Algal communities of Kenyan soda lakes with a special focus on Arthrospira fusiformis

Abstract

Soda lakes are simple in biodiversity, but due to their highly stochastic environmental dynamics unexpected shifts in species composition do occur. We studied key drivers for structuring phytoplankton communities and identified variables significantly influencing changes of Arthrospira fusiformis abundance in the Kenyan soda lakes, Nakuru and Bogoria. In both lakes, Arthrospira fusiformis dominated algal biomass, but in Nakuru, crashes of this taxon were recorded. The three variables sodium, pH and dry mass significantly contributed to the phytoplankton taxa pattern. Arthrospira was absent at highest turbidity and salinity levels, being outcompeted by the small, single-celled chlorophyte Picocystis salinarium. Picoplankton was in general connected to higher pH values and tended to occur anti-cyclic to Arthrospira. Overall, the abundance of A. fusiformis was influenced by the boundaries of habitat suitability, light penetration, grazers and cyanophages attacks.

Soda pans of the Pannonian steppe harbor unique bacterial communities adapted to multiple extreme conditions

“…Methylotenera was the dominant methylotropic bacterium (Kalyuzhnaya et al 2006) not Methylomicrobium and Methylophaga as in other soda lakes. Similarly, previous studies have shown that planktonic primary producers also had different community composition in these habitats, cyanobacteria are dominated by Synechococcus, while eukaryotic algae by Chloroparva and Choricystis (Felföldi et al 2009(Felföldi et al , 2011Somogyi et al 2009Somogyi et al , 2010Somogyi et al , 2011Somogyi et al , 2016 contrary to Spirulina, Arthrospira and Picocystis, Dunaliella, respectively, abundant in other soda lakes (Krienitz and Kotut 2010;Schagerl et al 2015;Sorokin et al 2015).…”

Unexpected consequences of bombing. Community level response of epiphytic diatoms to environmental stress in a saline bomb crater pond area

“…The most significant variables were the salinity (and also the conductivity), pH, turbidity (and also the TSS and Secchi transparency), TP and depth. Schagerl et al [ 75 ] found that sodium, pH and dry mass significantly contributed to the phytoplankton taxa pattern in two Kenyan soda lakes. Salinity and trophic status were found as the most important environmental variables affecting the composition of the local biota [ 76 ], while the temperature, pH, oxygen saturation, ionic composition and salinity were the main environmental variables determining the diatom composition in soda pans of the Carpathian Basin [ 18 , 20 ].…”

Draft Genome Sequence of Picocystis sp. Strain ML, Cultivated from Mono Lake, California

“…Previous studies have described this strain, a close relative to Picocystis salinarum (1), as a major primary producer in the lake (2). Members of the genus Picocystis have also been cultivated from East Africa (3, 4), Inner Mongolia, China (5), and, more recently, Peru (6). Despite its role as a primary producer and its global distribution, nothing is known of its genomic potential.…”