Difference of planktonic ciliate communities of the tropical West Pacific, the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean

Yang

et al. 2020

Mar Life Sci Technol

Planktonic ciliates have been recognized as major consumers of nano-and picoplankton in pelagic ecosystems, playing pivotal roles in the transfer of matter and energy in the microbial loop. However, due to the difficulties in identification, the species composition of ciliate assemblages, especially for the small, fragile, and naked species that usually dominate the ciliate communities in the oceanic waters, remains largely unknown. In the present study, 22 stations along the transect from Shenzhen (China) to Pohnpei (Micronesia) were sampled for the enumeration of picoplankton and nanoflagellates. In addition, pigment analysis of major phytoplankton groups along with the measurements of environmental variables including temperature, salinity, and nutrients were also carried out. Ciliates were identified at species level using quantitative protargol stain to reveal the species composition and their distribution patterns from off-shore to open ocean. Ciliate abundance was positively correlated with phosphate, silicate, and pico-sized pigmented eukaryotes (PPEs), whereas the biomass was closely related with PPEs, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and chlorophytes. The combination of silicate and pigmented nanoflagellates was identified as the major factor driving the ciliate community composition. The close relationship between silicate and ciliate abundance and community structure needs further validation based on more data collected from oceanic waters. Our study showed the necessity of using techniques that can reveal the community composition at higher taxonomic resolutions in future studies on ciliates.

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Planktonic Ciliate Communitiessupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Planktonic Ciliate Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution of planktonic ciliates in the western Pacific Ocean: along the transect from Shenzhen (China) to Pohnpei (Micronesia)

Yang

et al. 2020

Mar Life Sci Technol

“… Wang et al (2020) compared the number of species and abundance proportions of LOD size classes in warm water (western tropical Pacific), boreal (Bering Sea), and Arctic tintinnid communities. The LOD size class characteristics of the warm water and boreal communities in our study were similar to those of Wang et al (2020) . The spectrum of LOD size class characteristics of the transition zone community fit well within the spectrum of LOD size classes from warm water to the Arctic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summertime Tintinnid Community in the Surface Waters Across the North Pacific Transition Zone

Xuan

Wang

et al. 2021

Front. Microbiol.

Self Cite

Located from 35° to 45° latitude in both hemispheres, the transition zone is an important region with respect to the planktonic biogeography of the sea. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports on the existence of a tintinnid community in the transition zone. In this research, tintinnids along two transects across the North Pacific Transition Zone (NPTZ) were investigated in summer 2016 and 2019. Eighty-three oceanic tintinnid species were identified, 41 of which were defined as common oceanic species. The common oceanic species were further divided into five groups: boreal, warm water type I, warm water type II, transition zone, and cosmopolitan species. Undella californiensis and Undella clevei were transition zone species. Other species, such as Amphorides minor, Dadayiella ganymedes, Dictyocysta mitra, Eutintinnus pacificus, Eutintinnus tubulosus, Protorhabdonella simplex, and Steenstrupiella steenstrupii, were the most abundant in the NPTZ but spread over a much larger distribution region. Species richness showed no obvious increase in the NPTZ. Boreal, transition zone, and warm water communities were divided along the two transects. Tintinnid transition zone community mainly distributed in regions with water temperatures between 15 and 20°C. The tintinnid lorica oral diameter size classes were dominated by the 24–28 μm size class in three communities, but the dominance decreased from 66.26% in the boreal community to 48.85% in the transition zone community and then to 22.72% in the warm water community. Our research confirmed the existence of tintinnid transition zone species and community. The abrupt disappearance of warm water type I species below 15°C suggested that this group could be used as an indicator of the northern boundary of the NPTZ.

“…One of the earliest relationships identified in ecology was formulated by Bergmann (1848) in German, although translation into English (Mayr 1956, James 1970) subsequently contributed to confusion surrounding its definition. Bergmann's rule has been tested and verified for many taxa, including mammals (Brown and Maurer 1989, Ashton et al 2000), birds (James 1970, Ashton 2002), fish (Wilson 2009, Saunders and Tarling 2018), reptiles (Ashton and Feldman 2003, Angilletta et al 2004), amphibians (Olalla‐Tárraga and Rodríguez 2007), phytoplankton (Sommer et al 2017), nematodes (Van Voorhies 1996), insects (Chown and Gaston 2010, Osorio‐Canadas et al 2016, Tseng and Soleimani Pari 2019), crustaceans (Manyak‐Davis et al 2013, Garzke et al 2015, Leinaas et al 2016) and planktonic ciliates (Wang et al 2020). Yet, the taxonomic level at which Bergmann's rule applies is commonly debated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing Bergmann's rule in marine copepods

et al. 2021

Self Cite

Macroecological relationships provide insights into rules that govern ecological systems. Bergmann's rule posits that members of the same clade are larger at colder temperatures. Whether temperature drives this relationship is debated because several other potential drivers covary with temperature. We conducted a near‐global comparative analysis on marine copepods (97 830 samples, 388 taxa) to test Bergmann's rule, considering other potential drivers. Supporting Bergmann's rule, we found temperature better predicted size than did latitude or oxygen, with body size decreasing by 43.9% across the temperature range (‐1.7 to 30ºC). Body size also decreased by 26.9% across the range in food availability. Our results provide strong support for Bergman's rule in copepods, but emphasises the importance of other drivers in modifying this pattern. As the world warms, smaller copepod species are likely to emerge as ‘winners', potentially reducing rates of fisheries production and carbon sequestration.