Academic literature on the topic 'Algal Grazers'
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Journal articles on the topic "Algal Grazers"
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Albini, Dania, Mike S. Fowler, Carole Llewellyn, and Kam W. Tang. "Turning defence into offence? Intrusion of cladoceran brood chambers by a green alga leads to reproductive failure." Royal Society Open Science 7, no. 9 (September 2020): 200249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200249.
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Microalgae are the foundation of aquatic food webs. Their ability to defend against grazers is paramount to their survival, and modulates their ecological functions. Here, we report a novel anti-grazer strategy in the common green alga Chlorella vulgaris against two grazers, Daphnia magna and Simocephalus sp. The algal cells entered the brood chamber of both grazers, presumably using the brood current generated by the grazer's abdominal appendages. Once inside, the alga densely colonized the eggs, significantly reducing reproductive success. The effect was apparent under continuous light or higher light intensity. The algal cells remained viable following removal from the brood chamber, continuing to grow when inoculated in fresh medium. No brood chamber colonization was found when the grazers were fed the reference diet Raphidocelis subcapitata under the same experimental conditions, despite the fact that both algal species were readily ingested by the grazers and were small enough to enter their brood chambers. These observations suggest that C. vulgaris can directly inflict harm on the grazers' reproductive structure. There is no known prior example of brood chamber colonization by a microalgal prey; our results point to a new type of grazer–algae interaction in the plankton that fundamentally differs from other antagonistic ecological interactions.
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Fisher, Carolyn L., Pamela D. Lane, Marion Russell, Randy Maddalena, and Todd W. Lane. "Low Molecular Weight Volatile Organic Compounds Indicate Grazing by the Marine Rotifer Brachionus plicatilis on the Microalgae Microchloropsis salina." Metabolites 10, no. 9 (September 4, 2020): 361. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/metabo10090361.
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Microalgae produce specific chemicals indicative of stress and/or death. The aim of this study was to perform non-destructive monitoring of algal culture systems, in the presence and absence of grazers, to identify potential biomarkers of incipient pond crashes. Here, we report ten volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are robustly generated by the marine alga, Microchloropsis salina, in the presence and/or absence of the marine grazer, Brachionus plicatilis. We cultured M. salina with and without B. plicatilis and collected in situ volatile headspace samples using thermal desorption tubes over the course of several days. Data from four experiments were aggregated, deconvoluted, and chromatographically aligned to determine VOCs with tentative identifications made via mass spectral library matching. VOCs generated by algae in the presence of actively grazing rotifers were confirmed via pure analytical standards to be pentane, 3-pentanone, 3-methylhexane, and 2-methylfuran. Six other VOCs were less specifically associated with grazing but were still commonly observed between the four replicate experiments. Through this work, we identified four biomarkers of rotifer grazing that indicate algal stress/death. This will aid machine learning algorithms to chemically define and diagnose algal mass production cultures and save algae cultures from imminent crash to make biofuel an alternative energy possibility.
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Minuti, JJ, and BD Russell. "Functionally redundant herbivores: urchin and gastropod grazers respond differently to ocean warming and rising CO2." Marine Ecology Progress Series 656 (December 10, 2020): 239–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps13416.
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Future ocean CO2 and temperatures are predicted to increase primary productivity across tropical marine habitats, potentially driving a shift towards algal-dominated systems. However, increased consumption of algae by benthic grazers could potentially counter this shift. Yet, the response of different grazer species to future conditions will be moderated by their physiologies, meaning that they may not be functional equivalents. Here, we experimentally assessed the physiological response of key grazers—the sea urchin Heliocidaris crassispina and 2 gastropod species, Astralium haematragum and Trochus maculatus—to predicted CO2 concentrations (400, 700 and 1000 ppm) and temperature conditions (ambient, +3 and +5°C). In line with metabolic theory, we found that urchin metabolic rate increased at future temperatures regardless of CO2 conditions, with evidence of metabolic acclimation to higher temperatures. The metabolic rate of A. haematragum was depressed only by CO2, whereas T. maculatus initially had elevated metabolic rates at moderate CO2, which were depressed by the combination of the highest CO2 concentration and temperatures. Taxa showed differential survival, with no urchin mortality under any future conditions but substantial mortality of both gastropods under elevated temperatures regardless of CO2 concentration. Importantly, all species had substantially reduced algal consumption in response to elevated CO2, though the urchins only demonstrated an energetic mismatch under combined future CO2 and temperature. Therefore, despite sharing an ecological niche, these key grazers are likely to be differentially affected by future environmental conditions, potentially reducing the strength of ecological compensatory responses depending on the functional redundancy in this grazing community.
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Grutter, AS, S. Bejarano, KL Cheney, AW Goldizen, T. Sinclair-Taylor, and PA Waldie. "Effects of the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus on grazing fishes and coral reef benthos." Marine Ecology Progress Series 643 (June 11, 2020): 99–114. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps13331.
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Territorial and roving grazing fishes farm, and feed on, algae, sediment, or detritus, thus exerting different influences on benthic community structure, and are common clients of cleaner fish. Whether cleaners affect grazing-fish diversity and abundance, and indirectly the benthos, was tested using reefs maintained free of the bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus for 8.5 yr (removals) compared with controls. We quantified fish abundance per grazing functional group, foraging rates of roving grazers, cleaning rates of roving grazers by L. dimidiatus, reef benthos composition, and fouling material on settlement tiles. Abundances of ‘intensive’ and ‘extensive’ territorial farmers, non-farmers, parrotfishes and Acanthurus spp. were lower on removal than control reefs, but this was not the case for ‘indeterminate’ farmers and Ctenochaetus striatus. Foraging rates of Acanthurus spp. and C. striatus were unaffected by cleaner presence or cleaning duration. This suggests some robustness of the grazers’ foraging behaviour to loss of cleaners. Acanthurus spp. foraged predominantly on sediment and detritus, whereas C. striatus and parrotfishes grazed over algal turfs. Nevertheless, benthic community structure and amount of organic and inorganic material that accumulated over 3.5 mo on tiles were not affected by cleaner presence. Thus, despite greater abundances of many roving grazers, and consequently higher grazing rates being linked to the presence of cleaners, the benthos was not detectably affected by cleaners. This reveals that the positive effect of cleaners on fish abundance is not associated with a subsequent change in the benthos as predicted. Rather, it suggests a resilience of benthic community structure to cleaner-fish loss, possibly related to multiple antagonistic effects of different grazer functional groups. However, losing cleaners remains a problem for reefs, as the lack of cleaning has adverse consequences for fish physiology and populations.
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Jordan, J., and PS Lake. "Grazer-epilithon interactions in an Australian upland stream." Marine and Freshwater Research 47, no. 6 (1996): 831. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf9960831.
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Effects of macroinvertebrate grazers on the distribution of their food resource, epilithon, were examined in a south-eastern Australian stream. The hypothesis that grazers would significantly alter the development of epilithon was tested experimentally: macroinvertebrates were excluded from some experimental substrata and allowed to colonize others. Epilithic chlorophyll a concentration, organic matter content and total diatom density were used to monitor the effects of the grazer assemblage over 35 days. As predicted, epilithon density was higher on bricks with exclusion barriers than on bricks open to colonization by grazers. Similarly, diatom densities were significantly higher on bricks from the grazer-exclusion treatment. Patterns in the development of epilithon over time point to the importance of prevailing abiotic conditions in determining the outcome of macroinvertebrate grazing. Differences in total epilithon biomass, algal biomass and diatom density between treatments clearly indicate the independent importance of macroinvertebrate grazing to the microdistribution of epilithon in upland streams.
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Tank, Suzanne E., and David W. Schindler. "The role of ultraviolet radiation in structuring epilithic algal communities in Rocky Mountain montane lakes: evidence from pigments and taxonomy." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 61, no. 8 (August 1, 2004): 1461–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f04-080.
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We investigated changes in the community structure of epilithic (rock-dwelling) algae brought about by ultraviolet-A and -B radiation (UV-A and UV-B, respectively), using measurements of biovolume of individual taxa, and taxonomically diagnostic photosynthetic pigments. We undertook our study in four Canadian Rocky Mountain montane lakes, where downwelling ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can be intense. Although taxonomic counts revealed significant decreases in algal community diversity under UV-A and UV-B exposure, they revealed no other significant trends in algal community composition. Instead, redundancy analysis using these counts suggested that variations in nutrient concentrations were most important in structuring these communities. Photosynthetic pigments decreased significantly under UV-A and UV-B exposure. This decrease was much more striking for carotenoid than for chlorophyll concentrations, despite the photoprotective properties of many carotenoid pigments. Grazed carotenoids have been shown to be more resistant to degradation than grazed chlorophylls. We suggest that an observed increase in grazing pressure in our UVR-shielded communities counteracted increases in algal growth, but that increased algal growth rates were reflected by increased concentrations of slowly degrading carotenoids. Our study suggests that other factors, such as nutrients and grazers, are more important than UVR for structuring epilithic algal communities in our study lakes.
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Heard, Stephen B., and Corinne K. Buchanan. "Grazercollector facilitation hypothesis supported by laboratory but not field experiments." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 61, no. 6 (June 1, 2004): 887–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f04-022.
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Grazing invertebrates in streams feed by harvesting algal cells from surfaces, and in doing so release fine particulate organic matter (FPOM). The "grazercollector facilitation hypothesis" holds that FPOM production by grazers facilitates growth and (or) survival of FPOM-collecting invertebrates. We tested for grazercollector facilitation in laboratory and field experiments. In recirculating flumes in the laboratory, we tested for facilitation of the collector Hydropsyche slossonae by the grazers Physa gyrina, Glossosoma intermedium, and Baetis tricaudatus. All three grazers increased FPOM levels in flume water, but only Physa facilitated Hydropsyche growth. In the field, we manipulated Physa and Glossosoma densities to test for facilitation (at a local scale) of natural collector assemblages in an eastern Iowa stream. We did not detect facilitation of any collector by either grazer in the field, despite high power to detect such interactions. We suspect that grazercollector facilitation was not observed in the field because (unlike in our laboratory flumes) field FPOM levels are often high and extremely variable in time and space and because organic particles can arise from sources other than grazer activity (= grazer-independent processing). Therefore, at local scales, collectors may not be significantly limited by the supply of grazer-derived FPOM.
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Connelly, S. J., E. A. Wolyniak, K. L. Dieter, C. E. Williamson, and K. L. Jellison. "Impact of Zooplankton Grazing on the Excystation, Viability, and Infectivity of the Protozoan Pathogens Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73, no. 22 (September 14, 2007): 7277–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.01206-07.
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ABSTRACT Very little is known about the ability of the zooplankton grazer Daphnia pulicaria to reduce populations of Giardia lamblia cysts and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in surface waters. The potential for D. pulicaria to act as a biological filter of C. parvum and G. lamblia was tested under three grazing pressures (one, two, or four D. pulicaria grazers per 66 ml). (Oo)cysts (1 × 104 per 66 ml) were added to each grazing bottle along with the algal food Selenastrum capricornutum (6.6 × 104 cells per 66 ml) to stimulate normal grazing. Bottles were rotated (2 rpm) to prevent settling of (oo)cysts and algae for 24 h (a light:dark cycle of 16 h:8 h) at 20°C. The impact of D. pulicaria grazing on (oo)cysts was assessed by (i) (oo)cyst clearance rates, (ii) (oo)cyst viability, (iii) (oo)cyst excystation, and (iv) oocyst infectivity in cell culture. Two D. pulicaria grazers significantly decreased the total number of C. parvum oocysts by 52% and G. lamblia cysts by 44%. Furthermore, two D. pulicaria grazers significantly decreased C. parvum excystation and infectivity by 5% and 87%, respectively. Two D. pulicaria grazers significantly decreased the viability of G. lamblia cysts by 52%, but analysis of G. lamblia excystation was confounded by observed mechanical disruption of the cysts after grazing. No mechanical disruption of the C. parvum oocysts was observed, presumably due to their smaller size. The data provide strong evidence that zooplankton grazers have the potential to substantially decrease the population of infectious C. parvum and G. lamblia in freshwater ecosystems.
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Jacobucci, G. B., M. O. Tanaka, and F. P. P. Leite. "Factors influencing temporal variation of a Sargassum filipendula (Phaeophyta: Fucales) bed in a subtropical shore." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89, no. 2 (March 2009): 315–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315409002306.
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In the present study, we evaluate the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on temporal fluctuations of Sargassum filipendula in a subtropical shore. Monthly algal samples, abiotic components, amphipod grazer density, and epiphyte biomass were obtained from a Sargassum bed in south-eastern Brazil. Density of S. filipendula fronds decreased during the sampling period, whereas dry mass was more constant, although with a noticeable reduction in the warmer months. Hypnea musciformis was the most frequent epiphyte on S. filipendula, occurring in all sampling periods, although with significant temporal variation. Sargassum filipendula density and dry mass were both influenced by epiphyte dry mass, temperature, and amphipod grazers. Sargassum filipendula biomass negatively influenced total epiphyte biomass, whereas H. musciformis biomass was positively influenced by phosphate, nitrite, and S. filipendula density and negatively influenced by S. filipendula dry mass and amphipod grazer abundance. Algal temporal fluctuations can be related to local abiotic and biotic factors, but the variation observed for S. filipendula and its epiphytes suggest that these factors have quite distinct effects for these algae.
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Khan, Najmus Sakib. "Ecological Potentiality of Plankton: A Perspective on Nutrition, Toxicity and Bio-Indication." Environmental Sciences and Ecology: Current Research (ESECR 2, no. 7 (December 7, 2021): 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.54026/esecr/1040.
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The base of aquatic energy is initiated and concreted by plankton such as primary photosynthetic algae and consequently their immediate secondary grazers as zooplankton. The nutritional features of algae or phytoplankton are controlled by aquatic nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, silica and other essential minerals). Moreover, the biochemical content of zooplankton reflects their diet profiles (e.g. bacteria and algae). The promising and sustainable fisheries prospects are crucially subjective by nutritional quality and quantity of plankton (e.g. algal bloom). Additionally, both algae and zooplankton are efficient as auspicious biological tools for indicating the aquatic environments.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Algal Grazers"
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Cervin, Gunnar. "Interactions between grazers and algal canopies, an experimental approach /." Göteborg (Ecologie marine) : Göteborg university, 2002. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb39929291f.
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Madikiza, Liwalam Onwabile. "The role of grazers and basal sustrate cover in the control of intertidal algal distribution." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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Rosser, S. M. Jane Horner. "Phytoplankton ecology in the upper Swan River estuary, Western Australia: with special reference to nitrogen uptake and microheterotroph grazing." Thesis, Curtin University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1562.
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Phytoplankton succession and abundance in estuaries is known to be influenced by the relative strengths of various seasonally changing physical and chemical factors. Previous studies of Swan River Estuary phytoplankton biomass and composition have identified salinity, temperature, rainfall and nutrients as the most important controlling factors. These conclusions are generally based on analysis of data from river length transects and depth integrated day-time sampling. They describe influences ,affecting whole system phytoplankton abundance and succession. Many of the typical seasonal bloom that develop are ephemeral and only extend over relatively small areas. The focus of this study is a single site, Ron Courtney Island, considered typical of the upper estuary region. This region of the estuary was chosen as representative of the section of river most influenced by allochthonous nutrient input. It has been the region of most frequent and intense algal blooms over the past decade. The factors, physical, biological or physiological, that have the greatest influence on controlling phytoplankton biomass under various ambient conditions for this system are determined. While previous studies have recognised the importance of nitrogen to phytoplankton growth in the Swan River Estuary, they have focused on NO;, with only anecdotal reference to the importance of the alternative nitrogen source, NH4+. This is the first study to explore the influence of different nitrogen source fluxes on phytoplankton biomass in the upper Swan River Estuary. The roles of physiological adaptation to, and preferences for, 'new' (NO,), recycled (NH4+) and organic (urea) nitrogen sources in relation to ambient nutrient levels are explored.Specific uptake rates (v), normalised to chlorophyll a, for NO;, NH4+ and urea were 0.2 ± 0.04 - 1831.1 ± 779.19, 0.5 ± 0.26 - 1731.6 ± 346.67 and 3.0 ± 0.60 - 2241.2 ± 252.56 ng N μg Chla-1 respectively. Urea concentration (14.8 - 117.7 μg urea-N 1-1) remained relatively constant over the 12 month study period. Measured ambient specific uptake rates for urea represent between 27.5% and 40.4% of total N uptake over the annual period February 1998 -January 1999. Seasonal nitrate uptake over the same period constituted only 11.3% (±10.77%, n=12) to 24.4% (± 13.02%, n=12) with the highest percentage during winter, when nitrate levels are elevated. It is suggested that urea provides a nutrient intermediary over the spring - summer period during transition from autotrophic to heterotrophic dominated communities. Grazing ,and nitrogen recycling are intricately connected by simultaneously providing top-down biomass control and bottom-up nutrient supply. Zooplankton (> 44 μm) grazing has been shown to reduce up to 40% of phytoplankton standing stock at times. Microheterotrophs (<300 pm) can reduce phytoplankton biomass production by up to 100% (potential production grazed, 11.1% day' - 99.6 % day-1) over an annual cycle. This correlated to mean seasonal day-time grazing loss of 80.47 ± 3.5 ngN μg Chla-1 in surface waters and 20.17 ± 9.7 ngN μg Chla-1 at depth (4.5m). Night time grazing for surface and bottom depths resulted in similar nitrogen loss rates (13.03 ± 4.84 ngN μg Chla-1).Uptake rates for nitrate (r2 0.501) and urea (r2 0.512), doing with temperature (r2 0.605) were shown to have the greatest influence on phytoplankton distribution over depth and time. This research emphasises the need for more detailed investigations into the physiology of nutrient uptake and the effects of nutrient fluxes on phytoplankton biomass and distribution. Further research into the roles of organic nitrogen and pico and nanoplankton in this system is recommended.
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Rosser, S. M. Jane Horner. "Phytoplankton ecology in the upper Swan River estuary, Western Australia: with special reference to nitrogen uptake and microheterotroph grazing." Curtin University of Technology, Department of Environmental Biology, 2004. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=16266.
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Phytoplankton succession and abundance in estuaries is known to be influenced by the relative strengths of various seasonally changing physical and chemical factors. Previous studies of Swan River Estuary phytoplankton biomass and composition have identified salinity, temperature, rainfall and nutrients as the most important controlling factors. These conclusions are generally based on analysis of data from river length transects and depth integrated day-time sampling. They describe influences ,affecting whole system phytoplankton abundance and succession. Many of the typical seasonal bloom that develop are ephemeral and only extend over relatively small areas. The focus of this study is a single site, Ron Courtney Island, considered typical of the upper estuary region. This region of the estuary was chosen as representative of the section of river most influenced by allochthonous nutrient input. It has been the region of most frequent and intense algal blooms over the past decade. The factors, physical, biological or physiological, that have the greatest influence on controlling phytoplankton biomass under various ambient conditions for this system are determined. While previous studies have recognised the importance of nitrogen to phytoplankton growth in the Swan River Estuary, they have focused on NO;, with only anecdotal reference to the importance of the alternative nitrogen source, NH4+. This is the first study to explore the influence of different nitrogen source fluxes on phytoplankton biomass in the upper Swan River Estuary. The roles of physiological adaptation to, and preferences for, 'new' (NO,), recycled (NH4+) and organic (urea) nitrogen sources in relation to ambient nutrient levels are explored.Specific uptake rates (v), normalised to chlorophyll a, for NO;, NH4+ and urea were 0.2 ± 0.04 - 1831.1 ± 779.19, 0.5 ± 0.26 - 1731.6 ± 346.67 and 3.0 ± 0.60 - 2241.2 ± 252.56 ng N μg Chla-1 respectively. Urea concentration (14.8 - 117.7 μg urea-N 1-1) remained relatively constant over the 12 month study period. Measured ambient specific uptake rates for urea represent between 27.5% and 40.4% of total N uptake over the annual period February 1998 -January 1999. Seasonal nitrate uptake over the same period constituted only 11.3% (±10.77%, n=12) to 24.4% (± 13.02%, n=12) with the highest percentage during winter, when nitrate levels are elevated. It is suggested that urea provides a nutrient intermediary over the spring - summer period during transition from autotrophic to heterotrophic dominated communities. Grazing ,and nitrogen recycling are intricately connected by simultaneously providing top-down biomass control and bottom-up nutrient supply. Zooplankton (> 44 μm) grazing has been shown to reduce up to 40% of phytoplankton standing stock at times. Microheterotrophs (<300 pm) can reduce phytoplankton biomass production by up to 100% (potential production grazed, 11.1% day' - 99.6 % day-1) over an annual cycle. This correlated to mean seasonal day-time grazing loss of 80.47 ± 3.5 ngN μg Chla-1 in surface waters and 20.17 ± 9.7 ngN μg Chla-1 at depth (4.5m). Night time grazing for surface and bottom depths resulted in similar nitrogen loss rates (13.03 ± 4.84 ngN μg Chla-1).
Uptake rates for nitrate (r2 0.501) and urea (r2 0.512), doing with temperature (r2 0.605) were shown to have the greatest influence on phytoplankton distribution over depth and time. This research emphasises the need for more detailed investigations into the physiology of nutrient uptake and the effects of nutrient fluxes on phytoplankton biomass and distribution. Further research into the roles of organic nitrogen and pico and nanoplankton in this system is recommended.
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Collins, Scott Andrew. "Bottom-Up Controls (Micronutrients and N and P Species) Better Predict Cyanobacterial Abundances in Harmful Algal Blooms Than Top-Down Controls (Grazers)." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2019. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8584.
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The initiation, bloom, and bust of harmful Cyanobacteria and algae blooms (HAB) in lakes are controlled by top-down and bottom-up ecological controls. Excess phosphorous and nitrogen inputs from anthropogenic sources are primary to blame, but eukaryotic grazers may also promote or curb Cyanobacteria dominance. We tracked shifts in bacterial composition, lake chemistry, and eukaryotic grazing community weekly or bi-weekly through spring and summer and modeled the causes of specific Cyanobacterial species blooms and busts across three lakes in Utah, USA, with differing lake trophic states. Regardless of trophic status, all three lakes experienced blooms of varying composition and duration. Aphanizomenon strain MDT14a was the most dominant species in every bloom on Utah Lake, comprising up to 44.16% of the bacterial community. Utah Lake experienced a total of 18 blooms across all sites ranging in duration from one to six weeks. Phormidiaceae sp. (8.5 6.1%) and Microcystis sp. (9.7 4.7%) were the most abundant species in the Deer Creek bloom. Deer creek experienced one bloom at the beginning of fall. Nodularia sp. (9.7 2.1) dominated Great Salt Lake bloom. The Great Salt Lake experienced four separate blooms during the summer months that lasted one to three weeks. Phosphorous concentrations on Utah Lake varied across site and season. Nitrate concentrations on Deer Creek increased over season with a ten-fold increase in concentration. We characterized Cyanobacteria blooms as either bloom communities (growing populations of Cyanobacteria) or as bust communities (declining populations of Cyanobacteria). Using these designations, we modeled the growth and decline of the Cyanobacteria populations across season with top-down and bottom up-controls. Based on generalized least-squared modeling, eukaryotic grazing does not affect relative Cyanobacteria abundances as much as nutrient limitations. Aphanizomenom strain MDT14a was positively correlated with temperature (P < 0.028) and the concentration of K (P = 0.007) and negatively correlated with increases in conductivity (P = 0.0088). Microcystis was positively correlated with increasing levels of SRP (P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with higher Ca concentrations (P = 0.008) and PP (P = 0.008). Busts of Microcystis were related to decreases in nitrate (P = 0.06) and lower total lake depths (P = 0.03). Phormidiaceae sp. relative abundance was negatively correlated with higher levels of TDN (P = 0.01-0.001) and Mg (P = 0.01) and positively correlated with higher S concentrations (P = 0.007). Our findings suggest that micronutrients and more bioavailable forms of P may potentially allow Cyanobacteria to break dormancy and proliferate HAB communities.
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Marsham, Sara. "The application of a functional group approach to algal-grazer interactions." Thesis, University of Hull, 2007. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:16058.
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Algal morphology is considered to be influenced by physiological and environmental factors such as stress and disturbance; one key disturbance exerted on algae is grazing pressure from herbivores. The factors upon which herbivores base their food preferences include algal attractiveness and edibility. Steneck and Watling's (1982) functional group model advocates the combination of algal species into seven groups based upon morphology and ecological function; the basic premise being that algal attractiveness and edibility will decrease hierarchically from functional group one to functional group seven, and that species within a group will be similarly attractive and edible. Two grazers commonly found in the intertidal area are the gastropod Littorina littorea and the isopod !dotea granulosa. Attractiveness and edibility experiments were conducted in which both grazers were presented with algae representing functional groups two to seven in single- and two-way choice experiments, in order to determine whether their food preferences could be predicted using a functional group approach. Although L. littorea and I. granulosa exhibited preference for algae between functional groups with regards to attractiveness and edibility, preference for both functional group and algal species differed between grazers. When the effect of algal morphology was investigated by presenting grazers with algal homogenates in agar, both grazers displayed a preference for algal extracts in agar over whole plant material, and exhibited preference for algae both between- and within-functional groups. The fact that not all species within a functional group were consumed in similar amounts contradicts the functional group model. Further investigation of the effect of algal availability on the feeding preferences of L. Iittorea showed their food choices could not be predicted based upon the algal species dominant in their habitat of origin. Results from all experimental manipulations suggest that both the habitat and food requirements of a herbivore, along with algal characteristics such as morphological, structural and chemical defences, algal availability and nutritional composition all influence herbivore food choice. As such, the functional group model proposed by Steneck and Wading (1982) cannot be accurately used to predict the feeding preferences of L. littorea or I. granulosa. It is suggested that unless models are modified to meet the requirements of a specific question, current functional group approaches are not a useful tool for predicting algal-grazer interactions.
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McKenny, Claire. "The Diversity of macroinvertebrate grazers in streams relationships with the productivity and composition of benthic algae /." Click here to access, 2005. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20060308.131239.
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Whittington-Jones, Kevin John. "Ecological interactions on a rocky shore : the control of macroalgal distribution by intertidal grazers." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005350.
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The aim of the present study was to determine the potential impact of intertidal grazers on the distribution of macro algae on the south coast of South Africa. Particular attention was paid to the large patellid limpet, Patella oculus, which is found thoughout the intertidal zone. Studies of gut contents revealed that Patella oculus was capable of ingesting not only the thallus of foliose (eg. Ulva spp.) and encrusting coralline macroalgae, but also spores and diatoms. The inclusion of these relatively small particles in the diet was surprising, as electron micrographs of the radula of P.oculus revealed that it is typically docoglossan in structure. Such radulae are thought to be poorly suited for collecting small food particles. Sand made up a significantly higher proportion of the gut contents than other particles at all shore heights, which suggests that P.oculus might be capable of excavating the rocky substratum, or of sweeping up sand, while searching for food. Analysis of the gut contents of other local herbivorous molluscs, was also carried out. These species included the winkles, Oxystele variegata and O.sinensis, and the small pulmonate limpets, Siphonaria concinna, S.capensis, and S.serrata. The guts of all species contained mainly spores and diatoms, although small fragments of Ulva sp. were found. The population structure of Patella oculus was investigated at two sites, Cannon Rocks and Old Woman's River. At Cannon Rocks, mean shell length of low-shore animals was significantly lower than that of both mid- and high-shore animals, while at Old Woman's River, no significant difference was found among shore heights. A regression equation for In (shell length) vs In (dry weight) was calculated, and based on length data, the biomass density (g dry mass.m⁻²) of P.oculus at Old Woman's River was estimated. Values ranged from 2.8 on the low- and midshore to 0.37 on the high-shore. A manipulative field experiment was used to determine the impact of mesograzers and macrograzers (such as Patella oculus) on the distribution of intertidal macro algae on the mid- and low-shore at Old Woman's River. Grazers were excluded using mesh cages (mesh size = 3mm), in two separate experiments, one in winter and the other in spring. Percentage cover of macroalgal species and sessile invertebrates was estimated at approximately 6 week intervals for up to 3 months. MANOV A showed that treatments did not significantly affect cover of macroalgae or barnacles during winter. However, towards the end of the spring experiment (midshore only) cover of barnacles and green foliose turfs did increase in those plots from which mesograzers and/or macro grazers were excluded. The failure of the statistical tests to detect significant differences at some time intervals may have been caused by high levels of variation among replicates. This suggests that factors other than grazing are of overriding importance in determining the distribution of local macroalgae. The existence of a possible symbiotic relationship between Patella oculus and the red foliose alga, Gelidium pristoides, was investigated. The availability of various substratum types, including rock, limpet shells, barnacles etc., and the proportion of the total cover of G.pristoides on each, was calculated. It was shown that a significantly higher proportion of the alga grew on limpet shells, although the availability of this substratum type was low. It is thought that the aggressive behaviour of P.oculus prevents all but juvenile Patella longicosta from grazing on its shell, thus providing a refuge from grazing for G.pristoides.
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McKenny, Claire, and n/a. "The Diversity of Macroinvertebrate Grazers in Streams: Relationships With the Productivity and Composition of Benthic Algae." Griffith University. Australian School of Environmental Studies, 2005. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20060308.131239.
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There has been much interest in the last decade concerning the factors that influence diversity, especially how diversity and ecosystem processes may be linked. This study was based in small, cobble streams in South East Queensland. Its aim was to determine how the diversity and composition of consumers (the grazer guild) is influenced by both the production and composition of benthic algae, at different spatial scales. It also aimed to ascertain whether this response differs among grazer sub guilds with different dispersal capabilities. Ten sites in the Upper Brisbane and Mary catchments were sampled. The sites were selected to provide a range of productivity and composition. Grazers from these sites included snails and elmids, and larval mayflies, moths, and caddisflies. Grazer diversity and composition appeared to be structured by catchment scale influences, but environmental variables also affected which animals colonised patches and microhabitats (cobbles) within catchments. Primary productivity and algal composition could not be separated, with highly productive reaches also having a high cover of filamentous algal taxa. Grazer diversity displayed strongly positive, linear relationships with algal variables at the reach scale. It had a negative relationship with filamentous algae at the cobble scale, and a non-significant hump-shaped relationship with primary productivity. Survey data alone could not separate whether grazers were responding to habitat or food-related drivers, or to variations in productivity. Experimental manipulation of algal variables at the patch scale, using light and nutrients, also could not clearly uncouple the relationship between primary productivity and filamentous algal cover. Once reach scale variation was removed, grazer diversity displayed hump-shaped relationships with algal variables, including algal diversity. Much of this variation was due to patterns in mobile grazers, as sedentary grazers did not respond to algal variation at this scale. The density of the more mobile taxa showed similar patterns to those at the cobble scale (hump-shaped). A second field experiment was carried out in order to further investigate the responses of invertebrates to algal community composition at the cobble scale. Data from all three chapters suggested that as sites shifted to a dominance of filamentous algae, often with an associated increase in GPP, there was also a shift in the grazer community towards more sedentary grazers and away from the more mobile taxa. This also occurred at the cobble scale in the second experiment. The gut analysis and diet studies in the third chapter indicated that while many grazers consumed filamentous algae, it was not assimilated. This suggests that the preferences for sedentary taxa for cobbles and reaches dominated by filamentous algae are likely to be due to some other, possibly habitat-related, factor such as flow or predation refuge. The study provides a rare examination of relationships between primary productivity and consumer diversity in freshwater streams, and finds support for the pattern found in other systems of monotonic relationships of these two variables at large scales and hump-shaped relationships at smaller scales. It emphasises the importance of understanding other, potentially confounding, aspects of communities of producers, and investigates the possible roles of the most important of these (community composition) in structuring consumer communities in the small cobble streams of South-East Queensland.
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McKenny, Claire. "The Diversity of Macroinvertebrate Grazers in Streams: Relationships With the Productivity and Composition of Benthic Algae." Thesis, Griffith University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/368092.
Full textAbstract:
There has been much interest in the last decade concerning the factors that influence diversity, especially how diversity and ecosystem processes may be linked. This study was based in small, cobble streams in South East Queensland. Its aim was to determine how the diversity and composition of consumers (the grazer guild) is influenced by both the production and composition of benthic algae, at different spatial scales. It also aimed to ascertain whether this response differs among grazer sub guilds with different dispersal capabilities. Ten sites in the Upper Brisbane and Mary catchments were sampled. The sites were selected to provide a range of productivity and composition. Grazers from these sites included snails and elmids, and larval mayflies, moths, and caddisflies. Grazer diversity and composition appeared to be structured by catchment scale influences, but environmental variables also affected which animals colonised patches and microhabitats (cobbles) within catchments. Primary productivity and algal composition could not be separated, with highly productive reaches also having a high cover of filamentous algal taxa. Grazer diversity displayed strongly positive, linear relationships with algal variables at the reach scale. It had a negative relationship with filamentous algae at the cobble scale, and a non-significant hump-shaped relationship with primary productivity. Survey data alone could not separate whether grazers were responding to habitat or food-related drivers, or to variations in productivity. Experimental manipulation of algal variables at the patch scale, using light and nutrients, also could not clearly uncouple the relationship between primary productivity and filamentous algal cover. Once reach scale variation was removed, grazer diversity displayed hump-shaped relationships with algal variables, including algal diversity. Much of this variation was due to patterns in mobile grazers, as sedentary grazers did not respond to algal variation at this scale. The density of the more mobile taxa showed similar patterns to those at the cobble scale (hump-shaped). A second field experiment was carried out in order to further investigate the responses of invertebrates to algal community composition at the cobble scale. Data from all three chapters suggested that as sites shifted to a dominance of filamentous algae, often with an associated increase in GPP, there was also a shift in the grazer community towards more sedentary grazers and away from the more mobile taxa. This also occurred at the cobble scale in the second experiment. The gut analysis and diet studies in the third chapter indicated that while many grazers consumed filamentous algae, it was not assimilated. This suggests that the preferences for sedentary taxa for cobbles and reaches dominated by filamentous algae are likely to be due to some other, possibly habitat-related, factor such as flow or predation refuge. The study provides a rare examination of relationships between primary productivity and consumer diversity in freshwater streams, and finds support for the pattern found in other systems of monotonic relationships of these two variables at large scales and hump-shaped relationships at smaller scales. It emphasises the importance of understanding other, potentially confounding, aspects of communities of producers, and investigates the possible roles of the most important of these (community composition) in structuring consumer communities in the small cobble streams of South-East Queensland.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Australian School of Environmental Studies
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Books on the topic "Algal Grazers"
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Konar, Brenda. Role of grazers on the recolonization of hard-bottom communities in the Alaska Beaufort Sea. [Fairbanks, Alaska]: Coastal Marine Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2006.
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Kim, Dohong. Seasonality of marine algae and grazers of an Antarctic rocky intertidal, with emphasis on the role of the limpet Nacella concinna Strebel (Gastropoda:Patellidae). Bremerhaven: Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 2001.
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Kirchman, David L. Microbial primary production and phototrophy. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198789406.003.0006.
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This chapter is focused on the most important process in the biosphere, primary production, the turning of carbon dioxide into organic material by higher plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Photosynthetic microbes account for roughly 50% of global primary production while the other half is by large, terrestrial plants. After reviewing the basic physiology of photosynthesis, the chapter discusses approaches to measuring gross and net primary production and how these processes affect fluxes of oxygen and carbon dioxide into and out of aquatic ecosystems. It then points out that terrestrial plants have high biomass but relatively low growth, while the opposite is the case for aquatic algae and cyanobacteria. Primary production varies greatly with the seasons in temperate ecosystems, punctuated by the spring bloom when the biomass of one algal type, diatoms, reaches a maximum. Other abundant algal types include coccolithophorids in the oceans and filamentous cyanobacteria in freshwaters. After the bloom, small algae take over and out-compete larger forms for limiting nutrients because of superior uptake kinetics. Abundant types of small algae include two coccoid cyanobacteria, Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, the latter said to be the most abundant photoautotroph on the planet because of its large numbers in oligotrophic oceans. Other algae, often dinoflagellates, are toxic. Many algae can also graze on other microbes, probably to obtain limiting nitrogen or phosphorus. Still other microbes are mainly heterotrophic but are capable of harvesting light energy. Primary production in oxic environments is carried out by oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, whereas in anoxic environments with sufficient light, it is anaerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis in which oxygen is not produced. Although its contribution to global primary production is small, anoxygenic photosynthesis helps us understand the biophysics and biochemistry of photosynthesis and its evolution on early Earth. These microbes as well as aerobic phototrophic and heterotrophic microbes make up microbial mats. These mats can provide insights into early life on the planet when a type of mat, “stromatolites,” covered vast areas of primordial seas in the Proterozoic.
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Sheppard, Charles. 5. Microbial and planktonic engines of the reef. Oxford University Press, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199682775.003.0005.
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Symbiotic algae are a crucial source of fuel for the reef, via corals and others, but how is the food and energy from the corals transferred to other parts of the ecosystem to support the huge abundance and diversity seen there? ‘Microbial and planktonic engines of the reef’ describes the filter feeding—extracting particles from the water—of the large proportion of reef animals. These particles consist of plankton, microbes, bacteria, viruses, and zooplankton. Sponges also display microbial symbiotic connections with algae and cyanobacteria that is a key component of material and energy transfer. The productivity from seaweeds on which numerous species of herbivorous fish and sea urchins graze is also important.
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Kirchman, David L. The ecology of viruses. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198789406.003.0010.
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In addition to grazing, another form of top-down control of microbes is lysis by viruses. Every organism in the biosphere is probably infected by at least one virus, but the most common viruses are thought to be those that infect bacteria. Viruses come in many varieties, but the simplest is a form of nucleic acid wrapped in a protein coat. The form of nucleic acid can be virtually any type of RNA or DNA, single or double stranded. Few viruses in nature can be identified by traditional methods because their hosts cannot be grown in the laboratory. Direct count methods have found that viruses are very abundant, being about ten-fold more abundant than bacteria, but the ratio of viruses to bacteria varies greatly. Viruses are thought to account for about 50% of bacterial mortality but the percentage varies from zero to 100%, depending on the environment and time. In addition to viruses of bacteria and cyanobacteria, microbial ecologists have examined viruses of algae and the possibility that viral lysis ends phytoplankton blooms. Viruses infecting fungi do not appear to lyse their host and are transmitted from one fungus to another without being released into the external environment. While viral lysis and grazing are both top-down controls on microbial growth, they differ in several crucial respects. Unlike grazers, which often completely oxidize prey organic material to carbon dioxide and inorganic nutrients, viral lysis releases the organic material from hosts more or less without modification. Perhaps even more important, viruses may facilitate the exchange of genetic material from one host to another. Metagenomic approaches have been used to explore viral diversity and the dynamics of virus communities in natural environments.
Book chapters on the topic "Algal Grazers"
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Holomuzki, Joseph R., and Barry J. F. Biggs. "Food limitation affects algivory and grazer performance for New Zealand stream macroinvertebrates." In Advances in Algal Biology: A Commemoration of the Work of Rex Lowe, 83–94. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5070-4_6.
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Donato-Rondón, John Ch, Silvia Juliana Morales-Duarte, and María Isabel Castro-Rebolledo. "Effects of eutrophication on the interaction between algae and grazers in an Andean stream." In Global Change and River Ecosystems—Implications for Structure, Function and Ecosystem Services, 159–66. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0608-8_11.
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Steinman, Alan D. "Effects of Grazers on Freshwater Benthic Algae." In Algal Ecology, 341–73. Elsevier, 1996. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-012668450-6/50041-2.
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"Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques." In Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques, edited by Keith B. Gido, Katie N. Bertrand, Justin N. Murdock, Walter K. Dodds, and Matt R. Whiles. American Fisheries Society, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.47886/9781934874141.ch29.
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<em>Abstract</em>.—Stream fishes can have strong top-down and bottom-up effects on ecosystem processes. However, the dynamic nature of streams constrains our ability to generalize these effects across systems with different disturbance regimes and species composition. To evaluate the role of fishes following disturbance, we used a series of field and mesocosm experiments that quantified the influence of grazers and water column minnows on primary productivity, periphyton structure, organic matter pools, and invertebrate communities following either scouring floods or drying of prairie streams. Results from individual experiments revealed highly significant effects of fishes, but the direction or magnitude of effects varied among experiments. Meta-analyses across experiments indicated that grazers consistently reduced the relative amount of fine benthic organic matter (FBOM) and chironomid abundance within 2 weeks after disturbances. However, effect sizes (log response ratios) were heterogeneous across experiments for algal biomass and algal filament lengths measured more than 4 weeks after a disturbance and potentially associated with system productivity and grazer densities. A similar analysis of 3–4 experiments using water column minnows only found a consistent trend of decreasing FBOM in fish treatments relative to controls when measured less than 2 weeks after disturbances and increase in gross primary productivity measured more than 4 weeks after disturbance. These results, along with those of others, were used to develop a conceptual framework for predicting the potential role of fishes in streams following disturbances (flood and drying). Both theoretical and empirical research shows that recovery of stream ecosystem processes will depend on the resilience of autotrophic and heterotrophic communities following disturbance. Fish effects may vary among functional groups but are generally predicted to be greatest during early stages of succession when algal and invertebrate communities are less complex and their biomass is low relative to fish biomass. Our analysis underscores the context dependency of consumer effects on ecosystem structure and function in nonequilibrium conditions and suggests that factors regulating fish densities and colonization of algal and invertebrate taxa need to be evaluated to predict the consequences of biodiversity loss in streams with variable or human-modified disturbance regimes.
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"Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems." In Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems, edited by Marina Potapova, James F. Coles, Elise M. P. Giddings, and Humbert Zappia. American Fisheries Society, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.47886/9781888569735.ch19.
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<em>Abstract.</em>—Patterns of stream benthic algal assemblages along urbanization gradients were investigated in three metropolitan areas—Boston (BOS), Massachusetts; Birmingham (BIR), Alabama; and Salt Lake City (SLC), Utah. An index of urban intensity derived from socioeconomic, infrastructure, and land-use characteristics was used as a measure of urbanization. Of the various attributes of the algal assemblages, species composition changed along gradients of urban intensity in a more consistent manner than biomass or diversity. In urban streams, the relative abundance of pollutiontolerant species was often higher than in less affected streams. Shifts in assemblage composition were associated primarily with increased levels of conductivity, nutrients, and alterations in physical habitat. Water mineralization and nutrients were the most important determinants of assemblage composition in the BOS and SLC study areas; flow regime and grazers were key factors in the BIR study area. Species composition of algal assemblages differed significantly among geographic regions, and no particular algal taxa were found to be universal indicators of urbanization. Patterns in algal biomass and diversity along urban gradients varied among study areas, depending on local environmental conditions and habitat alteration. Biomass and diversity increased with urbanization in the BOS area, apparently because of increased nutrients, light, and flow stability in urban streams, which often are regulated by dams. Biomass and diversity decreased with urbanization in the BIR study area because of intensive fish grazing and less stable flow regime. In the SLC study area, correlations between algal biomass, diversity, and urban intensity were positive but weak. Thus, algal responses to urbanization differed considerably among the three study areas. We concluded that the wide range of responses of benthic algae to urbanization implied that tools for stream bioassessment must be region specific.
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Gaines, Susan M., Geoffrey Eglinton, and Jürgen Rullkötter. "Molecular Informants: A Changing Perspective of Organic Chemistry." In Echoes of Life. Oxford University Press, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195176193.003.0007.
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Lodged in the earth’s outermost layer, ephemeral scratch on a mineral skin, life plays cards with a handful of elements—builds molecular extravaganzas of carbon and hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or precious phosphorus, and forms the pieces to the parts that, assembled, define it. When the game is over, the cards reshuffled, the parts dismantled—membranes ruptured, shells dissolved, bones ground to dust—a few of those organic molecules remain in the sediments and rocks, bearing witness to the distant moments of their creation. Imagine the most humble bit of life, a microscopic alga basking in the sun-graced surface of the sea. Think of the tiny animal that grazes on the alga, dismantling its parts, using the pieces and discarding the difficult-to-digest fats and sturdy membrane lipids in tiny pellet-like feces that sink slowly into the dark waters of the deep sea—a thousand meters, two, three, maybe more. Imagine the bacteria that cling to the pellets as they settle onto the seafloor, zealous recyclers of organic molecules, using some and transforming others, leaving them stripped down or broken but still recognizable among the generic mineral bits of shell and clay that accumulate, particle by particle, year by year, layer by layer. Dig down, dig back, through meters and kilometers of sediments, through millennia and epochs, and you’ll find them yet, those molecular relics, testaments to that tiny, light-loving bit of bygone life. What do those molecules know, what do they have to say? Might they remember their maker’s name and environment, how that tiny alga lived and died? Was it rich or poor, food plentiful or scarce, the water warm or cold? Perhaps there was a current from the south, or cold nutrient-rich waters upwelling from the deep. Maybe there was a drought in Africa and dry winds blew nutrient-laden dust over the Atlantic, the continent’s misfortune a literal windfall for marine algae. Perhaps a meteor fell that year and the light went out of the sky, the temperature dropped suddenly, and the world died in a blink.
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Levy, Sharon. "Wild Things." In The Marsh Builders. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190246402.003.0015.
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A group of sea otters laze at the edge of Elkhorn Slough. They float on their backs in the steel- gray water, paws folded against their chests, gazing at the small boat steered by ecologist Brent Hughes of the University of California– Santa Cruz. Hughes has documented a profound shift in the slough’s ecology, triggered by the otters. Sea otters were nearly driven to extinction by fur hunters in the 1800s, and were gone from Elkhorn Slough for a century. In 1984, when the first sea otters recolonized, Elkhorn Slough’s once bountiful eelgrass beds had dwindled to a few small, scattered patches. Now, more than thirty years after the sea otters’ return, expanding eelgrass beds grow lush beneath the water’s surface, the dense leaves sheltering juvenile fish and feeding an array of invertebrate grazers. The slough, on the central California coast, is one of the most severely polluted estuaries on the planet. Artificial fertilizer applied to 2.69 million acres of farmland in the neighboring Salinas Valley runs into its waters. The excess nutrient load causes eutrophication. It also fuels the growth of epiphytic algae that thrive on the surface of eelgrass leaves, blocking the sunlight the grass needs and smothering whole beds. The problem is common in estuaries around the globe, which receive heavy loads of nutrients from rivers draining polluted watersheds. Seagrass meadows filter contaminants from water and prevent coastal erosion in addition to acting as nurseries for fish and invertebrates. These crucial habitats are disappearing. The global distribution of seagrasses has decreased by 29 percent over the last 140 years, and 58 percent of the surviving seagrass meadows are in decline. Nutrient pollution of coastal waters had long been thought to be the main driver of this trend. But in Elkhorn Slough, the eelgrass has made a remarkable comeback even as pollution loads continued to climb. The mechanism of this welcome ecological shift was unknown until Hughes demonstrated that sea otters are the key. He began to put the pieces of the puzzle together when he went diving in Tomales Bay, an unpolluted estuary to the north. The eelgrass in Elkhorn Slough was lush and green despite intense pollution; in Tomales Bay, where there are no sea otters, the eelgrass was a dull brown, smothering under epiphytic algae.
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"of control. The state of Queensland has generous expertise in this area, with the CSIRO Division of Entomology – Lands Department group in Brisbane boasting spectacular success against Salvinia and Eichhornia, and near the reservoir at James Cook University a USDA unit was involved in successes with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (see Chapter 12) using a range of stem-boring and leaf-mining insects (Balciunas et al. 1993). One might consider the herbivorous grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, originally from China, more as a harvester than a biological control agent. This fish grazes on submerged weeds such as Hydrilla, Myriophyllum, Chara, Potamogeton and Ceratophyllum, and at stocking rates of 75 fish/ha control is rapidly achieved. Some introductions in the USA have resulted in removal of all vegetation (Leslie et al. 1987), and in the Australian context the use of sterile (triploid) fish (Cassani and Canton 1985) could be the only consideration. However, in view of the damage already done by grass carp to some inland waterways in Australia, it is suspected that this option would be greeted with horror. Mechanical control involves the physical removal of weeds from a problem area and is useful in situations where the use of herbicides is not practical or poses risks to human health or the environment. Mobile harvesters sever, lift and carry plants to the shore. Most are intended for harvesting submerged plants, though some have been designed or adapted to harvest floating plants. Handling the harvested weed is a problem because of their enormous water content, therefore choppers are often incorporated into harvesting machinery design. However, many mechanical harvesters have a small capacity and the process of disposing of harvested plant material is time-consuming. Any material that remains may affect water quality during the decay process by depleting the water of oxygen. Furthermore, nutrients released by decay may cause algal blooms (Mitchell 1978). Another disadvantage of mechanical removal is that disturbance often promotes rapid new growth and germination of seed, and encourages the spread of weed by fragmentation. Some direct uses of macrophytes include the following: livestock food; protein extraction; manufacture of yeast; production of alcohol and other by-products; the formation of composts, mulches and fertilizers; and use for methane generation (Williams 1977). Herbicides either kill on contact, or after translocation through the plant. Some are residual and retain their toxicity for a period of time. Where herbicides are used for control of plants, some contamination of the water is inevitable (Bill 1977). The degree of contamination depends on the toxicity of the material, its fate and persistence in the water, the concentration used and the main purpose served by the water. After chemical defoliation of aquatic vegetation, the masses of decaying organic debris produced can interfere with fish production. Several factors must be taken into account when selecting and adapting herbicides for aquatic purposes, including: type of water use; toxicity of the herbicide to humans, fish, stock, and wildlife; rate of disappearance of residues, species affected and duration of control; concentration of herbicide; and cost (Bill 1977). The TVA has successfully used EPA-approved herbicides such as Endothall, Diquat, Fluridone and Komeen against Hydrilla (Burns et al. 1992), and a list of approved." In Water Resources, 153–54. CRC Press, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203027851-40.
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