Abstract
The role of the microbial communities in the classical planktonic food web and its response to eutrophication in shallow lakes is still contradictory. Mediterranean shallow lakes with different eutrophication levels were sampled to study the influence of eutrophication on the microbial food web (MFW) and their contribution to the planktonic food web. Percentage of ciliate biomass in the metazooplankton (MZP) showed a U-shaped trend with eutrophication, with maximum at both ends of the chlorophyll-a (Chla) gradient. The MZP to phytoplankton ratio demonstrated a unimodal pattern with minimum values at the two ends of the Chla gradient and maximum values in the Chla range 5-10 μg l−1. In contrast, the MFW to phytoplankton ratio reached its minimum in the central part of the Chla gradient and maximum values at the extremes of the gradient. These patterns support the hypothesis that the relative importance of bacteria and ciliates is lowest in mesotrophic shallow lakes, and highest in oligotrophic and hypereutrophic systems. These results stress the importance of protozoan in the trophic web, and indicate it is essential to include this group, especially ciliates, when quantifying zooplankton in warm shallow lakes.
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