The role of ultraviolet radiation in structuring epilithic algal communities in Rocky Mountain montane lakes: evidence from pigments and taxonomy

Abstract

We investigated changes in the community structure of epilithic (rock-dwelling) algae brought about by ultraviolet-A and -B radiation (UV-A and UV-B, respectively), using measurements of biovolume of individual taxa, and taxonomically diagnostic photosynthetic pigments. We undertook our study in four Canadian Rocky Mountain montane lakes, where downwelling ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can be intense. Although taxonomic counts revealed significant decreases in algal community diversity under UV-A and UV-B exposure, they revealed no other significant trends in algal community composition. Instead, redundancy analysis using these counts suggested that variations in nutrient concentrations were most important in structuring these communities. Photosynthetic pigments decreased significantly under UV-A and UV-B exposure. This decrease was much more striking for carotenoid than for chlorophyll concentrations, despite the photoprotective properties of many carotenoid pigments. Grazed carotenoids have been shown to be more resistant to degradation than grazed chlorophylls. We suggest that an observed increase in grazing pressure in our UVR-shielded communities counteracted increases in algal growth, but that increased algal growth rates were reflected by increased concentrations of slowly degrading carotenoids. Our study suggests that other factors, such as nutrients and grazers, are more important than UVR for structuring epilithic algal communities in our study lakes.