INVESTIGADORES
RODRIGUEZ patricia laura
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Spatially asymmetric cross habitat competition between benthic and pelagic algae: feedbacks between light and nutrient supply
Autor/es:
VASCONCELOS, FRANCISCO; DIEHL, SEBASTIAN; RODRÍGUEZ, PATRICIA; JAN KARLSSON
Lugar:
Granada
Reunión:
Conferencia; Aquatic Sciences Meeting; 2015
Institución organizadora:
Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
Resumen:
Resource competition between benthic and pelagic producers is spatially asymmetric. Pelagic algae attenuate light on the way to the benthic habitat, and benthic algae intercept sediment nutrients diffusing into the pelagic habitat. To experimentally study the outcome of this asymmetric interaction under different environmental conditions, we manipulated temperature (ambient vs. +3.5 °C) and light supply (clear water vs. addition of colored DOM) in a factorial design in 1.6 m deep pond sections. Pond sections contained natural aquatic communities including small planktivorous/benthivorous fish as top consumers. Reduced light supply decreased benthic algal production. In line with predictions from a process-based model, this likely allowed more sediment nutrients to reach the pelagic habitat and promote pelagic algae, as corroborated by increased pelagic production and total phosphorus concentration. In contrast to the complex community responses to decreased light supply, increased temperature had a uniformly negative effect on all community compartments - from dissolved nutrients via benthic and pelagic algae to zooplankton and fish. The latter suggests that metabolic rates responded more strongly to temperature than did production.