Physical processes and the ecology of a winter dinoflagellate bloom of Katodinium rotundatum

Cohen, Rrh

doi:10.3354/meps026135

Cited by 18 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…It is most likely that H. rotundata is adapted for high growth rates in winter but cryptophytes are not, thus allowing H. rotundata populations to increase faster than cryptophytes when grazing is reduced. H. rotundata is known to bloom in the winter (Cohen 1985, Sellner et al 1991, Marshall et al 2005, Seong et al 2006), but there are no reports of cryptophytes forming a winter bloom.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wet winters have been shown to result in high abundances and wide distribution of the copepod E. carolleeae in spring in Chesapeake Bay (Kimmel et al 2006). It is plausible that high copepod abundances in springs following wet winters can be partly attributed to the winter dinoflagellate blooms that occur in wet winters (Cohen 1985, Sellner et al 1991 and persist into early spring, providing food for the copepods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Past research on winter dinoflagellate blooms on the east coast of the United States has focused on the physical changes to the environment that initiate blooms (Cohen 1985, Sellner et al 1991, Litaker et al 2002b. High rainfall and increased river flow have been shown to trigger such blooms by creating a stratified water column (Cohen 1985) and causing a large influx of nutrients (Litaker et al 2002b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High rainfall and increased river flow have been shown to trigger such blooms by creating a stratified water column (Cohen 1985) and causing a large influx of nutrients (Litaker et al 2002b). However, few studies have addressed the influence of zooplankton grazers on the formation and maintenance of winter dinoflagellate blooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Winters with high rainfall create optimum conditions for blooms (Cohen 1985, Sellner et al 1991, Litaker et al 2002a), and we focused our research on understanding how grazers impact and/or control winter dinoflagellate blooms. The removal of dino flagellates by grazing can serve as an important top-down control on winter blooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Top-down control by micro- and mesozooplankton on winter dinoflagellate blooms of Heterocapsa rotundata

Millette¹,

Stoecker²,

Pierson³

2015

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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Winter dinoflagellate blooms in Chesapeake Bay tributaries can account for over 50% of a system's annual primary production, potentially more than the spring diatom bloom. Research on winter blooms has focused on environmental conditions that result in blooms, but little focus has been given to the potential importance of zooplankton grazers. We investigated the impact of microzooplankton and mesozooplankton (copepods) grazing on the population of winter phytoflagellates in the Choptank River, MD, in 2012 to 2013 and 2013 to 2014. We estimated community microzooplankton and copepod grazing rates on the dominant phytoflagellate species, and measured daily gross primary production (GPP) rates. The chlorophyll a concentration and the abundance of the dinoflagellate Heterocapsa rotundata were significantly higher in 2013 to 2014 compared with 2012 to 2013, but average daily GPP was similar between the 2 yr. However, the average percentage of daily GPP removed by grazers in 2013 to 2014 was lower than in 2012 to 2013, despite average environmental conditions and nutrient concentrations not differing between years. We hypothesize that the observed release from grazing pressure is one of the main factors controlling winter dinoflagellate bloom formation in these and other coastal temperate systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Top-down control by micro- and mesozooplankton on winter dinoflagellate blooms of Heterocapsa rotundata

Millette¹,

Stoecker²,

Pierson³

2015

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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Mixotrophy in Heterocapsa rotundata: A mechanism for dominating the winter phytoplankton

Millette

Pierson

Aceves

et al. 2016

Limnology & Oceanography

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Heterocapsa rotundata is a mixotrophic dinoflagellate that can ingest picoplankton, including bacteria, and is known to form large blooms in temperate estuaries during wet winters, particularly when grazing pressure on phytoplankton is low. We hypothesized that phagotrophy gives H. rotundata an advantage over other phytoplankton species during low light conditions. We used laboratory and field experiments to investigate changes in phagotrophy by H. rotundata in response to changes in light availability. Prey removal experiments with a non-axenic culture of H. rotundata were used to determine changes in H. rotundata's ingestion rates in response to changes in irradiance. Fluorescent microspheres were used to measure in situ ingestion rates of H. rotundata collected on 20 different occasions from the Choptank River during the winter of 2016. In situ H. rotundata ingestion rates were tested for correlation with inorganic nutrient concentrations and irradiance levels. Ingestion rates measured with cultured and in situ H. rotundata followed similar patterns and ingestion rates increased as irradiance decreased. H. rotundata has the potential to obtain nutrients from multiple nutrient sources, switching from phototrophy to partial heterotrophy as irradiance decreases. This response may allow H. rotundata to survive and to potentially form blooms when growth rates of most other estuarine phytoplankton species is low.Heterocapsa is a genus of dinoflagellates that contains numerous bloom forming and toxic species (Salas et al. 2014). One particular species, Heterocapsa rotundata (Lohmann) Loeblich (Hansen 1995), is ubiquitous and occasionally forms large blooms. H. rotundata has been reported in a range of environments all over the world including Chesapeake Bay, U. . H. rotundata tends to either dominate or be a prominent part of the phytoplankton community for at least part of the year in some of these areas (Seong et al. 2006;Balzano et al. 2015;Millette et al. 2015). Yet, relatively few studies have focused on the ecology of H. rotundata.Some studies have focused on the formation and decline of H. rotundata winter blooms in Chesapeake Bay tributaries (Cohen 1985; Sellner et al. 1991;Millette et al. 2015). These researchers found abundant H. rotundata blooms in wet, cold winters when salinity is low (Cohen 1985) and when there is a release in grazing pressure from microzooplankton and copepods (Millette et al. 2015). Although wet, cold winters and a release in grazing pressure are factors that impact every phytoplankton species, it is unknown how H. rotundata can take advantage of these conditions over other species to bloom. One possibility is that H. rotundata may use their capacity as a mixotroph to overcome light limitation. This would give H. rotundata an advantage over other phytoplankton in the winter. H. rotundata has been shown to consume heterotrophic bacteria, cyanobacteria such as Synechococcus, and small diatoms (Seong et al. 2006;Jeong et al. 2010). Their bacterial ingestion rate is known to incr...

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Impact of Freshwater Discharge on Production and Transfer of Materials in the Marine Environment

Smetacek

1986

The Role of Freshwater Outflow in Coastal Marine Ecosystems

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Physical processes and the ecology of a winter dinoflagellate bloom of Katodinium rotundatum

Cited by 18 publications

References 26 publications

Top-down control by micro- and mesozooplankton on winter dinoflagellate blooms of Heterocapsa rotundata

Top-down control by micro- and mesozooplankton on winter dinoflagellate blooms of Heterocapsa rotundata

Mixotrophy in Heterocapsa rotundata: A mechanism for dominating the winter phytoplankton

Impact of Freshwater Discharge on Production and Transfer of Materials in the Marine Environment

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