Mixotrophs combine resource use to outcompete specialists: Implications for aquatic food webs
Jörg Tittel,Vera Bissinger,Barbara Zippel,Ursula Gaedke,Elanor M. Bell,Andreas Lorke,Norbert Kamjunke +6 more
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It is hypothesize instead that the mixotrophic grazing strategy is responsible for deep algal accumulations in many aquatic environments, previously explained by resource availability.Abstract:
The majority of organisms can be grouped into those relying solely on photosynthesis (phototrophy) or those relying solely on the assimilation of organic substances (heterotrophy) to meet their requirements for energy and carbon. However, a special life history trait exists in which organisms combine both phototrophy and heterotrophy. Such “mixotrophy” is a widespread phenomenon in aquatic habitats and is observed in many protozoan and metazoan organisms. The strategy requires investment in both photosynthetic and heterotrophic cellular apparatus, and the benefits must outweigh these costs. In accordance with mechanistic resource competition theory, laboratory experiments revealed that pigmented mixotrophs combined light, mineral nutrients, and prey as substitutable resources. Thereby, they reduced prey abundance below the critical food concentration of competing specialist grazers [Rothhaupt, K. O. (1996) Ecology 77, 716–724]. Here, we demonstrate the important consequences of this strategy for an aquatic community. In the illuminated surface strata of a lake, mixotrophs reduced prey abundance steeply. The data suggest that, as a consequence, grazers from higher trophic levels, consuming both the mixotrophs and their prey, could not persist. Thus, the mixotrophs escaped from competition with and losses to higher grazers. Furthermore, the mixotrophs structured prey abundance along the vertical light gradient, creating low densities near the surface and a pronounced maximum of their algal prey at depth. Such deep algal accumulations are typical features of nutrient-poor aquatic habitats, previously explained by resource availability. We hypothesize instead that the mixotrophic grazing strategy is responsible for deep algal accumulations in many aquatic environments.read more
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Rethinking the marine carbon cycle: Factoring in the multifarious lifestyles of microbes
Alexandra Z. Worden,Alexandra Z. Worden,Alexandra Z. Worden,Michael J. Follows,Stephen J. Giovannoni,Susanne Wilken,Amy E. Zimmerman,Patrick J. Keeling,Patrick J. Keeling +8 more
TL;DR: The challenges of understanding the role protists play in geochemical cycling in the oceans are reviewed, and researchers must bring the conceptual framework of systems biology into bigger “ecosystems biology” models that broadly capture the geochemical activities of interacting plankton networks.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mixotrophy, a major mode of nutrition for harmful algal species in eutrophic waters
TL;DR: An alternate premise is examined, that many harmful algae which thrive in eutrophic habitats are mixotrophs that respond both directly to nutrient inputs, and indirectly through high abundance of bacterial and algal prey that are stimulated by the elevated nutrients.
Journal ArticleDOI
High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean
Mikhail V. Zubkov,Glen A. Tarran +1 more
TL;DR: Evidence is presented that small algae carry out 40–95% of the bacterivory in the euphotic layer of the temperate North Atlantic Ocean in summer, suggesting the global significance of mixotrophy and reveals that even the smallest algae have less dependence on dissolved inorganic nutrients than previously thought.
Journal ArticleDOI
The role of mixotrophic protists in the biological carbon pump
Aditee Mitra,Kevin J. Flynn,JoAnn M. Burkholder,Terje Berge,Albert Calbet,John A. Raven,Edna Granéli,Patricia M. Glibert,Per Juel Hansen,Diane K. Stoecker,T. Frede Thingstad,Urban Tillmann,Selina Våge,Susanne Wilken,Mikhail V. Zubkov +14 more
TL;DR: It is shown how the exclusion of an explicit mixotrophic component in studies of the pelagic microbial communities leads to a failure to capture the true dynamics of the carbon flow, and recommended inclusion of multi-nutrient mixotroph models within ecosystem studies.
Journal ArticleDOI
The biogeography of marine plankton traits.
Andrew D. Barton,Andrew D. Barton,Andrew J. Pershing,Elena Litchman,Elena Litchman,Nicholas R. Record,Nicholas R. Record,Kyle F. Edwards,Zoe V. Finkel,Thomas Kiørboe,Ben A. Ward +10 more
TL;DR: Progress is reviewed towards understanding the regulatory roles of several key plankton functional traits, including cell size, N2 -fixation and mixotrophy among phytoplankton, and body size, ontogeny and feeding behaviour for zooplankon.
References
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