Complex interactions between the zebra mussel, <i>Dreissena polymorpha</i>, and the harmful phytoplankter, <i>Microcystis aeruginosa</i>

Sarnelle, Orlando; Wilson, Alan E.; Hamilton, Stephen K.; Knoll, Lesley B.; Raikow, David F.

doi:10.4319/lo.2005.50.3.0896

Cited by 80 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…However, we demonstrate how these benthic grazers, by enhancing light availability and possibly by focusing nutrients to the benthos in the littoral, enhances other undesirable effects of eutrophication, specifically, an overabundance of benthic macroalgal biomass. Other studies have similarly demonstrated that other adverse effects of nutrient enrichment, such as the frequency of (potentially toxic) cyanobacterial blooms, are not ameliorated, and perhaps even amplified, by the addition of benthic filter-feeders (Sarnelle et al 2005;Caraco et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the growth response of Cladophora in a Laurentian Great Lake to the exotic invader Dreissena and to lake warming

Malkin

Guildford

Hecky

2008

Limnology & Oceanography

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A Cladophora growth model (CGM) is calibrated and validated here to simulate attached and sloughed Cladophora biomass in daily time-steps in an urbanized location of Lake Ontario, using two years of collected input data and independent measurements of Cladophora biomass. The CGM is used to hindcast Cladophora growth using multiplicative factors of seasonal minimal tissue phosphorus concentrations (Q P ) and seasonal mean nearshore light attenuation (Kd PAR ) of the early 1970s and 1980s relative to modern data. The possible effects of climate on growth are also forecast using additive temperature increases. Cladophora Q P in Lake Ontario has declined in parallel with decreasing pelagic P concentrations, resulting in reduced Cladophora biomass at all depths in the euphotic zone. Kd PAR has also declined, most strongly since the mid-1990s, following Dreissena mussel invasion, driving an increase in biomass between 3.5-and 10-m depth. Combining these effects, the CGM predicts that biomass along shorelines today is lower in Lake Ontario than in the 1980s. However, any increases in Q P in this post-dreissenid-mussel period will result in greater Cladophora proliferation than in previous decades due to increased nearshore water clarity. Cladophora Q P , while still currently lower than in the early 1980s, may be rising due to P supply to the littoral zone by the invasive mussels. The surface water temperature of Lake Ontario indicates warming of 0.96uC decade 21 from 1980 to 2006. With increasing surface water temperatures, the CGM predicts an earlier spring growth but only a marginal increase in peak Cladophora biomass.Eutrophication continues to be among the most critical and pervasive issues facing coastal waters-marine and freshwater alike ( Nuisance densities of Cladophora have been reported from estuaries (Gordon and McComb 1989;Valiela et al. 1997), inland seas (Kiirikki 1996;Curiel et al. 2004), and hardwater rivers and lakes with moderate energy (Power 1992;Parker and Maberly 2000). In the Laurentian Great Lakes, Cladophora is a nuisance throughout Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Michigan, where hard substrate is available, and in isolated areas near nutrient point sources in Lake Huron (Herbst 1969).There is a widespread perception that since the establishment of invasive dreissenid mussels (i.e., the zebra mussel [Dreissena polymorpha] and the quagga mussel [D. bugensis]) over the past 15 yr, Cladophora biomass has resurged in the lower Great Lakes (Mills et al. 2003;Hecky et al. 2004;Bootsma et al. 2005). The degree to which this perception is accurate, however, is unclear. Due to their high biomass in these lakes (e.g., up to 150 g shell-free DM m 22 ; Fleisher et al. 2001), dreissenid mussels have been credited with reengineering nutrient distributions by removing suspended particulate matter through filterfeeding, then excreting dissolved regenerated nutrients as well as generating organic waste as feces and pseudofeces in the benthos (Hecky et al. 2004). This process, recently termed ''benthification'...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the growth response of Cladophora in a Laurentian Great Lake to the exotic invader Dreissena and to lake warming

Malkin

Guildford

Hecky

2008

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Ninety-one percent of the 53 genetically unique M. aeruginosa clones contained the microcystin toxin gene (mcyA). Genotypes with the toxin gene were found in all lakes, while four lakes harbored both genotypes possessing and genotypes lacking the toxin gene.The effects of grazers or nutrients on harmful phytoplankton blooms (HABs) or HAB toxins show high temporal and spatial variability (10,42,43,47,51). One source of this variation could be genetic dissimilarity among HAB populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effects of grazers or nutrients on harmful phytoplankton blooms (HABs) or HAB toxins show high temporal and spatial variability (10,42,43,47,51). One source of this variation could be genetic dissimilarity among HAB populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Variation of the Bloom-Forming CyanobacteriumMicrocystis aeruginosawithin and among Lakes: Implications for Harmful Algal Blooms

Wilson

Sarnelle

Neilan

et al. 2005

Appl Environ Microbiol

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127

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To measure genetic variation within and among populations of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, we surveyed a suite of lakes in the southern peninsula of Michigan that vary in productivity (total phosphorus concentrations of ϳ10 to 100 g liter ؊1 ). Survival of M. aeruginosa isolates from lakes was relatively low (i.e., mean of 7% and maximum of 30%) and positively related to lake total phosphorus concentration (P ‫؍‬ 0.014, r 2 ‫؍‬ 0.407, n ‫؍‬ 14). In another study (D. F. Raikow, O. Sarnelle, A. E. Wilson, and S. K. Hamilton, Limnol. Oceanogr. 49:482-487, 2004), survival rates of M. aeruginosa isolates collected from an oligotrophic lake (total phosphorus of ϳ10 g liter ؊1 and dissolved inorganic nitrogen:total phosphorus ratio of 12.75) differed among five different medium types (G test, P of <0.001), with higher survival (P ‫؍‬ 0.003) in low-nutrient media (28 to 37% survival) than in high-nutrient media. Even with the relatively low isolate survivorship that could select against detecting the full range of genetic variation, populations of M. aeruginosa were genetically diverse within and among lakes (by analysis of molecular variance, ⌽ sc ‫؍‬ 0.412 [⌽ sc is an F-statistic derivative which evaluates the correlation of haplotypic diversity within populations relative to the haplotypic diversity among all sampled populations], P ‫؍‬ 0.001), with most clones being distantly related to clones collected from lakes directly attached to Lake Michigan (a Laurentian Great Lake) and culture collection strains collected from Canada, Scotland, and South Africa. Ninety-one percent of the 53 genetically unique M. aeruginosa clones contained the microcystin toxin gene (mcyA). Genotypes with the toxin gene were found in all lakes, while four lakes harbored both genotypes possessing and genotypes lacking the toxin gene.The effects of grazers or nutrients on harmful phytoplankton blooms (HABs) or HAB toxins show high temporal and spatial variability (10,42,43,47,51). One source of this variation could be genetic dissimilarity among HAB populations. For example, toxic and nontoxic genotypes within a HAB species might dominate in different habitats and at different times, which could lead to variation in, for example, the ability of consumers to control HABs. However, few studies have measured the genetic composition of HAB populations across time (28, 29) or space (2, 25), limiting our ability to assess the degree to which environmental variation may select for genotypes with different ecological traits.In freshwater systems, HABs are largely caused by cyanobacteria of the genera Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Cylindrospermopsis, Microcystis, and Oscillatoria. Among these taxa, Microcystis aeruginosa is one of the most ecologically damaging species due to its prevalence in bodies of water that vary in nutrient loading and its degree of toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms (7,11). Further, we note recent reports showing that the ongoing invasion of freshwaters in North America by the filter-feeding ze...

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“…Zebra mussels likely caused a radical change in the grazing pressure on phytoplankton and nutrient cycling in these systems, so shifts in correlations are not unexpected. Experimental work indicates that changes in these relationships differ depending on the range of TP in the system [66,67], which also helps explain differences between the responses in lower Green Bay versus less productive systems like Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron [13].…”

Section: Nutrient Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Correlations between TP and chlorophyll have been a standard measure of the effects of nutrients on ecosystem productivity and are used extensively for management decisions in the Great Lakes [54,64,65]. Such correlations can lose predictive ability when the underlying food web interactions change, which has been documented in both the Great Lakes as well as inland lakes [59,66]. In the inner bay of Green Bay the amount of chlorophyll per unit TP was shown to increase (but not significantly), in agreement with our results from 2006 to 2007 compared to relationships published from the 1980s [27,61] (unpublished data).…”

Section: Nutrient Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoplankton Communities in Green Bay, Lake Michigan after Invasion by Dreissenid Mussels: Increased Dominance by Cyanobacteria

2014

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Biological invasions of aquatic systems disrupt ecological communities, and cause major changes in diversity and ecosystem function. The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have been dramatically altered by such invasions, especially zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga (D. rostriformis bugensis) mussels. Responses to mussel invasions have included increased water clarity, and decreased chlorophyll and phytoplankton abundance. Although not all systems have responded similarly, in general, mussels have changed nutrient dynamics and physical habitat conditions. Therefore examination of different impacts can help us further understand mechanisms that underlie ecosystem responses to biological invasions. To aid our understanding of ecosystem impacts, we sampled established locations along a well-studied trophic gradient in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, after the 1993 zebra mussel invasion. A strong trophic gradient remained during the period sampled after the mussel invasion (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012). However, mean summer chlorophyll increased and other measures of phytoplankton biomass (microscope and electronic cell counting) did not change significantly. Multivariate analyses of phytoplankton community structure demonstrate a significant community shift after the invasion. Cyanobacteria increased in dominance, with 682Microcystis becoming the major summer taxon in lower Green Bay. Diatom diversity and abundance also increased and Chlorophyta became rare. Phytoplankton responses along the trophic gradient of Green Bay to zebra mussel invasion highlight the importance of mussel effects on nutrient dynamics and phytoplankton diversity and function.

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Complex interactions between the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, and the harmful phytoplankter, Microcystis aeruginosa

Cited by 80 publications

References 40 publications

Modeling the growth response of Cladophora in a Laurentian Great Lake to the exotic invader Dreissena and to lake warming

Modeling the growth response of Cladophora in a Laurentian Great Lake to the exotic invader Dreissena and to lake warming

Genetic Variation of the Bloom-Forming CyanobacteriumMicrocystis aeruginosawithin and among Lakes: Implications for Harmful Algal Blooms

Phytoplankton Communities in Green Bay, Lake Michigan after Invasion by Dreissenid Mussels: Increased Dominance by Cyanobacteria

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