Browsing by Subject "phytoplankton"
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(2022)My master’s thesis aims to determine the effect of salinity on phytoplankton traits related to nutrient acquisition, and particularly how this interacts with resource availability. Salinity is an important driver structuring phytoplankton communities in the Baltic Sea. Salinity can also influence nutrient uptake by increasing metabolic rates required for osmotic adjustment. Thus, interaction between salinity and nutrient availability is expected to change community structure by altering phytoplankton traits determining resource competition. This is a particularly relevant area of study for the Baltic Sea due to predicted future freshening of the sea’s upper layer. We performed a microcosm experiment using artificial communities of 10 diverse phytoplankton species grown under different combinations of salinity (0, 5, 12 and 24), Nitrogen to Phosphorus molar ratio (N:P ratio = 2, 10, 16 and 80) and light (10 and 130 µmol photon m-2 s-1) conditions. A three-way interaction among these environmental parameters influenced phytoplankton traits associated with resource competition, as well as the presence and proportions of phytoplankton taxa. Light limitation inhibited community growth under all salinity conditions, but allowed diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to dominate. Community growth rate was higher under high light, but also more variable between salinity conditions. The strongest negative effects of nutrient limitation (N, P, and both nutrients together), both on growth rate and taxonomic diversity, were observed in the highest salinity treatment. In the freshwater treatment with the highest proportion of green algae Monoraphidium sp., N-limitation did not inhibit phytoplankton community growth and P-limitation had a more profound negative effect on community performance. Decreasing salinity appeared to decrease community C:N and C:P ratios. This shift is in opposition to the increasing C:N and C:P predicted as a consequence of other climate change-related drivers. Our results emphasise the importance of a trade-off between salinity and resource limitation in functioning of phytoplankton communities and suggest that future freshening of the Baltic Sea is likely to modify phytoplankton community composition and performance.
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(2021)Lake ecosystems are shaped by water chemistry processes that affect the lake environment and the species communities within. Changes in the water chemistry thus have far-reaching consequences. Water colour is one variable that affects water chemistry and stems from humic substances in the water. Dark water reduces light availability and also affects nutrient and oxygen availability. A trend of brownification of freshwater systems has been observed in recent years and it is expected to influence species community’s diversity and composition. The aim of this thesis was to study whether brownification is an ongoing issue in the study lakes and whether it has had a negative effect on phytoplankton diversity and resulted in shifts in the phytoplankton composition. A data set including about a 100 lakes in Finland with measurements from 1965 up until now served as the study system which was analysed with statistical methods. The results indicated a brownification trend in the past decades. The brownification so far had a positive impact on species richness but a negative impact on beta diversity. Brownification also affected species composition. Flagellates and autotrophic species increased in darker waters but mixotrophic species that are known to dominate in dark water colour, did not show a clear increase with water colour. Other hydrological variables than water colour could have had a bigger impact on the phytoplankton community than water colour but future monitoring of the phytoplankton community is recommended to see if water colour will have a negative impact on species diversity in the future.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2