Plankton Community Succession in Artificial Systems Subjected to Cyanobacterial Blooms Removal using Chitosan-Modified Soils

Abstract

Using artificial systems to simulate natural lake environments with cyanobacterial blooms, we investigated plankton community succession by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) fingerprinting and morphological method. With this approach, we explored potential ecological effects of a newly developed cyanobacterial blooms removal method using chitosan-modified soils. Results of PCR-DGGE and morphological identification showed that plankton communities in the four test systems were nearly identical at the beginning of the experiment. After applying the newly developed and standard removal methods, there was a shift in community composition, but neither chemical conditions nor plankton succession were significantly affected by the cyanobacteria removal process. The planted Vallisneria natans successfully recovered after cyanobacteria removal, whereas that in the box without removal process did not. Additionally, canonical correspondence analysis indicated that other than for zooplankton abundance, total phosphorus was the most important environmental predictor of planktonic composition. The present study and others suggest that dealing with cyanobacteria removal using chitosan-modified soils can play an important role in controlling cyanobacterial blooms in eutrophicated freshwater systems.

Impacts of algal blooms removal by chitosan-modified soils on zooplankton community in Taihu Lake, China

“…The algal blooms remove was conducted by chitosan-modified soils in experimental area in August, 2008. The composition of chitosan-modified soils and the methods of algal blooms removal were described by Pan et al (2006a) and Yan et al (2009). Planktonic organisms for qualitative and quantitative analysis were collected and pretreated according to Yan et al (2007).…”

“…However, as major primary producers, impact of algal blooms removal on high trophic levels is important during treatment. Even the process of algal blooms removal by chitosan-modified soils unaffected the growth of Local mussels Cristaria plicata (Leach) and submerged macrophytes Myriophyllum spicatum (Zou et al, 2006), as well as Yan et al (2009) proved neither chemical conditions nor plankton succession are significantly affected by the algal removal process in artificial systems, the effect on natural freshwater ecology is still unclearly after this process. A comparison of zooplankton community between pre and post algal blooms removal (July 21, 2008 andAugust 22, 2008, respectively) showed that there was significant diversity (paired samples test, p = 0.035, the result unpublished).…”

Metagenome-based analysis: A promising direction for plankton ecological studies

“…Furthermore, Yan et al [15][16][17][18]20,21] applied different fingerprinting approaches to investigate relationships among the genetic diversity of plankton communities, species composition and environmental factors in aquatic environments of lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Results indicated that the DNA fingerprints of target communities were generally correlated with species composition of plankton and their environments [15][16][17][18]20,21]. The concentration of TP was found to be the major factor in determining plankton communities derived from eutrophic environments [19].…”

“…To date, large numbers of metagenome-based studies on bacterioplankton and more recently on eukaryotic picoplankton have been undertaken (e.g., [11][12][13][14]). Targeting the plankton community as a system, Yan et al [15][16][17][18] and Yu et al [19] currently applied fingerprinting techniques to investigate the relationships between DNA polymorphisms and species composition of plankton communities in different habitats and environments (i.e., lakes, rivers, reservoirs, ponds, enclosures, and artificial systems). As community composition is largely dictated by environmental factors, it has been a natural extension of this relationship to use plankton community fingerprints as an indication of environmental conditions [17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Targeting the plankton community as a system, Yan et al [15][16][17][18] and Yu et al [19] currently applied fingerprinting techniques to investigate the relationships between DNA polymorphisms and species composition of plankton communities in different habitats and environments (i.e., lakes, rivers, reservoirs, ponds, enclosures, and artificial systems). As community composition is largely dictated by environmental factors, it has been a natural extension of this relationship to use plankton community fingerprints as an indication of environmental conditions [17][18][19][20][21]. In contrast to traditional morphological analyses in ecological study, multiple samples can be analyzed simultaneously with standardized sets of metagenome-based procedures, which make it practical to perform comparative analyses aimed at elucidating general microbial ecological rules.…”