Search results for "benthic"

Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes

2015

Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity, and food-web stability. In lakes, littoral and pelagic food-web compartments are typically coupled and controlled by generalist fish top predators. However, the extent and determinants of such coupling remains a topical area of ecological research and is largely unknown in oligotrophic high-latitude lakes. We analyzed food-web structure and resource use by a generalist top predator, the Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.), in 17 oligotrophic subarctic lakes…

The triad approach for assessment of industrial contamination in freshwater sediments, Opole Region, Poland,

2007

Toxicity of silver nanoparticles to Lumbriculus variegatus is a function of dissolved silver and promoted by low sediment pH

2018

Toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to benthic organisms is a major concern. The use of AgNPs in industry and consumer products leads to increasing release of AgNPs into the aquatic environment—sediments being the major sink. Effects of sediment pH on the toxicity of AgNPs to benthic oligochaeta Lumbriculus variegatus were studied in a 23‐d toxicity test. Artificially prepared sediments (pH 5 and 7) were spiked with varying concentrations of uncoated AgNP, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)‐coated AgNP, and silver nitrate (AgNO3) as dissolved Ag reference. Number of individuals and biomass change were used as endpoints for the toxicity. The toxic effects were related to the bioaccessible conce…

Fish introductions and light modulate food web fluxes in tropical streams : a whole-ecosystem experimental approach

2016

Decades of ecological study have demonstrated the importance of top-down and bottom-up controls on food webs, yet few studies within this context have quantified the magnitude of energy and material fluxes at the whole-ecosystem scale. We examined top-down and bottom-up effects on food web fluxes using a field experiment that manipulated the presence of a consumer, the Trinidadian guppy Poecilia reticulata, and the production of basal resources by thinning the riparian forest canopy to increase incident light. To gauge the effects of these reach-scale manipulations on food web fluxes, we used a nitrogen (15N) stable isotope tracer to compare basal resource treatments (thinned canopy vs. con…

Changement climatique et suivi de la biodiversité marine côtière aux Iles Kerguelen

2018

Nearshore marine habitats of the French sub-Antarctic islands concentrate a rich and unique biodiversity that is currently facing climate change and its still not well-understood and multifaceted effects. Understanding the impact of these changes and predicting the potential response of ecosystems requires advanced knowledge of marine life and the achievement of uninterrupted and long-term observing programs. The Proteker program, no. 1044 of the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor, has been developped in partnership with the National Nature Reserve of French Southern Territories in order to establish an observatory of coastal marine biodiversity in the Kerguelen Islands and evaluate t…

Ultraviolet B radiation induced alterations in immune function of fish : in relation to habitat preference and disease resistance

2009

Runsas altistuminen auringolle on tunnetusti haitallista ihmisten ja eläinten hyvinvoinnille. Eveliina Markkula tutki väitöskirjatyössään, miten ultravioletti B (UVB) -säteilylle altistuminen vaikuttaa kalojen vastustuskykyyn ja tautialttiuteen.- Ilmakehän otsonikerroksen oheneminen viime vuosikymmenten aikana on johtanut UVB-säteilyn lisääntymiseen maan pinnalla. UVB-säteily tunkeutuu myös kirkkaisiin järvi- ja merivesiin ja voi näin aiheuttaa haittaa kaloille, Markkula kertoo.UVB-säteilyn on jo aiemmin todettu lisäävän kalojen varhaisten elinvaiheiden epämuodostumia ja kuolleisuutta. Kertaluonteinenkin altistuminen lampuilla tuotetulle UVB-säteilylle aiheuttaa muutoksia kalan immuunijärje…

Improving statistical classification methods and ecological status assessment for river macroinvertebrates

2016

Aquatic ecosystems are facing a growing number of human-induced stressors and the need to implement more biomonitoring to assess the ecological status of water bodies is eminent. This dissertation aims at providing tools to reduce the costs and improve the accuracy of freshwater benthic macroinvertebrate biomonitoring. To improve the cost-e ciency, we consider automated classi cation and develop a novel classi er suitable for complex macroinvertebrate image data. To enhance the accuracy of macroinvertebrate biomonitoring, we study the statistical properties of the Percent Model A nity index crucial to current Finnish biomonitoring and the factors a ecting these statistics. Finally, we perfo…

Potential for large-bodied zooplankton and dreissenids to alter the productivity and autotrophic structure of lakes

2014

While limnological studies have emphasized the importance of grazers on algal biomass and primary production in pelagic habitats, few studies have examined their potential role in altering total ecosystem primary production and it’s partitioning between pelagic and benthic habitats. We modified an existing ecosystem production model to include biotic feedbacks associated with two groups of large-bodied grazers of phytoplankton (large-bodied zooplankton and dreissenid mussels) and estimated their effects on total ecosystem production (TEP), and the partitioning of TEP between phytoplankton and periphyton (autotrophic structure) across large gradients in lake size and total phosphorus (TP) co…

Benthic foodweb structure in a large shallow lake studied by stable isotope analysis

2014

The benthic foodweb structure of Lake Võrtsjärv, a large (270 km2), shallow, and turbid Estonian lake, was evaluated based on C and N stable-isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N). Variation in δ13C between sampling sites was not related to site proximity to the littoral zone or the more vegetated southern part of the lake, but rather appeared to be influenced by in-situ site peculiarities. δ13C was stable temporally and between functional feeding groups, a result implying that the whole benthic food web of the lake relies largely on the same C source admixture, essentially particulate organic matter (POM). Thus, the foodweb composition of Lake Võrtsjärv is remarkably homogeneous given the lake’s …

Benthic mats offer a potential subsidy to pelagic consumers in tundra pond food webs

2014

We quantified the potential nutritional contribution of benthic mats to pelagic consumers in tundra ponds using three approaches. (1) We compared benthic and pelagic habitats based on their algal biomass and community composition and assessed the dietary quality in terms of fatty acid (FA) concentrations in both habitats. The algal community compositions differed significantly between habitats. Both benthic and pelagic habitats contained saturated and unsaturated FAs, but on average there were more FAs relative to carbon in the pelagic habitat (44 6 29 mg mg C21) than the benthic habitat (23 6 18 mg mg C21) across all studied ponds. (2) We quantified the contribution of benthic mats to the …