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

Tiffany, Mary Ann; Swan, Brandon K.; Gebler, Glenn F.; Cole, James C.; González, María Rosa Luengo; Reifel, Kristen M.; Watts, J. M.; Small, Eugene B.; Hurlbert, Stuart H.

doi:10.1080/07438140709354040

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Cyclopoid copepods are primarily raptorial [46] and are known to be omnivorous [47], preferentially feeding on soft-bodied defenseless organisms such as slow moving ciliates [48]–[52]. Tiffany et al [53] also demonstrated the ability of A. dimorphus to control large ciliate populations through the strong inverse relationship found between A. dimorphus densities and that of large ciliates. Predation by A. cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Halotolerant Community in the St. Lucia Estuary (South Africa) during a Hypersaline Phase

Carrasco

Perissinotto

2012

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundThe St. Lucia Estuary, Africa's largest estuarine lake, is currently experiencing unprecedented freshwater deprivation which has resulted in a northward gradient of drought effects, with hypersaline conditions in its northern lakes.Methodology/Principal FindingsThis study documents the changes that occurred in the biotic communities at False Bay from May 2010 to June 2011, in order to better understand ecosystem functioning in hypersaline habitats. Few zooplankton taxa were able to withstand the harsh environmental conditions during 2010. These were the flatworm Macrostomum sp., the harpacticoid copepod Cletocamptus confluens, the cyclopoid copepod Apocyclops cf. dengizicus and the ciliate Fabrea cf. salina. In addition to their exceptional salinity tolerance, they were involved in a remarkably simple food web. In June 2009, a bloom of an orange-pigmented cyanobacterium (Cyanothece sp.) was recorded in False Bay and persisted uninterruptedly for 18 months. Stable isotope analysis suggests that this cyanobacterium was the main prey item of F. cf. salina. This ciliate was then consumed by A. cf. dengizicus, which in turn was presumably consumed by flamingos as they flocked in the area when the copepods attained swarming densities. On the shore, cyanobacteria mats contributed to a population explosion of the staphylinid beetle Bledius pilicollis. Although zooplankton disappeared once salinities exceeded 130, many taxa are capable of producing spores or resting cysts to bridge harsh periods. The hypersaline community was disrupted by heavy summer rains in 2011, which alleviated drought conditions and resulted in a sharp increase in zooplankton stock and diversity.Conclusions/SignificanceDespite the current freshwater deprivation crisis, the False Bay region has shown to be resilient, harboring a unique biodiversity with species that are capable of enduring harsh environmental conditions. However, further freshwater deprivation may extend beyond the physiological thresholds of this community, as well as other unique biodiversity components which this system sustains.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Halotolerant Community in the St. Lucia Estuary (South Africa) during a Hypersaline Phase

Carrasco

Perissinotto

2012

PLoS ONE

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“…Ciliates were similarly affected except for an anaerobic ciliate, Sonderia sp. (Tiffany et al 2007b). The dominant benthic invertebrate, a polychaete worm (Neanthes succinea), is adversely affected by anoxia and sulfide (Detwiler et al 2002;Dexter et al 2007) and some of our sulfide measurements at depth are at lethal levels.…”

Section: Sulfide: Fish Plankton and Benthos Killsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sulfide irruptions and gypsum blooms in the Salton Sea as detected by satellite imagery, 1979–2006

Tiffany

Ustin

Hurlbert

2007

Lake and Reservoir Management

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Bright pale-green surface waters, locally called "green tides," are visible to the naked eye and satellite sensors in patches at the Salton Sea, usually between May and November. These were studied using satellite remote sensing and by direct sampling. Algal blooms are ruled out as a cause as phytoplankton abundance, and chlorophyll concentrations were lower within the patches than in surrounding areas. The presence of abundant microscopic gypsum (CaSO 4 ·2H 2 O) crystals in surface waters suggests that scattering from this precipitating salt produces the intense signals. Biogeochemical factors include: the decomposition of organic matter, resultant anoxia and production of hydrogen sulfide by sulfate-reducing bacteria at depth, and oxidation back to sulfate and precipitation of gypsum during wind-induced overturn events. Sulfide concentrations following one such event in September 2005 ranged from 0.3 to 2.7 mg l -1 at the surface and 1.2 to 25 mg l -1 in bottom waters. Gypsum crystals occurred at densities up to 40,000 ml -1 in surface water on that date, most 20-30 µm in length with some as long as 190 µm. From 1998 to 2006, gypsum blooms appear to have increased in intensity and duration implying an increase in sulfide irruptions and anoxia in surface waters. As much as 97 percent of the lake was affected in early summer of 2003 and 75-80 percent in summers of 2005 and 2006. Events lasted for months at a time during these years. This intensification is likely due to the decline in abundance of a planktivorous fish, a hybrid tilapia, the California Mozambique mouthbrooder, leading to increased algal productivity, more severe anoxia and higher levels of dissolved hydrogen sulfide. Gypsum blooms seem to have occurred at least as far back as the 1970s, and are associated with frequent mass mortalities of fish, plankton and benthos.

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“…Most probably a trophic link exists between cyclopoid copepods and the large predacious ciliates. A strong inverse relationship between a cyclopoid copepod (Apocyclops dimorphus Kiefer) and large ciliates has been observed, for example, in the Salton Sea (Tiffany et al, 2007). Wickham, 1995;Hansen, 2000;Zöllner et al, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Does metazooplankton regulate the ciliate community in a shallow eutrophic lake?

et al. 2012

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Summary 1. As grazers on picoplankton and nanoplankton, planktonic ciliates form an important link in pelagic food webs. Ciliate communities may be controlled by predation by metazooplankton. In eutrophic systems, however, where the number of large crustaceans is often low, the mechanisms that regulate ciliate dynamics have rarely been described. 2. We conducted an enclosure experiment with natural and screened (145 μm) summer plankton communities to investigate the effect of the small‐sized crustacean zooplankton on ciliate community structure and the microbial loop in a shallow eutrophic lake. 3. The removal of the larger fraction of crustaceans initiated a decrease in total ciliate abundance. At the community level, we observed a substantial increase in large‐sized predacious ciliates (>100 μm) and a simultaneous decrease in the abundance of smaller ciliates (<20–40 μm) that were mostly bacterivores and bacterio‐herbivores. The compositional shift in the ciliate community, however, did not cascade down to the level of bacteria and edible phytoplankton.

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

Cited by 12 publications

References 61 publications

Development of a Halotolerant Community in the St. Lucia Estuary (South Africa) during a Hypersaline Phase

Development of a Halotolerant Community in the St. Lucia Estuary (South Africa) during a Hypersaline Phase

Sulfide irruptions and gypsum blooms in the Salton Sea as detected by satellite imagery, 1979–2006

Does metazooplankton regulate the ciliate community in a shallow eutrophic lake?

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