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Decadal-scale variations in total organic carbon (TOC) concentration in lake water since AD1200 in two small lakes in southern Sweden were reconstructed based on visible-near-infrared spectroscopy (VNIRS) of their recent sediment successions. In order to assess the impacts of local land-use changes, regional variations in sulfur, and nitrogen deposition and climate variations on the inferred changes in TOC concentration, the same sediment records were subjected to multi-proxy palaeolimnological analyses. Changes in lake-water pH were inferred from diatom analysis, whereas pollen-based land-use reconstructions (Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm) together with geochemical records provided information on catchment-scale environmental changes, and comparisons were made with available records of climate and population density. Our long-term reconstructions reveal that inferred lake-water TOC concentrations were generally high prior to AD1900, with additional variability coupled mainly to changes in forest cover and agricultural land-use intensity. The last century showed significant changes, and unusually low TOC concentrations were inferred at AD1930-1990, followed by a recent increase, largely consistent with monitoring data. Variations in sulfur emissions, with an increase in the early 1900s to a peak around AD1980 and a subsequent decrease, were identified as an important driver of these dynamics at both sites, while processes related to the introduction of modern forestry and recent increases in precipitation and temperature may have contributed, but the effects differed between the sites. The increase in lake-water TOC concentration from around AD1980 may therefore reflect a recovery process. Given that the effects of sulfur deposition now subside and that the recovery of lake-water TOC concentrations has reached pre-industrial levels, other forcing mechanisms related to land management and climate change may become the main drivers of TOC concentration changes in

The feeding of the cladoceran Daphniopsis studeri on algae and bacteria was investigated under ice in an ultra-oligotrophic Antarctic lake from late autumn (May) to early spring (October) in 2004. D. studeri fed on both algae and bacteria with estimated filtering rates of 0.048 and 0.061 l ind−1 day−1), respectively. Algae seemed to be the major food resource for the D. studeri population, however at times of low algal densities the bacterioplankton represented an important alternative food resource. The D. studeri grazing impact on the algal and bacterial standing stock was in general low (0.6–4.6% removed per day), but during the winter period this organism can remove up to 34% of the bacterial production (BP). At times D. studeri grazing can temporarily have a significant impact on the BP rates, though their impact was relatively low when compared to viral-induced bacterial mortality in the lake.

Zooplankton accumulate several groups of photoprotective compounds to shield against damaging ultraviolet radiation (UV). One of these groups, the carotenoids, makes the animals more conspicuous to visually hunting predators, whereas others, such as the mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) may not. The blend of photoprotective compounds is therefore important for the UV defense but also for the ability to escape predation through crypsis. Here we assess laboratory and field data from different latitudes to examine how UV, predation threat, and pigment availability (in food) affects the mixture of UV-protective compounds in copepods. Overall, the blend of MAAs and carotenoids was partly explained by the availability of MAAs in the food, the UV-threat, and the presence of predators. Copepods upregulated their MAA content when UV threat was increasing (i.e., if MAAs were abundant in food), and in field data this accumulation only occurred at high levels of predation threat. If MAAs were scarce, copepods instead compensated with higher carotenoid accumulation. However, when there was a high predation threat this carotenoid compensatory effect was disadvantageous, and low concentrations of both MAAs and carotenoids at high UV-threat resulted in lower reproduction. In all, these results showed that carotenoids and MAAs are complementary substances, i.e., one is high when the other is low, and copepods are, hence, able to adjust their blend of different UV-protective compounds to optimize their defenses to the threats of UV and predation. These defense systems may buffer against direct food-web interactions and help the zooplankton to survive in environments with high UV threat.

Udgivelsesdato: December 2005, 1. Five oligotrophic clear-water lakes on the Faroe Islands were studied during August 2000. Algal and bacterial production rates, community respiration, and CO2 saturation were determined. In addition, we examined the plankton community composition (phytoplankton and heterotrophic nanoflagellates) and measured the grazing pressure exerted by common mixotrophic species on bacteria.2. High respiration to primary production (6.6-33.2) and supersaturation of CO2 (830-2140 µatm) implied that the lakes were net heterotrophic and that the pelagic heterotrophic plankton were subsidised by allochthonous organic carbon. However, in spite of the apparent high level of net heterotrophy, primary production exceeded bacterial production and the food base for higher trophic levels appeared to be mainly autotrophic.3. We suggest that the observed net heterotrophy in these lakes was a result of the oligotrophic conditions and hence low primary production in combination with an input of allochthonous C with a relatively high availability.4. Mixotrophic phytoplankton (Cryptomonas spp., Dinobryon spp. and flagellates cf. Ochromonas spp.) constituted a large percentage of the plankton community (17-83%), possibly as a result of their capacity to exploit bacteria as a means of acquiring nutrients in these nutrient poor systems.

In the Baltic Sea area, including the Kattegat, the external N/P loadingratios are generally well above the 16:1 Redfield ratio for all subareas (theBothnian Bay, the Bothnian Sea, the Baltic proper and the Kattegat).During winter, the inorganic N/P ratio in surface waters varies. Appreciablyhigher values than the loading ratio are found for the northernmostbasin, the low-saline Bothnian Bay, while lower values than the loadingratio are found for the Baltic proper and the Kattegat. Nutrient enrichmenttests indicate general N limitation in the Baltic proper and the Kattegat,although stimulation of algal growth after P enrichment has been found inthe Baltic proper during summer blooms of blue-green algae. Blooms ofblue-green algae are common in the Baltic proper but hardly ever occur inthe Bothnian Bay and the Kattegat. This has been the case for the lastcentury, indicating natural summer N limitation. Full-scale experimentalmanipulation of the external N/P loading ratio has been carried out in theHimmerfjard basin, south of Stockholm. Results suggest nitrogen as themost limiting nutrient in coastal areas of the Baltic proper, uninfluencedby direct nutrient discharges. The knowledge of the effects of alteredexternal nutrient supplies for nutrient limitation in the Baltic Sea systemas a whole is too limited to allow for reliable predictions. However, theBaltic Sea may have developed towards a more pronounced N limitationdue to a twofold historic increase in P supply relative to N supply. Atpresent, the situation may be reversed as N supply is probably increasingmore rapidly than P supply. Management of the Baltic Sea area cannot bebased on removal of either N or P in sewage, but must take both elementsinto consideration, as well as differences between sub-basins andbetween polluted coastal and offshore areas.

The frequency of visibly phage-infected bacterial cells (FVIB) and the average number of phages per cell [i.e. burst size (BS)] were determined in Antarctic and Arctic ultra-oligotrophic freshwater environments. Water samples were collected from two Antarctic freshwater lakes and cryoconite holes from a glacier in the Arctic. Data from this bipolar study show the highest FVIB (average 26.1%, range 5.1% to 66.7%) and the lowest BS (average 4, range 2–15) ever reported in the literature. The bacterial density is low in these ultra-oligotrophic freshwater environments but a large proportion of the bacteria are visibly infected. Our results suggest that a constant virioplankton population can be maintained in these extreme environments even though host density is low and often slow growing.

The effect of viruses on the microbial loop, with particular emphasis on bacteria, was investigated over an annual cycle in 2003–2004 in Lake Druzhby and Crooked Lake, two large ultraoligotrophic freshwater lakes in the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica. Viral abundance ranged from 0.16 to 1.56 × 109 particles L-1;1 and bacterial abundances ranged from 0.10 to 0.24 × 109 cells L-1;1, with the lowest bacterial abundances noted in the winter months. Virus-to-bacteria ratios (VBR) were consistently low in both lakes throughout the season, ranging from 1.2 to 8.4. lysogenic bacteria, determined by induction with mitomycin C, were detected on three sampling occasions out of 10 in both lakes. In Lake Druzhby and Crooked Lake, lysogenic bacteria made up between 18% and 73% of the total bacteria population during the lysogenic events. Bacterial production ranged from 8.2 to 304.9 × 106 cells L-1;1 day-1;1 and lytic viral production ranged from 47.5 to 718.4 × 106 viruslike particles L-1;1 day-1;1. When only considering primary production, heterotrophic nanoflagellate (HNF) grazing and viral lysis as the major contributors to the DOC pool (i.e., autochthonous sources), we estimated a high contribution from viruses during the winter months when >60% of the carbon supplied to the DOC pool originated from viral lysis. In contrast, during the summer <20% originated from viral lysis. Our study shows that viral process in ultraoligotrophic Antarctic lakes may be of quantitative significance with respect to carbon flow especially during the dark winter period.