Diatom ecological guilds as indicators of temporally changing stressors and disturbances in the small Torna-stream, Hungary

Abstract In this research, indicator properties of the three recently described diatom ecological guilds (low profile, high profile and motile) and their responses to different stressors and disturbances were tested along a temporal gradient. Experiments were run at a standard sampling site in the Torna-stream (Hungary) between 2008 and 2010 using standardized substrata. The low profile guild was dominant during periods with low nutrient (SRP and TN) availability. In contrast, the high profile guild was dominant in resource rich (SRP and SRSi) periods. The motile ecological guild was the most sensitive to the nutrients (TN and SRSi) and some other factors (e.g. temperature, Cl − ). Increasing irradiance in spring and summer favored the growth of the high and the low profile guild. Higher resistance to floods favored the adhesion type of the low profile guild enabling their summer peak in terms of relative abundance. During high flood periods, incident light availability apparently sufficed the needs of this guild. Seasonal changes of the diatom ecological guilds and guild diversity were robust and predictable. This study supported that the ecological responses of diatom ecological guilds, despite the apparent simplicity of the grouping method, is strong enough to indicate the temporally changing environmental conditions.

[1]  P. Dillon,et al.  The effect of excluding diatom taxa and reducing taxonomic resolution on multivariate analyses and stream bioassessment , 2009 .

[2]  W. Hill,et al.  5 – Effects of Light , 1996 .

[3]  B. Osborne,et al.  Light and Photosynthesis in Aquatic Ecosystems. , 1985 .

[4]  S. Miyachi,et al.  THE EFFECT OF SODIUM CHLORIDE ON CARBONIC ANHYDRASE ACTIVITY IN MARINE MICROALGAE 1 , 1992 .

[5]  N. Smucker,et al.  Diatom biomonitoring of streams: reliability of reference sites and the response of metrics to environmental variations across temporal scales , 2011 .

[6]  N. Smucker,et al.  Use of diatoms to assess agricultural and coal mining impacts on streams and a multiassemblage case study , 2009, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[7]  Short-term Effects of Elevated Velocity and Sediment Abrasion on Benthic Algal Communities , 2006 .

[8]  M. Khalanski,et al.  Physiological response to chlorination of the unicellular marine alga Dunaliella primolecta Butcher , 1980 .

[9]  Aaron M.Ellison.  PC‐ORD: Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data , 1998, The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America.

[10]  Frédéric Rimet,et al.  Use of diatom life-forms and ecological guilds to assess pesticide contamination in rivers: Lotic mesocosm approaches , 2011 .

[11]  C. Townsend,et al.  Light, nutrients and grazing interact to determine stream diatom community composition and functional group structure , 2011 .

[12]  Walter R. Hill,et al.  Functional Responses Associated with Growth Form in Stream Algae , 1992, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[13]  Yahui Gao,et al.  Geographical and seasonal patterns of epiphytic diatoms on a subtropical mangrove (Kandelia candel) in southern China , 2010 .

[14]  N. Tuchman.  10 – The Role of Heterotrophy in Algae , 1996 .

[15]  C. Hudon,et al.  Initial Colonization of Artificial Substrate: Community Development and Structure Studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy , 1981 .

[16]  M. Power.  Hydrologic and trophic controls of seasonal algal blooms in northern California rivers , 1992 .

[17]  Eileen J. Cox,et al.  Identification of Freshwater Diatoms from Live Material , 1996 .

[18]  C. Hudon.  Selection of unicellular algae by the littoral amphipods Gammarus oceanicus and Calliopius laeviusculus (Crustacea) , 1983 .

[19]  J. Tanaka,et al.  Alterations in the biomass-specific productivity of periphyton assemblages mediated by fish grazing , 2007 .

[20]  P. Dillon,et al.  Are diatoms good integrators of temporal variability in stream water quality , 2008 .

[21]  H. A. Hameed.  The colonization of periphytic diatom species on artificial substrates in the Ashar canal, Basrah, Iraq , 2003 .

[22]  F. Rimet,et al.  Biomonitoring river diatoms: Implications of taxonomic resolution , 2012 .

[23]  H. V. Leland.  Distribution of phytobenthos in the Yakima River basin, Washington, in relation to geology, land use and other environmental factors , 1995 .

[24]  D. Ellis.  Taxonomic sufficiency in pollution assessment , 1985 .

[25]  J. Tundisi,et al.  Influence of ionic strength and conductivity on benthic diatom communities in a tropical river (Monjolinho), São Carlos-SP, Brazil , 2011, Hydrobiologia.

[26]  Marina G. Potapova.  Patterns of Diatom Distribution in Relation to Salinity , 2011 .

[27]  Alan T. Herlihy,et al.  Using Diatoms as Indicators of Ecological Conditions in Lotic Systems: A Regional Assessment , 1996, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[28]  J. Burkholder.  9 – Interactions of Benthic Algae with Their Substrata , 1996 .

[29]  P. Legendre,et al.  THE ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF GROWTH FORMS IN EPIBENTHIC DIATOMS 1 , 1987 .

[30]  A. J. Stewart,et al.  Changes in Periphyton Fatty Acid Composition in Chlorine-Polluted Streams , 1994, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[31]  R. Margalef.  Life-forms of phytoplankton as survival alternatives in an unstable environment , 1978 .

[32]  C. Lane,et al.  Diatoms as indicators of isolated herbaceous wetland condition in Florida, USA , 2007 .

[33]  Michael J. Wiley,et al.  Comparing Effects of Nutrients on Algal Biomass in Streams in Two Regions with Different Disturbance Regimes and with Applications for Developing Nutrient Criteria , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[34]  A. Cattaneo,et al.  Comparing diatom species, genera and size in biomonitoring: a case study from streams in the Laurentians (Québec, Canada) , 2002 .

[35]  J. Padisák,et al.  Benthic Diatom Communities Along pH and TP Gradients in Hungarian and Swedish Streams , 2006, Journal of Applied Phycology.

[36]  N. Poff,et al.  Algal Colonization under Four Experimentally-Controlled Current Regimes in High Mountain Stream , 1990, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[37]  M. Cantonati,et al.  BENTHIC DIATOMS IN WESTERN EUROPEAN STREAMS WITH ALTITUDES ABOVE 800 M: CHARACTERISATION OF THE MAIN ASSEMBLAGES AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH ECOREGIONS , 2007 .

[38]  D. Strayer.  Challenges for freshwater invertebrate conservation , 2006, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[39]  B. Biggs,et al.  Taxonomic richness of stream benthic algae: Effects of flood disturbance and nutrients , 2002 .

[40]  R. Stevenson,et al.  Development and evaluation of a diatom-based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Interior Plateau Ecoregion, USA , 2005, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[41]  S. Passy,et al.  Diatom ecological guilds display distinct and predictable behavior along nutrient and disturbance gradients in running waters , 2007 .

[42]  N. Gómez,et al.  The Pampean Diatom Index (IDP) for assessment of rivers and streams in Argentina , 2001, Aquatic Ecology.

[43]  R. J. Stevenson,et al.  Algal ecology: freshwater benthic ecosystems , 1996 .

[44]  K. Al-Rasheid,et al.  Environmental determinants of diatom assemblages along a North African wadi, the Kebir-East, North-East Algeria , 2011 .

[45]  Lester L. Yuan,et al.  Algae–P relationships, thresholds, and frequency distributions guide nutrient criterion development , 2008, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[46]  M. Littler,et al.  The Evolution of Thallus Form and Survival Strategies in Benthic Marine Macroalgae: Field and Laboratory Tests of a Functional Form Model , 1980, The American Naturalist.

[47]  M. Vis,et al.  Using diatoms to assess human impacts on streams benefits from multiple-habitat sampling , 2010, Hydrobiologia.

[48]  A. Johnson,et al.  Observations on the distribution of PCBs in the deepwater sediments of the Gulf of Maine , 1985 .

[49]  D. Dudgeon,et al.  Spatial and seasonal variations in benthic algal assemblages in streams in monsoonal Hong Kong , 2009, Hydrobiologia.

[50]  V. Resh,et al.  Streams in Mediterranean Climate Regions: Abiotic Influences and Biotic Responses to Predictable Seasonal Events , 1999 .

[51]  E. Gaiser,et al.  Spatial and temporal distributions of epiphytic diatoms growing on Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König: relationships to water quality , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[52]  M. Sleigh,et al.  Seasonal changes in composition and biomass of epilithic algal floras of a chalk stream and a soft water stream with estimates of production , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[53]  Donald F. Charles,et al.  Distribution of benthic diatoms in U.S. rivers in relation to conductivity and ionic composition , 2003 .

[54]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[55]  C. S. Reynolds,et al.  Intermediate disturbance in the ecology of phytoplankton and the maintenance of species diversity: a synthesis , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[56]  G. Woodward,et al.  Global change and food webs in running waters , 2010, Hydrobiologia.

[57]  I. Oldal,et al.  Dominant species, functional assemblages and frequency of equilibrium phases in late summer phytoplankton assemblages in Hungarian small shallow lakes , 2003, Hydrobiologia.

[58]  Leska S. Fore,et al.  Using diatoms to assess the biological condition of large rivers in Idaho (U.S.A.) , 2002 .

[59]  Henrik A. Thomsen,et al.  DISTURBANCE OF STREAM PERIPHYTON BY PERTURBATIONS IN SHEAR STRESS: TIME TO STRUCTURAL FAILURE AND DIFFERENCES IN COMMUNITY RESISTANCE 1 , 1995 .

[60]  K. Kovacs,et al.  The Effect of Stream Bed Morphology on Shredder Abundance and Leaf-Litter Decomposition in Hungarian Midland Streams , 2011 .

[61]  D. Charles,et al.  Choice of substrate in algae-based water-quality assessment , 2005, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[62]  C. Schulz,et al.  Methods for biological assessment of salt-loaded running waters – fundamentals, current positions and perspectives , 2011 .

[63]  W. D. Williams.  Salinisation: A major threat to water resources in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world , 1999 .

[64]  W. Dodds.  A modified fiber‐optic light microprobe to measure spherically integrated photosynthetic photon flux density: Characterization of periphyton photosynthesis‐irradiance patterns , 1992 .

[65]  A. Steinman,et al.  Variation in periphyton biomass and species composition in Lake Okeechobee, Florida (USA) : Distribution of algal guilds along environmental gradients , 2001 .