Airborne microeukaryote colonists in experimental water containers: diversity, succession, life histories and established food webs

Abstract

AME Aquatic Microbial Ecology Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials AME 62:139-152 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01463 Airborne microeukaryote colonists in experimental water containers: diversity, succession, life histories and established food webs Savvas Genitsaris1, Maria Moustaka-Gouni1,*, Konstantinos A. Kormas2 1Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece 2Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, 384 46 Nea Ionia, Magnisia, Greece *Corresponding author. Email: mmustaka@bio.auth.gr ABSTRACT: Airborne freshwater and marine microeukaryotes in the city of Thessaloniki, situated in Thermaikos Bay, Greece, were examined as sources of colonization of experimental water containers during the period autumn 2007 to spring 2008. The microeukaryote composition of the plankton in the nearby aquatic systems (distance <1 km) was also examined. Airborne microeukaryotes were examined by morphology and 18S rRNA gene diversity. A total of 29 species of airborne microeukaryotes were identified, most of them commonly observed in aerobiological studies. Airborne organisms of only 8 taxa were also detected in the nearby aquatic systems. The algae Haematococcus lacustris, a Chlorella-like taxon, and Scenedesmus cf. obliquus, the heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) Bodo sp., Cafeteria minuta and Rynchomonas nasuta, and the ciliate Pattersoniella vitiphila were present in all 3 seasons, indicating capabilities of successful dispersal and colonization under a wide range of meteorological conditions. Rapid colonization of the water containers by the microeukaryotes occurred at the beginning of the experiment, but the rate of colonization quickly stabilized. The initial phase of colonization was dominated by HNF; subsequently, members of the Chlorophyta were the dominant autotrophs. The heterotrophic and autotrophic colonists established similar food webs in all 3 seasons, with P. vitiphila being the common top predator. KEY WORDS: Airborne microeukaryotes · Colonization · Diversity · Food web · Haematococcus · Pattersoniella Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Genitsaris S, Moustaka-Gouni M, Kormas KA (2011) Airborne microeukaryote colonists in experimental water containers: diversity, succession, life histories and established food webs. Aquat Microb Ecol 62:139-152. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01463 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AME Vol. 62, No. 2. Online publication date: January 19, 2011 Print ISSN: 0948-3055; Online ISSN: 1616-1564 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.