LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments

Learning outcomes:
By the end of this lecture you should be able to discuss various aspects of plankton and productivity, including: t f l kt d d ti it i l di

Plankton d Pl kt and productivity d ti it

What is phytoplankton? What are Dinophyta, Chrysophyta and Cyanophyta? The diversity of zooplankton. Definition of holoplankton and meroplankton, etc.
Peter Todd Dept of Biological Sciences

Primary production in relation to depth, temperature and nutrients. Seasonal phases of primary production.

Plankton - Greek: wanderer" or "drifter

Limited powers of locomotion and thus at the mercy of water movements, e.g. currents. Some planktonts (phyto- or zoo-) are active swimmers, but are so small that swimming does not move them far (compared to the distance they are carried by the water). However, it does help them to: Keep them afloat / alter their level in the water column Obtain food Avoid capture Find a mate

McGraw-Hill

2 main types: zooplankton and phytoplankton (but also bacterioplankton).

Phytoplankton is at the bottom of the marine food chain

Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton contain chlorophyll Photosynthesis - primary producers Generally microscopic; but there are some v. large planktonic alga, e.g the seaweed Sargassum in Sargasso Sea. Length 300-400 Larger phytoplankton: micrometer,
Diatoms and Dinoflagellates
width 45 micrometer. i

Very large phytoplankton - Sargassum

National G N ti l Geographic hi

Smaller phytoplankton:
Coccolithophores (5-20 m) and Cyanobacteria (blue green bacteria, ~1 m)

Huge mats of g Sargassum float in the Sargasso Sea supporting an entire ecosystem!

Microscopic phytoplankton
Three main phyla: Dinophyta (or Dinoflagellata)
Protoctista
Eukaryotes

Dinoflagellates (Dinophyta)
Unicellular - solitary organisms Usually two flagella Transverse flagellum- in a flagellum groove called the annulus, other groove= sulcus Plates of carbohydrate cellulose Some produce toxins 2-8x106 cells per liter! Reproduction asexual division Can be heterotrophic Zooxanthellae
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Chrysophyta Chr soph ta (inc Diatoms and Coccolithophores ) Cyanophyta (or Cynobacteria)

Bacteria
Prokaryotes

Thecate dinoflagellate

Dinoflagellates

A dinoflagellate swimming in a characteristic spiralling motion

Important as primary producers of food material, although Noctiluca devours copepod larvae and other small organisms.

McGraw-Hill

Red tides
P. Piscicida =
VIMS

Ceratium

Pfiesteria piscicida

Usually harmless, but some species produce neurotoxins that can be transferred through the food web.

Common in temperate waters can bloom but harmless.

Microscopic phytoplankton
Three main phyla: Dinophyta (or Dinoflagellata)
Protoctista
Eukaryotes

Chrysophyta Chr soph ta (inc Diatoms and Coccolithophores ) Cyanophyta (or Cynobacteria)

Bacteria
Prokaryotes

Zooxathellae are dinoflagellate symbionts of hermatypic corals

Diatoms
(Chrysophyta)
McGraw-Hill

Diatoms are unicellular algae generally placed in the class Bacillariophyceae 15-400m 15 400m Some enclosed within pillbox Box made of silica Singly or in chains Reproduction asexual (divides into two) - Auxospore after a few generations

Pillbox diatom

McGraw-Hill

Diatoms

McGraw-Hill

Pillbox diatom reproduction

Microscopic phytoplankton
Three main phyla: Dinophyta (or Dinoflagellata)
Protoctista
Eukaryotes

Coccolithophores (Chrysophyta), with their tiny calcareous plates (coccoliths), are abundant in all oceanic waters.

McGraw-Hill

Chrysophyta Chr soph ta (inc Diatoms and Coccolithophores )

FreeFoto.com

Bacteria
Prokaryotes

Cyanophyta (or Cynobacteria)

White Cliffs of Dover, U.K., Formed ~ 140 to 70 million years ago.

McGraw-Hill

Microscopic phytoplankton
Three main phyla: Dinophyta (or Dinoflagellata)
Protoctista
Eukaryotes

Cyanobacteria has been around for a long time (~3.5 billion years!)

Chrysophyta Chr soph ta (inc Diatoms and Coccolithophores ) Cyanophyta (or Cynobacteria)

Bacteria
Prokaryotes

There are some excellent examples of living stromatolites, e.g. Western Australia at Shark Bay.

Zooplankton

Perhaps most important are the recently discovered, very tiny (0.8 to 0.6m) Prochlorophytes (Cyanophyta), which are probably the most abundant phytoplankton in the open sea.

Free floating (more or less) animals in the water body

NOAA

Zooplankton
Most phyla are represented Crustacea/copepodsaccount for 60-70%. Large antennae. Primarily herbivores y p Usually microscopic but includes jellyfish too Often transparent

Marine food chain

Zooplankton are the next link up of the marine food chain.

Holoplankton - spend their entire life in the plankton. Meroplankton - spend only parts of their lives in the plankton, e.g. l l kt larval stages l t

Zooplankton - holoplankton
(entire life as plankton - often oceanic)
Jelly fish (Scyphozoa) are probably the most familiar

Foraminiferans and Radiolarians (Protoctists) Cnidaria (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) Annelids Arthropods Molluscs - pteropods and heteropods h t d Chaetognaths Urochordates Ctenophores

NOAA

Radiolarians and foraminiferans

Portuguese-man-of-war, physalia
Floating colonial hydrozoan: consists of four types of polyps: A pneumatophore (float) Dactylozooids (tentacles) Gastrozooids (feeding zooids) id )
Adam Laverty

McGraw-Hill

Gonozooids (produce gametes)

Zooplankton: meroplankton (some of the time

as plankton often neritic [as opposed to oceanic])

Certain times of the year neritic meroplankton (i.e. nearshore & temporary) plankton are dominated by larval crustaceans.

Larvae (different stages) - all phyla

Sea star larvae

Primary production
The synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic constituents of seawater by the activity of organisms is termed production. The raw materials are: 1) water 2) carbon dioxide 3) nutrients ti t

Primary productivity

Mostly by pelagic photosynthesis (a few % chemosysnthesis)

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Primary production
Gross primary production (GPP): total amount of organic material fixed in the primary production process Net primary production (NPP): amount of energy available for transfer to other organisms Primary production of new organic material is the first link in all food chains in the sea

Primary production
Large marine algae in shallow waters only contribute ~0.05% because th are of b they f restricted distribution Herbivorous zooplankton eat phytoplankton, leading to the formation of animal tissue = secondary production These organisms are then eaten by the first rank of carnivorous animals (carnivorous zooplankton and fish predators) and this is called tertiary production. These may then fall prey to other carnivores and so on

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In general, the highest trophic level is occupied by adult animals with no predators of their own

Between each trophic level there are losses of organic material caused because: 1) A percentage of organisms at each level are not eaten but simply die and decompose. 2) Some of the food that animals consume is excreted unassimilated. However o e e

For example, killer whales would occupy the highest trophic level in an Antarctic food chain

3) Most of their assimilated food is broken down by respiration, leaving only a small proportion to form new tissue

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Bacteria respiration p
Necessary for decomposition of organic d iti f i matter. Also, they grow and multiply and constitute an important component of the food supply supply.

GPP

70 to 90%

10 to 30%

NPP

At depths (e.g. Hydrothermal vents) remote from the euphotic zone chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria may play a significant role in primary production.

Primary production rates are normally expressed as the weight of carbon fixed in organic compounds beneath unit area of sea surface in unit time (gC/m2/day) Estimates of net primary p p y production by p y p y phytoplankton: 0.050.5 gC/m2/day
McGraw-Hill

Factors affecting primary productivity: Light

Phytoplankton restricted to epipelagic zone for photosynthesis Light penetration affected by:
Absorption of light by water (thus depth) Wavelength of light Reflection from surface of water Suspended particles (turbidity) Latitude Season

Primary productivity varies between 0.1 gC/m2/day in the open ocean to about 10g gC/m2/day in highly productive coastal waters Estimates of 33 gc/m2/day are reported for Californian kelps

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 With increase in light intensity from zero there is first a linear phase of increasing photosynthesis. Then a plateau is attained, where the photosynthetic mechanism is saturated And finally photosynthesis decreases at high intensities (e.g. near the surface photosynthesis may be inhibited).

Just nice!

Factors affecting primary productivity: Temperature

The rate of photosynthesis increases with rising temperature up to a maximum, but then diminishes sharply with further maximum rises of temperature. In temperate waters there is an outbreak of phytoplankton growth in the spring (could be due to either temperature or light conditions). g ) Temperature also influences production indirectly through its effects on movement and mixing of the water.

Factors affecting primary productivity: Nutrients

Th distribution of lif th The di t ib ti f life throughout th oceans d h t the depends d upon the availability of nutrients. Continents are the major source of inorganic nutrients (river and dust inputs). Therefore neritic zones are more productive than adjacent oceanic waters. The high productivity is also a result of strong mixing forces (wind and tidal forces).

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Global primary productivity

UPWELLING: Currents bringing nutrients from deeper water where they havent been utilized

Successions & associations

Annual patterns of p phytoplankton abundance Temperate regions seasonal changes related to temperature illumination etc.

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Successions and associations

In summary:
Phytoplankton photosynthesize and are the primary producers of the oceans. Phytoplankton are usually microscopic and include Diatoms include, Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Coccolithophores and Cyanobacteria. Zooplankton generally feed on Phytoplankton. Most phyla are represented but crustaceans dominate. Holoplankton spend their entire life in the plankton whereas meroplankton spend only parts of their lives in the plankton.

Varies depending on location

Net primary production (NPP) is amount of energy available for transfer to other organisms (GPP minus respiration). Production isependent on light, nutrients and temperature and varies both temporally and spatially. Highest levels near the coast. Upwellings important too.

Additional reference slide

Depth
Epiplankton Mesoplankton Bathyplankton Hypoplankton plankton of euphotic zone between 80 to 200m below 200m plankton close to sea bottom

Size
Megaplankton - above 20 cm Macroplankton - 2 to 20 cm Mesoplankton 0.2 to 20 mm Microplankton 20 to 200 m Nanoplankton 2 to 20 m Ultraplankton - less than 5 m Femtoplankton - 10-7 i.e. 0.02-0.2m

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