Low invasion success of an invasive cyanobacterium in a chlorophyte dominated lake

Abstract

Biological invasions are a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Successful invasions depend on the interplay of multiple abiotic and biotic factors, however, the process of the invasion itself is often overlooked. The temporal variation of environmental factors suggests that a ‘window of opportunity’ for successful invasions exists. Especially aquatic habitats, like temperate lakes, undergo pronounced seasonal fluctuations and show temporally varying environmental conditions in e.g. nutrient availability, temperature and the composition of the resident community including competitors and consumers. We experimentally tested if an invasion window for the globally invasive cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii exists. From May to September, we determined the invasion success of C . raciborskii in laboratory mesocosms with natural lake water. Although the invasion success was generally low, the invasiveness varied among months and differed in total invasive biomass, net development and final share of C . raciborskii in the community. During the first days, C . raciborskii strongly declined and this initial, short-term decline was independent of the ambient consumptive pressure. These results are in contrast to laboratory studies in which C . raciborskii successfully invaded, suggesting that a complex natural system develops a resistance to invasions.

Assessment of the Appearance and Toxin Production Potential of Invasive Nostocalean Cyanobacteria Using Quantitative Gene Analysis in Nakdong River, Korea

“…These cyanobacteria are referred to as invasive or exotic cyanobacteria. Invasive nostocalean cyanobacteria (INC) include genera Cylindrospermopsis , Sphaerospermopsis , Cuspidothrix , Raphidiopsis , and Chrysosporum [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Species of these genera reportedly produce toxins such as saxitoxin, cylindrospermopsin, and anatoxin-a [ 10 , 17 ].…”

“…In the case of C. raciborskii , a species-specific primer was developed [ 26 ], and molecular biological monitoring using real-time PCR analysis was conducted [ 27 , 28 ]. However, most studies on INC primarily comprise morphological microscopic analyses [ 16 , 29 , 30 ] or only focus on toxin-related genes [ 28 , 31 , 32 ]. Recently, genus-specific primers that can detect five genera of INC ( Cuspidothrix , Cylindrospermopsis , Sphaerospermopsis , Raphidiopsis , and Chrysosperum ) were developed [ 33 ].…”

Different Gene Expression Response of Polish and Australian Raphidiopsis raciborskii Strains to the Chill/Light Stress

“…Growth under a broad range of temperature and light conditions is also an important capability for successful invasion [18,[25][26][27]. The dual roles of light and temperature in the dominance of certain species is not fully understood, and field and laboratory studies have shown contrasting results [7,28,29].…”

“…Therefore, increasing water temperatures and longer vegetation season are factors that could increase the opportunities for tropical strains of R. raciborskii to establish in temperate regions [30,31]. In the temperate zone in Poland, the maximum abundance of this species is limited to summer when water temperatures range from 22-25 • C [28]. Recknagel et al [32] showed a strong correlation between seasonal population dynamics of R. raciborskii and water temperature in two temperate lakes, compared to a greater temperature dependence in tropical lakes.…”

Shifts and rebound in microbial community function following repeated introduction of a novel species

“…The spoilage of food (Oro et al . 2019), cyanobacterial blooms (Bolius, Wiedner and Weithoff 2019), biofertilizers (Gu et al . 2019), probiotics (Albright et al .…”