The effects of mixotrophy on the stability and dynamics of a simple planktonic food web model

Jost, Christian; Lawrence, C. Martin; Campolongo, Francesca; Bund, Wouter van de; Hill, Sheryl; DeAngelis, Don

doi:10.1016/j.tpb.2004.02.001

Cited by 42 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…3a vs. 3b), indicating the stabilizing nature of mixotrophic nutrition. Algivory, rather than bacterivory, as the heterotrophic component in mixotrophs has been previously noted to enhance food web stability (Jost et al, 2004). In a maturing ecosystem such stability is important because instability would result in nutrients being lost from the system due to predator-prey mismatch (Flynn, 1989).…”

Section: Interpreting the Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of mixotrophic protists in the biological carbon pump

et al. 2014

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Abstract. The traditional view of the planktonic food web describes consumption of inorganic nutrients by photoautotrophic phytoplankton, which in turn supports zooplankton and ultimately higher trophic levels. Pathways centred on bacteria provide mechanisms for nutrient recycling. This structure lies at the foundation of most models used to explore biogeochemical cycling, functioning of the biological pump, and the impact of climate change on these processes. We suggest an alternative new paradigm, which sees the bulk of the base of this food web supported by protist plankton communities that are mixotrophic -combining phototrophy and phagotrophy within a single cell. The photoautotrophic eukaryotic plankton and their heterotrophic microzooplankton grazers dominate only during the developmental phases of ecosystems (e.g. spring bloom in temperate systems). With their flexible nutrition, mixotrophic protists dominate in more-mature systems (e.g. temperate summer, established eutrophic systems and oligotrophic systems); the more-stable water columns suggested under climate change may also be expected to favour these mixotrophs. We explore how such a predominantly mixotrophic structure affects microbial trophic dynamics and the biological pump. The mixotroph-dominated structure differs fundamentally in its flow of energy and nutrients, with a shortened and potentially more efficient chain from nutrient regeneration to primary production. Furthermore, mixotrophy enables a direct conduit for the support of primary production from bacterial production. We show how the exclusion of an explicit mixotrophic component in studies of the pelagic microbial communities leads to a failure to capture the true dynamics of the carbon flow. In order to prevent a misinterpretation of the full implications of climate change upon biogeochemical cycling and the functioning of the biological pump, we recommend inclusion of multi-nutrient mixotroph models within ecosystem studies.

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Section: Interpreting the Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of mixotrophic protists in the biological carbon pump

et al. 2014

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“…Bennett et al1990, Czypionka et al 2011) suggest that they might contribute substantially to total bacterivory in aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, photosynthesis by MNF may also contribute to primary production in the nanoplankton size fraction in coastal areas (Marshall & Laybourn-Parry 2002, Jost et al 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mixotrophy has been suggested to be a nutritional strategy for algal cells during low nutrient conditions (Jost et al 2004), which are not common at productive coastal upwelling sites (Vargas et al 2007). Hence, the ecological role of mixotrophy has not been incorporated into carbon fluxes and food web models for these productive coastal environments and is probably underappreciated at the moment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative importance of phototrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic nanoflagellates in the microbial food web of a river-influenced coastal upwelling area

Vargas

Contreras²,

Iriarte³

2012

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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. However, since HNF dominated in terms of abundance, they were the dominant grazers on bacterioplankton populations. Estimates of grazing pressure for the microbial food web showed that MNF were capable of removing 1 to 51% BP d . Given the area's relatively high nutrient condition, the elevated MNF biomass in the river plume and the greater bacterivory impact from MNF in winter, it seems that light and, thus, the energy/carbon limitation could be the main trigger for mixotrophy in this river-influenced coastal upwelling area. KEY WORDS: Mixotrophy · River discharge · Upwelling area · Plankton food webResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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“…Mitra and Flynn (2010) have indeed shown that descriptions integrating physiological processes, with some degree of feedback to modulate the processes of phototrophy and heterotrophy, are needed to properly represent the qualitative behavior of mixotrophs. Among existing mixotrophic models, only those of Stickney et al (2000) and the "perfect beast" of Flynn and Mitra (2009) take the interactions between the two trophic modes into account; the others rely on additive descriptions of phototrophy and heterotrophy (Thingstad et al, 1996;Baretta-Bekker et al, 1998;Jost et al, 2004;Hammer and Pitchford, 2005;Crane and Grover, 2010;Ward et al, 2011;Våge et al, 2013).…”

Section: Non-constitutive Mixotrophymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most interest has been leveled at the potential impact of mixotrophs on the microbial food web structure and functioning, and the conditions under which mixotrophs may likely coexist with strict phototrophs and heterotrophs (Thingstad et al, 1996;BarettaBekker et al, 1998;Stickney et al, 2000;Jost et al, 2004;Hammer and Pitchford, 2005;Hood et al, 2006;Flynn and Mitra, 2009;Crane and Grover, 2010;Ward et al, 2011;Våge et al, 2013). By far the greater effort has been applied to CM organisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Plankton Mixotrophy: A Mechanistic Model Consistent with the Shuter-Type Biochemical Approach

et al. 2017

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Mixotrophy, i.e., the ability to combine phototrophy and phagotrophy in one organism, is now recognized to be widespread among photic-zone protists and to potentially modify the structure and functioning of planktonic ecosystems. However, few biogeochemical/ecological models explicitly include this mode of nutrition, owing to the large diversity of observed mixotrophic types, the few data allowing the parameterization of physiological processes, and the need to make the addition of mixotrophy into existing ecosystem models as simple as possible. We here propose and discuss a flexible model that depicts the main observed behaviors of mixotrophy in microplankton. A first model version describes constitutive mixotrophy (the organism photosynthesizes by use of its own chloroplasts). This model version offers two possible configurations, allowing the description of constitutive mixotrophs (CMs) that favor either phototrophy or heterotrophy. A second version describes non-constitutive mixotrophy (the organism performs phototrophy by use of chloroplasts acquired from its prey). The model variants were described so as to be consistent with a plankton conceptualization in which the biomass is divided into separate components on the basis of their biochemical function (Shuter-approach;Shuter, 1979). The two model variants of mixotrophy can easily be implemented in ecological models that adopt the Shuter-approach, such as the MIRO model (Lancelot et al., 2005), and address the challenges associated with modeling mixotrophy.

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The effects of mixotrophy on the stability and dynamics of a simple planktonic food web model

Cited by 42 publications

References 65 publications

The role of mixotrophic protists in the biological carbon pump

The role of mixotrophic protists in the biological carbon pump

Relative importance of phototrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic nanoflagellates in the microbial food web of a river-influenced coastal upwelling area

Modeling Plankton Mixotrophy: A Mechanistic Model Consistent with the Shuter-Type Biochemical Approach

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