based on field data, we selected five diatom species typical of different ecological niches and measured their growth rates under light intensity ranges representative of their natural habitats. To characterize their photoacclimative responses, we sampled pigments and total particulate carbon, and conducted 14C‐uptake photosynthesis response curves and variable fluorescence measurements. We documented a gradient in species respective light intensity for maximal growth suggesting divergent light response plasticity, which for the most part align with species sequential dominance. Other photophysiological parameters supported this ecophysiological framing, although contrasts were always clear only between succession endmembers, Nitzschia frigida and Chaetoceros neogracilis. To validate that these photoacclimative responses are representative of in situ dynamics, we compared them to the chlorophyll a‐specific light‐limited slope (α*) and saturated rate of photosynthesis (PM*), monitored in Baffin Bay on sea‐ice and planktonic communities. This complementary approach confirmed that unusual responses in α* and PM* as a function of light history intensity are similar between sentinel sympagic species N. frigida and natural ice‐core communities. While no light‐history‐dependent trends were observed in planktonic communities, their α* and PM* values were in the range of measurements from our monospecific cultures. Synthesis. Our results suggest that Arctic diatoms species photoadaptation strategy is tuned to the light environment of the habitats in which they dominate and indeed drives the seasonal taxonomic succession.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in growth light optima among diatom species support their succession during the spring bloom in the Arctic

et al. 2022

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“…First, given that phytoplankton communities have short generation time (Reynolds 2006), the monthly resolution makes difficult to capture the turnover in species abundance rank at the finest possible scale. Studying the daily or even weekly variation in abundance rank would help us to disentangle the so‐called stochastic abundance fluctuations (Caracciolo et al 2021). However, it has been shown that the study of phytoplankton community processes on monthly to yearly time scales helps to understand the long‐term ecological and evolutive dynamics of communities (Segura et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clumpy coexistence in phytoplankton: the role of functional similarity in community assembly

Graco-Roza

Segura²,

Kruk

et al. 2021

Oikos

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Emergent neutrality (EN) suggests that species must be sufficiently similar or sufficiently different in their niches to avoid interspecific competition. Such a scenario results in a transient pattern with clumps and gaps of species abundance along the niche axis (e.g. represented by body size). From this perspective, clumps are groups of coexisting species with negligible fitness differences and stochastic abundance fluctuations. Plankton is an excellent model system for developing and testing ecological theories, especially those related to size structure and species coexistence. We tested EN predictions using the phytoplankton community along the course of a tropical river considering 1) body size structure, 2) functional clustering of species in terms of morphology-based functional groups (MBFG) and 3) the functional similarity among species concerning their functional traits. Two main clumps in the body size axis (clump I and II) were conspicuous through time and were detected in different stretches of the river. Clump I comprised medium-sized species from the MBFGs IV, V and VI while clump II included large-bodied species from the MBFGs V and VI. Pairwise differences in species biovolume correlated with species functional similarity when the whole species pool was considered, but not among species within the same clump. Although clumps comprised multiple MBFGs, the dominant species within the clump belonged always to the same MBFG. Also, within-clump species biovolume increased with functional distinctiveness considering both seasons and stretches, except the lower course. These results suggest that species within clumps behave in a quasi-neutral state, but even minor shifts in trait composition may affect species biovolume. Our findings point that EN belongs to the plausible mechanisms explaining community assembly in river ecosystems.

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“…costatum had the highest optimum for nutrients concentration and MLD but the lowest for temperature and salinity, conditions indicative of the spring bloom over cold temperate continental shelves (Caracciolo et al, 2021; Table 1, Figure 3b). The lowest optimum for euphotic depth was found for R. styliformis (Table 1, Figure 3c).…”

Section: Estimates Of Niche Optimumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The species chromatogram, a new graphical method to represent, characterize, and compare the ecological niches of different species

Kléparski

Beaugrand

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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The ecological niche sensu Hutchinson is defined as the set of environmental conditions allowing a species to grow, maintain, and reproduce. This conception of the niche, which is assimilated to a p-dimensional hypervolume, with p representing all environmental variables, has been widely applied in ecology. However, displaying the niche hypervolume has proved challenging when more than three environmental dimensions are considered simultaneously. We propose a simple method (implemented in the specieschrom R package) that displays the full multidimensionality of the ecological niche of a species into a two-dimensional space by means of a graphic we call species chromatogram. This method gives a graphical summary of the niche by representing together abundance gradients with respect to all environmental variables.

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Annual phytoplankton succession results from niche-environment interaction

Cited by 24 publications

References 89 publications

Shifts in growth light optima among diatom species support their succession during the spring bloom in the Arctic

Shifts in growth light optima among diatom species support their succession during the spring bloom in the Arctic

Clumpy coexistence in phytoplankton: the role of functional similarity in community assembly

The species chromatogram, a new graphical method to represent, characterize, and compare the ecological niches of different species

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