Abstract
Temporary water bodies, especially vernal pools, are the most sensitive aquatic environments to climate change yet the least studied. Their functioning largely depends on their phytoplankton community structure. This study aimed to determine how temperature and photoperiod length (by simulating inundation in different parts of the year under five climate scenarios) affect the succession and structure of phytoplankton communities soon after inundation. Photoperiod was the most important factor affecting phytoplankton species richness, total abundance and the abundance of taxonomic groups in the course of succession. A long photoperiod (16 h) and a moderate temperature (16 °C) in vernal pool microcosms (late spring inundation after a warm snowless winter) were the most favourable conditions for phytoplankton growth (especially for the main taxonomic groups: chlorophytes and cryptophytes) and species richness. With short photoperiods (inundation in winter) and low temperatures, the communities transformed towards diatoms, euglenoids and cyanobacteria. In line with our predictions, a high temperature (25 °C) favoured a decline in phytoplankton species diversity. Our study shows that climate change will result in seasonal shifts in species abundance or even in their disappearance and, finally, in potential strong changes in the biodiversity and food webs of aquatic ecosystems in the future.
Highlights
E of high phytoplankton abundance, which in turn will inhibit macrophyte growth at moderate temperatures during late spring inundation in vernal pools
At the beginning of the experiment (Fig. 8), we collected a sample of bottom sediments from a temporary pond located in western Poland (52° 29′ 02′′ N; 16° 37′ 08′′ E)
This pond is one of the vernal pools forming a cluster of ponds in this area ( see[64] for a map and some basic parameters) and is usually inundated in February with water from thawing snow
Summary
This study aimed to determine how temperature and photoperiod length affect the succession and structure of phytoplankton communities soon after inundation. Our objective was to determine to what degree and in what way photoperiod length and temperature affect the process of secondary succession of algae and the subsequent structure of phytoplankton communities at the onset of the hydroperiod
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