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Large biomass of small feeders: ciliates may dominate herbivory in eutrophic lakes.

Authors :
LISCHKE, BETTY
WEITHOFF, GUNTRAM
WICKHAM, STEPHEN A.
ATTERMEYER, KATRIN
GROSSART, HANS-PETER
SCHARNWEBER, KRISTIN
HILT, SABINE
GAEDKE, URSULA
Source :
Journal of Plankton Research; Jan/Feb2016, Vol. 38 Issue 1, p2-15, 14p
Publication Year :
2016

Abstract

The importance of ciliates as herbivores and in biogeochemical cycles is increasingly recognized. An opportunity to observe the potential consequences of zooplankton dominated by ciliates arose when winter fish kills resulted in strong suppression of crustaceans by young planktivorous fish in two shallow lakes. On an annual average, ciliates made up 38-76% of the total zooplankton biomass in both lakes during two subsequent years. Consequently, ciliate biomass and their estimated grazing potential were extremely high compared with other lakes of various trophic states and depths. Grazing estimates based on abundance and size suggest that ciliates should have cleared the water column of small (<;5 μm) and intermediate (5-50 μm) sized phytoplankton more than once a day. Especially, small feeders within the ciliates were important, likely exerting a strong top-down control on small phytoplankton. Particle-attached bacteria were presumably strongly suppressed by intermediate-sized ciliate feeders. In contrast to other lakes, large phytoplankton was proportionately very abundant. The phytoplankton community had a high evenness, which may be attributed to the feeding by numerous fast growing and selective ciliate species. Our study highlights ciliates as an important trophic link and adds to the growing awareness of the role of winter processes for plankton dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
01427873
Volume :
38
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Journal of Plankton Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
112479997
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbv102