Diversity in the influence of temperature on the growth rates of freshwater algae, and its ecological relevance

Abstract

1. Growth rates of seven species of planktonic algae were determined in culture over a range of temperature from 2 to 35°C. Additional observations on growth and viability were made for 13 species in the temperature range 20-35°C. 2. There was a wide range of growth rates between species at their optimal temperatures, from 1.7 divisions day )1 (Asterionella formosa) to 0.3 divisions day )1 (Ceratium furcoides).3. There were considerable differences between species for growth at low and high temperature. Certain algae, including the diatom A. formosa and the flagellates Cryptomonas marssonii, Dinobryon divergens and Eudorina unicocca var. unicocca, had growth rates of 0.4 divisions day )1 or more at 5°C. The cyanophyte Tychonema (formerly Oscillatoria) bourrellyi, the xanthophyte Tribonema sp., the desmid Staurastrum cingulum and the large dinoflagellate C. furcoides grew poorly or not at all at this temperature. All 21 species tested could grow at 25°C, but many -including most of the diatoms, some cyanophytes, and all the flagellates -failed to grow persistently at 30°C. Only Aphanizomenon flos-aquae survived with moderate increase at 35°C, a lethal temperature for the other species. 4. The applicability was considered of proposed quantitative formulations of the ratetemperature relationship. Simple exponential relationships applied only to very limited lower ranges of temperature. The relationship proposed by Bȇlehrádek was a better fit over a wider temperature range, but still excluded rate-decline at high temperature. 5. The interspecific differences found are of potential significance for restrictions in natural distributions associated with season, altitude (especially above 500 m) and latitude.

Mathematical modeling of Microcystis aeruginosa growth and [D-Leu1] microcystin-LR production in culture media at different temperatures

“…Butterwick et al, 2005;Watkinson et al, 2005). This provides a distinct advantage for harmful cyanobacteria blooms under nutrient-enriched conditions, when competition with eukaryotic primary producers, including diatoms, chlorophytes, cryptophytes and dinoflagellates, can be intense (Paerl et al, 2011).…”

Modelling the plankton groups of the deep, peri-alpine Lake Bourget

“…For bacteria, Q10 coe cient (used only for remineralization of organic matter r) was assumed to be identical to that of autotrophs. Especially phytoplankton is known to be inhibited at high temperatures (Butterwick et al, 2005), but we had to ignore temperature inhibition in this study, as we are lacking the data required to parameterize such functions (e.g., Jöhnk et al, 2008).…”

Influence of light and temperature on the development and denitrification potential of periphytic biofilms

“…The CLSM images of the periphytic biofilms developed under different light and temerperature conditions on day 30 (blue, pink, and green colors present algae, Cyanobacteria, and EPS, respectively). found to be optimum for the growth of most algae species, both lower and higher temperature restricts their growth and can even be fatal to certain algae species (Butterwick et al, 2005;Singh and Singh, 2015). For treatments under the same temperature but different illumination conditions, higher PAR favored the accretion of the biofilms.…”