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Abstract
We assessed the occurrence of algae in five species of tank-bromeliads found in contrasting environmental sites in a Neotropical, primary rainforest around the Nouragues Research Station, French Guiana. The distributions of both algal abundance and biomass were examined based on physical parameters, the morphological characteristics of bromeliad species and with regard to the structure of other aquatic microbial communities held in the tanks. Algae were retrieved in all of the bromeliad species with mean densities ranging from ∼102 to 104 cells/mL. Their biomass was positively correlated to light exposure and bacterial biomass. Algae represented a tiny component of the detrital food web in shaded bromeliads but accounted for up to 30 percent of the living microbial carbon in the tanks of Catopsis berteroniana, located in a highly exposed area. Thus, while nutrient supplies are believed to originate from wind-borne particles and trapped insects (i.e., allochtonous organic matter), our results indicate that primary producers (i.e., autochtonous organic matter) are present in this insectivorous bromeliad. Using a 24-h incubation of size-fractionated and manipulated samples from this plant, we evaluated the impact of mosquito foraging on algae, other microorganisms and rotifers. The prey assemblages were greatly altered by the predation of mosquito larvae. Grazing losses indicated that the dominant algal taxon, Bumilleriopsis sp., like protozoa and rotifers, is a significant part of the diet of mosquito larvae. We conclude that algae are a relevant functional community of the aquatic food web in C. berteroniana and might form the basis of a complementary non-detrital food web.
Highlights
Bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) are common flowering plants in the Neotropics [1]
Particulate organic matter (POM) and faecal particles collect in the bases of the leaves and are utilized by bacteria and other microorganisms which are preyed upon by larger invertebrates [6,7]
Algae were found in small numbers and in only 45.5 percent of the tanks for G. lingulata, this species was located in the shaded forest and received only 15.8 percent of the transmitted light
Summary
Bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) are common flowering plants in the Neotropics [1]. The majority of bromeliad species have tightlyinterlocking leaves that impound water in a central cup, and leaf axils forming a phytotelm (‘‘plant-held water’’). About half of the phytotelm plants in tropical America are tank-bromeliads [2], and their collective diversity and density form a major fragmented aquatic ecosystem that provides habitat, breeding space and food for diverse organisms [1,3]. They are, for example, major development sites for aquatic invertebrates [1], and their associated aquatic biota form valuable model systems for food web studies by combining the advantages of field-based studies and microcosms [3,4]. Surveys on the aquatic food webs of tank-bromeliads have mainly focused on macro-organisms, especially mosquito larvae [2,7,8], leaving the microbial communities under-studied [9,10]
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