Domination of invasive Nostocales (Cyanoprokaryota) at 52°N latitude

Abstract

Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides are increasingly widespread cyanobacterial species, considered invasive. However, they have never been found to dominate the phytoplankton in the northern part of the invaded area. The aim of our study was to expand the understanding of the invasion process in Nostocales, by answering the question which environmental conditions enabled the first ever noted bloom incident of C. raciborskii and S. aphanizomenoides in the northern part of their current occurrence ranges. We examined the population dynamics of the two invasive cyanobacteria and the abiotic conditions in which their blooms developed in a reservoir at 52 N. We also examined the phytoplankton community diversity and composition before and during the invasive species blooms. As shown by redundancy analysis, the competitive advantage of S. aphanizomenoides depended strongly on high water temperature and high concentration of phosphates, and was positively related to other summer conditions (low water transparency, high ammonium nitrogen concentration). C. raciborskii biomass was not related to temperature and phosphates, but we argue that high water temperature in the first half of July enabled abundant akinete germination, and pulsed phosphorus availability synergized to bring about a later bloom. Both the invasive species co-occurred with the native cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon gracile, but C. raciborskii bloomed after the native species domination period. The results of the study corroborate the high competitiveness of S. aphanizomenoides in hot, nutrient-rich conditions, and the adaptation of the invaders to the environment in the invaded regions, inter alia by the overwintering mechanism of numerous akinete differentiation. Our results also contradict the assumption that the phytoplankton diversity index would decrease after colonization of freshwater bodies by invasive cyanoprokaryotes.

Effect of Increased Temperature on Native and Alien Nuisance Cyanobacteria from Temperate Lakes: An Experimental Approach

“…Our study was focused on the response of P. agardhii and A. gracile as one of the main nuisance-dominant native species in the lakes of temperate zone [ 19 , 21 , 23 , 24 , 40 ]. P. agardhii and A. gracile can thrive in a wide range of temperatures and their populations stay dense even during cold periods (≤4 °C) [ 41 , 42 ].…”

A report of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and other cyanobacteria in the water reservoirs of power plants in Ukraine

“…However, there was a single reported case when C . raciborskii dominated the phytoplankton of a shallow reservoir in Poland after a particularly hot and sunny early summer (Budzyńska and Gołdyn 2017 ). Moreover, long-term phytoplankton analysis in Poland showed the ability of C .…”

“…In turn, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Woloszyńska) Seenayya et Subba Raju, known as the main producer of CYN in sub-tropical and tropical areas, has never been documented to produce any known cyanotoxin in Europe although numerous studies have already demonstrated the toxicity of their exudates using in vivo and in vitro experimental models (Acs et al 2013 ; Smutná et al 2016 ; Rzymski et al 2017a ). Reported first in Lake Kastoria in Greece (Skuja 1937 ), it has systematically been found throughout the continent, although was rarely observed to form blooms (Budzyńska and Gołdyn 2017 ). With recent reports of its common occurrence in western parts of Poland, in a single lake in Lithuania (Kokocinski et al 2017 ; Rzymski et al 2017b ) and Lake Nero in the Yaroslavl Region of Russia (Babanazarova et al 2015 ), it appears that C .…”

Functional Groups of Phytoplankton and Their Relationship with Environmental Factors in the Restored Uzarzewskie Lake

“…An additional reason for the intensive growth of phytoplankton, especially from the coda H1 and S1 (cyanobacteria), were very favorable temperature conditions in summer [42][43][44]. It is worth mentioning that the increasing trends of temperature in the last decades favor cyanobacterial blooms [45][46][47][48] and reconstruction of species composition towards an increase of the number of invasive taxa [49][50][51]. This was the cause of higher cyanobacteria biomass in 2015 than in other years of the second method application, as summer 2015 was extremely hot in Poland.…”