Phytoplankton dynamics in the Salton Sea, California, 1997–1999

Ciliate plankton dynamics and survey of ciliate diversity in the Salton Sea, California, 1997–1999

“…Secondly, for small ciliates and phytoplankton, integrated water samples were collected for the 0-3 m, 3-6 m and 6-9 m depth strata with a PVC tube collector. Subsamples of 60 ml aliquots were immediately fixed in 1 percent Lugol's iodine (Tiffany et al 2007a). …”

“…For smaller species, the Utermöhl method was used; a well mixed 25 ml subsample was settled for at least 24 hours and counted at 400× using a Leitz Diavert inverted microscope (Tiffany et al 2007a …”

“…(Yoo and Lee 1987;Stoecker et al 1995;Kamiyama and Matsuyama 2005). Heterocapsa niei (Loeblich) Morrill et Loeblich is often abundant in the Salton Sea, especially in winter (Tiffany et al 2007a), and likely provided prey for tintinnids in 1999. During the early part of that year the abundance of H. niei might have been suppressed by the dramatically increasing numbers of Favella sp.…”

“…and Frontonia sp. feed on large algae such as dinoflagellates and diatoms (Fenchel 1987), which are abundant in the Salton Sea (Lange and Tiffany 2002;Tiffany et al 2007a). Benthic algal mats, which occasionally break loose from the bottom, are commonplace in shallow areas at the Salton Sea; these teem with ciliates, benthic diatoms, filamentous cyanobacteria, and Beggiatoa spp., filamentous sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (Carpelan 1961;Wood et al 2002).…”

“…A second objective was a preliminary inventory of ciliate diversity in the lake, carried out primarily by sampling a wide variety of microhabitats in nearshore shallow water areas. This investigation was carried out in parallel with three-year investigations of the phytoplankton (Tiffany et al 2007a), metazooplankton and temperature, oxygen and mixing regimes (Watts et al 2001), and in the same general time frame (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005) as numerous other shorter term studies at the Salton Sea of its birds, fish, macroinvertebrates, water chemistry, mixing regime, sediments, and pollutants.…”