Phytoplankton species interactions and invasion by Ceratium furcoides are influenced by extreme drought and water-hyacinth removal in a shallow tropical reservoir

Abstract

This study explored the interactions of phytoplankton species during the invasion of Ceratium furcoides and the environmental variables that contributed to its establishment and ecological success in a shallow eutrophic reservoir (Garcas Reservoir, southeast Brazil), which has been monitored monthly for 20 years (1997–2017). The Ceratium furcoides invasion in September 2014 was preceded by disturbance events (macrophyte removal and a historical drought period), which disrupted the dominance of cyanobacteria by modifying resource availability (high water transparency and soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations) and recruiting other species. Ceratium blooms at the water surface were preceded by high abundance near the bottom, suggesting the importance of the propagule bank. However, the pattern of Ceratium-Microcystis coexistence that is usually recorded in temperate lakes was not observed. Instead, Ceratium replaced Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii in mixing periods with high light and nitrogen availabilities, significantly influencing the abundance of Trachelomonas spp. Flagellated forms became dominant in the Garcas Reservoir, due to the higher water transparency and relatively lower water-column stability, and alternative states between Ceratium-Trachelomonas in mixing periods and Microcystis-Cryptomonas in stratified periods have been repeated. Since then, cyanobacterial dominance ceased, and the “skillful” Ceratium apparently has come to stay, influencing interactions among phytoplankton species.