Dynamic stoichiometric response to food quality fluctuations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina

Meunier, Cédric L.; Haafke, Julia; Oppermann, Bettina; Boersma, Maarten; Malzahn, Arne M.

doi:10.1007/s00227-012-2009-3

Cited by 24 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We therefore examine our second hypothesis by varying the microzooplankton N:C and P:C ratios (Q N Z and Q P Z ), representing the nitrogen and phosphorus requirements of the higher trophic levels ( Table 1). The P:C ratios applied in these simulations are higher than those observed by Meunier et al (2012a), but within the range reported by Grover and Chrzanowski (2006). In these experiments, we keep the microzooplankton C:N:P ratios temporally constant over the whole time course of the experiments.…”

Section: Question 1: Does Phytoplankton Food Quality Shape the Microzsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Variations C:N:P stoichiometry have been reported for microzooplankton (e.g., Meunier et al, 2012a;Grover and Chrzanowski, 2006) and for mesozooplankton (Urabe et al, 2002b;DeMott and Pape, 2005;Ferrao et al, 2007;Iwabuchi and Urabe, 2012b). Differences in elemental stoichiometry within or between the different trophic levels might help elucidate ecological interactions during food-web successions (Plath and Boersma, 2001;Sterner and Elser, 2002;Grover and Chrzanowski, 2006;Sterner et al, 2008;Meunier et al, 2012a,b;Litchman et al, 2013).…”

Section: Question 1: Does Phytoplankton Food Quality Shape the Microzmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variable phytoplankton elemental composition is often presumed to propagate across trophic levels in the food chain (Mitra and Flynn, 2007;Malzahn et al, 2010;Iwabuchi and Urabe, 2012b;Meunier et al, 2012a). Stoichiometric plasticity in (meso-) zooplankton seems to be both narrower and more complex than in phytoplankton (Sterner and Elser, 2002;Urabe et al, 2002a,b;Iwabuchi and Urabe, 2012a,b;Suzuki-Ohno et al, 2012;Hessen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrary to an earlier study by Andersen and Hessen (1991), DeMott and Pape (2005) show substantial declines in zooplankton P-content when feeding on low P:C resources. Very little is known about the stoichiometric plasticity of marine microzooplankton, but Meunier et al (2012a) reported variable stoichiometry in a marine dinoflagellate when feeding on algal cultures of different concentration and elemental composition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Microzooplankton Stoichiometric Plasticity Inferred from Modeling Mesocosm Experiments in the Peruvian Upwelling Region

Marki

Pahlow

2016

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are often characterized by nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N:P) ratios far lower than the canonical Redfield ratio. Whereas, the importance of variable stoichiometry in phytoplankton has long been recognized, variations in zooplankton stoichiometry have received much less attention. Here we combine observations from two shipboard mesocosm nutrient enrichment experiments with an optimality-based plankton ecosystem model, designed to elucidate the roles of different trophic levels and elemental stoichiometry. Pre-calibrated microzooplankton parameter sets represent foraging strategies of dinoflagellates and ciliates in our model. Our results suggest that remineralization is largely driven by omnivorous ciliates and dinoflagellates, and highlight the importance of intraguild predation. We hypothesize that microzooplankton respond to changes in food quality in terms of nitrogen-to-carbon (N:C) ratios, rather than nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N:P) ratios, by allowing variations in their phosphorus-to-carbon (P:C) ratio. Our results point toward an important biogeochemical role of flexible microzooplankton stoichiometry.

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Section: Question 1: Does Phytoplankton Food Quality Shape the Microzsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Question 1: Does Phytoplankton Food Quality Shape the Microzmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Microzooplankton Stoichiometric Plasticity Inferred from Modeling Mesocosm Experiments in the Peruvian Upwelling Region

Marki

Pahlow

2016

Front. Mar. Sci.

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show abstract

“…Here we argue that taking an ecosystem view and considering the role of secondary producers can reconcile these observations. It has been shown that while autotrophs limited by nutrient supply accumulate carbon reserves [ Rodolfi et al , ; Griffiths and Harrison , ], microzooplankton under the same restriction deplete them [ Meunier et al , ]. Using mathematical models, we demonstrate that during the transfer of biomass from primary producers to higher trophic levels, the energy costs of assimilation reduce excess carbon and regulate ecosystem elemental composition, which differs from that of the primary producers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microzooplankton regulation of surface ocean POC:PON ratios

Talmy

Martiny

Hill

et al. 2016

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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The elemental composition of particulate organic matter in the surface ocean significantly affects the efficiency of the ocean's store of carbon. Though the elemental composition of primary producers is an important factor, recent observations from the western North Atlantic Ocean revealed that carbon‐to‐nitrogen ratios (C:N) of phytoplankton were significantly higher than the relatively homeostatic ratio of the total particulate pool (particulate organic carbon:particulate organic nitrogen; POC:PON). Here we use an idealized ecosystem model to show how interactions between primary and secondary producers maintain the mean composition of surface particulates and the difference between primary producers and bulk material. Idealized physiological models of phytoplankton and microzooplankton, constrained by laboratory data, reveal contrasting autotrophic and heterotrophic responses to nitrogen limitation: under nitrogen limitation, phytoplankton accumulate carbon in carbohydrates and lipids while microzooplankton deplete internal C reserves to fuel respiration. Global ecosystem simulations yield hypothetical global distributions of phytoplankton and microzooplankton C:N ratio predicting elevated phytoplankton C:N ratios in the high‐light, low‐nutrient regions of the ocean despite a lower, homeostatic POC:PON ratio due to respiration of excess carbon in systems subject to top‐down control. The model qualitatively captures and provides a simple interpretation for, a global compilation of surface ocean POC:PON data.

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The craving for phosphorus in heterotrophic dinoflagellates and its potential implications for biogeochemical cycles

Meunier

Álvarez-Fernández

Cunha-Dupont

et al. 2018

Limnology & Oceanography

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By altering the nutritional quality of primary producers, nutrient availability indirectly influences herbivores' population dynamics. In turn, the resulting relationship between diet, growth, and wastes has consequences for nutrient cycling at the ecosystem level. We studied the link between dinoflagellates nutritional requirements and feeding behavior, and its influence on nutrient cycling. We show that long‐term shifts in dissolved PO4 concentration in the North Sea are closely linked to biomass trends of heterotrophic dinoflagellates and support this observation with experimental data indicating particularly high phosphorus requirements in dinoflagellates. At the seasonal scale, we observe a negative correlation between natural dinoflagellate abundances and the concentration of dissolved P, and we estimate that, in spring, up to 30% of dissolved P can end up in microzooplankton biomass. Our study highlights that accounting for organismal metabolic requirement provides significant insight in interpreting and predicting nutrient cycles at the ecosystem level.

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Dynamic stoichiometric response to food quality fluctuations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina

Cited by 24 publications

References 47 publications

Microzooplankton Stoichiometric Plasticity Inferred from Modeling Mesocosm Experiments in the Peruvian Upwelling Region

Microzooplankton Stoichiometric Plasticity Inferred from Modeling Mesocosm Experiments in the Peruvian Upwelling Region

Microzooplankton regulation of surface ocean POC:PON ratios

The craving for phosphorus in heterotrophic dinoflagellates and its potential implications for biogeochemical cycles

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