Studies of bloom-forming dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum in fluctuating environment: contribution to aquatic ecology, cell biology and invasion theory

Abstract

Studies of bloom-forming dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum in fluctuating environment: contribution to aquatic ecology, cell biology and invasion theory 113

Chaos theory discloses triggers and drivers of plankton dynamics in stable environment

“…Historical and current knowledge demonstrates that nearly every real-world system is a nonlinear dynamical integrity, and while some of those may contain only few interacting parts and follow rather simple rules, still all have strong dependence on the initial conditions 11,45 . In nature, aquatic ecosystems represent the many-component life systems of the highest dynamism due to short generation cycles, high metabolic rates, effective adaptation strategies and rapid evolution of major plankton inhabitants 39–41,46–49 . Unravelling the internal mechanisms that rule nonlinear plankton dynamics in nature requires long-term experimenting 44 , particularly in the conditions of stable external triggers, e.g.…”

“…Our approach to detection and verification of chaotic behaviour opens new windows for Translational Ecology 41 by showing that chaos is an inherent feature of life systems which ensures their continuity. This new knowledge backs up a predictive understanding of complex systems thus facilitating the essential human life activities.…”

“…Therefore, modification of the abiotic environment is followed not only by changes in the abundance of species but also by species composition shifts 24,29 . The latter is most pronounced for short-lived unicellular organisms compared to larger, multicellular organisms 40,41 . However, the question whether or not chaos can be detected in the systems with stable abiotic parameters remains unresolved.…”

Bloom-forming potentially toxic dinoflagellates Prorocentrum cordatum in marine plankton food webs

“…Although P. cordatum is distributed worldwide, it is still expanding its geographic range and invading new environments. Currently, it is most commonly found in marine and brackish waters of the temperate climate zone and in subtropics, less seldom in tropical regions (Heil et al, 2005;Skarlato et al, 2018b;Skarlato and Telesh, 2018).…”

“…The mysterious flexibility of metabolism and tolerance of wide range of salinity and temperature enable this dinoflagellate species to adapt to various physico-chemical conditions, disperse, and invade various ecosystems, apparently due to synergetic effect of human naturetransforming activities and global warming of the World Ocean. To date, multiple results of research activities, from field observations to modern studies of molecular genetics, cell physiology, and fine structure of PRORO are accessible in the scientific literature (Skarlato et al, 2018a(Skarlato et al, , 2018b, and references therein). However, the exact mechanisms allowing populations of these protists to dominate at very high densities during periodic red tide blooms and to suppress congeneric species when invading new environments still remain unresolved (Telesh et al, 2016, and references therein).…”