Effects of temperature and turbulence on the predator-prey interactions between a heterotrophic flagellate and a marine bacterium.

Abstract

Biotic and abiotic factors can influence interactions between microbial grazers and their prey, thus impacting both the cycling of biogenic carbon within the surface layer of the ocean and the export of carbon to the deep ocean and higher trophic levels. In this study, microcosm experiments were used to evaluate the combined effect of temperature and turbulence on the growth rate of a marine bacterium (Vibrio splendidus), a protistan predator (Paraphysomonas sp.), and the community grazing impact of Paraphysomonas sp. on V. splendidus. It was found that the artificial turbulence generated (1.35 x 10-1 cm2 s-3) significantly increased the rates of growth of Paraphysomonas sp. at high (>10 degrees C), but not low (<5 degrees C) temperatures, and that turbulence had no effect on the growth of V. splendidus. Both flagellate and bacterial growth were temperature dependent and decreased 4- to 6-fold as temperatures decreased from 15 to 0 degrees C. Bacterial grazing mortality by Paraphysomonas sp. was 1.3- to 2.5-fold greater in the turbulent than static treatments among all four temperatures, and the rates of cell-specific ingestion of bacteria by Paraphysomonas sp. was 2-fold greater at 15 and 10 degrees C in the turbulent than in the static treatment. Hence, this study shows that turbulence can influence nanoflagellate grazing at temperatures >5 degrees C and suggests that at low temperatures, increased viscosity may limit the size of organisms that can be affected by small-scale turbulence.