The coupling of biodiversity and productivity in phytoplankton communities: consequences for biomass stoichiometry

Striebel, Maren; Behl, Stephan; Stibor, Herwig

doi:10.1890/08-1409.1

Cited by 76 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This linkage is well documented in terrestrial systems (3)(4)(5)(6)(7) and is increasingly being established for marine systems (8)(9)(10)(11). Marine phytoplankton generate roughly half of global primary production (12)(13)(14) and play a critical role in oceanic ecosystem structure and function.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Metatranscriptome analyses indicate resource partitioning between diatoms in the field

Alexander

Jenkins

Rynearson

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

160

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Diverse communities of marine phytoplankton carry out half of global primary production. The vast diversity of the phytoplankton has long perplexed ecologists because these organisms coexist in an isotropic environment while competing for the same basic resources (e.g., inorganic nutrients). Differential niche partitioning of resources is one hypothesis to explain this "paradox of the plankton," but it is difficult to quantify and track variation in phytoplankton metabolism in situ. Here, we use quantitative metatranscriptome analyses to examine pathways of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) metabolism in diatoms that cooccur regularly in an estuary on the east coast of the United States (Narragansett Bay). Expression of known N and P metabolic pathways varied between diatoms, indicating apparent differences in resource utilization capacity that may prevent direct competition. Nutrient amendment incubations skewed N/P ratios, elucidating nutrient-responsive patterns of expression and facilitating a quantitative comparison between diatoms. The resource-responsive (RR) gene sets deviated in composition from the metabolic profile of the organism, being enriched in genes associated with N and P metabolism. Expression of the RR gene set varied over time and differed significantly between diatoms, resulting in opposite transcriptional responses to the same environment. Apparent differences in metabolic capacity and the expression of that capacity in the environment suggest that diatom-specific resource partitioning was occurring in Narragansett Bay. This high-resolution approach highlights the molecular underpinnings of diatom resource utilization and how cooccurring diatoms adjust their cellular physiology to partition their niche space.phytoplankton | diatom | nutrient physiology | niche partitioning | metatranscriptomics T he stability and primary productivity of ecosystems have long been linked to the diversity of primary producers (1, 2). This linkage is well documented in terrestrial systems (3-7) and is increasingly being established for marine systems (8-11). Marine phytoplankton generate roughly half of global primary production (12-14) and play a critical role in oceanic ecosystem structure and function. Within the phytoplankton, the diatoms generate an estimated 40% of primary production (15). Thus, diatoms alone exert a profound influence over marine primary production and global carbon (C) cycling, particularly in coastal margins and estuaries.Phytoplankton are extremely diverse, with estimates of over 200,000 extant species (16,17). This dramatic level of taxonomic diversity in the plankton is difficult to resolve with the apparently limited number of niches in the pelagic habitat because these organisms compete for the same two basic resources: light and nutrients. As was highlighted by Hutchinson (18), the phytoplankton violate Gause's law of competitive exclusion, which posits that two organisms competing for the same resources cannot coexist. Much thought has gone toward identifying the cause of the "pa...

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mentioning

confidence: 96%

Metatranscriptome analyses indicate resource partitioning between diatoms in the field

Alexander

Jenkins

Rynearson

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

160

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“…In addition, we analyzed seston C:P ratios from natural phyto plankton communities as a function of the contribution of potentially mixotrophic species to the total phytoplankton community. We utilized data from 2 lake surveys that were carried out during summer stratification in 2004 (Striebel et al 2009a(Striebel et al , 2009b and 2012 (Horváth et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The functional role of planktonic mixotrophs in altering seston stoichiometry

Moorthi¹,

Ptáčník²,

Sanders³

et al. 2017

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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Mixotrophic protists are widespread and relevant primary producers and consumers in planktonic food webs. Given their dual mode of nutrition, mixotrophs face different constraints in allocating resources to cellular structures compared to strict photoautotrophs. However, little is known about their stoichiometric requirements and their flexibility in nutrient content and thus food quality, or how this affects consumer performance and nutrient recycling. In the present study, we tested for systematic differences in elemental composition between photoautotrophic and mixotrophic protists. We compiled intracellular nutrient ratios of mixotrophic and phototrophic species from culture experiments and from 2 lake surveys. Overall, both laboratory and field data indicated that mixotrophy has a stabilizing effect on the nutrient stoichiometry of primary producers under changing nutrient supply. In laboratory experiments, mixotrophs showed a lower variability in intracellular N:P ratios compared to strict phototrophs and were more stable in their elemental composition in response to a gradient of dissolved N:P availability. With increasing contributions of mixotrophic phytoplankton taxa to total lake phytoplankton, both the mean and variance in seston C:P ratios decreased, i.e. communities with higher proportion of mixotrophs overall exhibited more constrained seston stoichiometry. Our results show that mixotrophy may have direct implications for nutrient cycling and secondary production through regulation of seston stoichiometry, buffering stoichiometric constraints for herbivores and enabling a more stable secondary production compared to systems dominated by phototrophic specialists.

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“…Combination of multiple community ecology theories would certainly improve our understanding of community stoichiometry, since competition theory alone does not explain the high biodiversity found in, for example, phytoplankton communities (Passarge et al, 2006). Species diversity is a factor that has received special interest recently, both as a factor affecting (Striebel et al, 2009;Abbas et al, 2013) and being affected by stoichiometry (Evans-White et al, 2009;Lewandowska et al, 2016). The study by Guiz et al (2016) is unique in its attempts at causally explaining both the mean and variation in stoichiometry within local communities and suggests an intriguing convergence in the mean and variance of C:N ratios between plant communities established on different soil fertilities.…”

Section: Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This example points to the importance of considering the potential feedbacks between the chemical environment and recycling ( Table 2). Research in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships has otherwise shown that species diversity affects elemental rates within ecosystems (Hooper et al, 2005), as well as biomass production and stoichiometry of primary producers (Striebel et al, 2009). However, interactive effects of stoichiometry and biodiversity on recycling rates are still poorly understood and in need of further development (Hillebrand et al, 2014).…”

Section: Recycling Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Operational Framework for the Advancement of a Molecule-to-Biosphere Stoichiometry Theory

et al. 2017

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Biological stoichiometry is an approach that focuses on the balance of elements in biological interactions. It is a theory that has the potential to causally link material processes at all biological levels-from molecules to the biosphere. But the lack of a coherent operational framework has so far restricted progress in this direction. Here, we provide a framework to help infer how a stoichiometric imbalance observed at one level impacts all other biological levels. Our framework enables us to highlight the areas of the theory in need of completion, development and integration at all biological levels. Our hope is that this framework will contribute to the building of a more predictive theory of elemental transfers within the biosphere, and thus, to a better understanding of human-induced perturbations to the global biogeochemical cycles.

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The coupling of biodiversity and productivity in phytoplankton communities: consequences for biomass stoichiometry

Cited by 76 publications

References 36 publications

Metatranscriptome analyses indicate resource partitioning between diatoms in the field

Metatranscriptome analyses indicate resource partitioning between diatoms in the field

The functional role of planktonic mixotrophs in altering seston stoichiometry

An Operational Framework for the Advancement of a Molecule-to-Biosphere Stoichiometry Theory

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