Abundance, biomass and estimated production of planktonic ciliates in Lakes Victoria and Malawi
Keywords:
Great Lakes, ciliate abundance, production, food webs, tropical lakesAbstract
The abundance, biomass and composition of planktonic ciliates were studied in two Great Lakes of Africa, Malawi and Victoria, between June, 1997, and June, 1999, to investigate their role in the food webs of these lakes. Oligotrichs (Strombidium , Strobilidium and Halteria) were the most abundant group of ciliates in both lakes. Other important ciliates in terms of abundance and/or biomass included heterotrichs, peritrichs, haptorids, and peniculids. Mean ciliate abundance was 1.5 ciliates · mL−1 and 20.1 ciliates · mL−1 in Lakes Malawi and Victoria, respectively. Ciliate biomass ranged from 0.03 to 7.82 μg C · L−1 (mean 1.8 ± 0.7 μg C · L−1) in Lake Malawi and ranged from 24.2 to 61.82 μg C · L−1 (mean 36 μg C · L−1) in Lake Victoria. Ciliate abundance and biomass were higher at offshore than inshore stations of both lakes despite that chlorophyll exhibited the opposite trend. Both lakes demonstrated vertical and temporal variation in their ciliate communities as well. Herbivores were an important feeding guild in both lakes, while mixotrophs and bacterivores were also important in Lakes Malawi and Victoria, respectively.
References
Adrian, R. and Schneider-Olt, B. 1999. Top-down effects of crustacean Zooplankton on pelagic microorganisms in a mesotrophic lake. J. Plankton Res., 21: 2175–2190.
Adrian, R., Wickham, S. A. and Butler, N. M. 2001. Trophic interactions between Zooplankton and the microbial community in contrasting food webs: the epilimnion and deep chlorophyll maximum of a mesotrophic lake. Aquat. Microb. Ecol., 24: 83–97.
Arndt, H. 1993. Rotifers as predators on components of the microbial web (bacteria, heterotrophic flagellates, ciliates)--a review. Hydrobiologie, 255/256: 231–246.
Beaver, J. R. and Crisman, T. L. 1989a. The role of ciliated protozoa in pelagic freshwater ecosystems. Microb. Ecol., 17: 111–136.
Beaver, J. R. and Crisman, T. L. 1989b. Analysis of the community structure of planktonic ciliated protozoa relative to trophic state in Florida lakes. Hydrobiologie, 174: 177–184.
Branstrator, D. K., Lehman, J. T. and Ndawula, L. M. 1996. “Zooplankton dynamics in Lake Victoria.”. In The Limnology, Climatology and Paleoclimatology of the East African Lakes, Edited by: Johnson, T. C. and Odada, E. O. 337–355. Toronto: Gordon and Breach.
Burns, C. W. and Gilbert, J. J. 1993. Predation on ciliates by freshwater calanoid copepods: rates of predation and relative vulnerability of prey. Freshwater Biol., 30: 377–393.
Burns, C. W. and Schallenberg, M. 2001. Calanoid copepods versus cladocerans: consumer effects on protozoa in lakes of different trophic status. Limnol. Oceanogr., 46: 1558–1565.
Carrick, H. J. and Fahnenstiel, G. L. 1990. Planktonic protozoa in Lakes Huron and Michigan: seasonal abundance and composition of ciliates and dinoflagellates. J. Great Lakes Res., 16: 319–329.
Dumont, H. J. 1986. The Tanganyika sardine in Lake Kivu: another ecodisaster for Africa?. Environ. Cons., 13: 143–148.
Fahnenstiel, G. L., Krause, A. E., McCormick, M. J., Carrick, H. J. and Schelske, C. L. 1998. The structure of the planktonic food-web in the St. Lawrence Great Lakes. J. Great Lakes Res., 24: 531–554.
Fenchel, T. 1980. Suspension feeding in ciliated protozoa: functional response and particle size selection. Microb. Ecol., 6: 1–11.
Guildford, S. J. and Hecky, R. E. 2000. Total nitrogen, total phosphorus and nutrient limitation in lakes and oceans: is there a common relationship?. Limnol. Oceanogr., 45: 1213–1223.
Guildford, S. J., Taylor, W. D., Bootsma, H. A., Hendzel, L. L., Hecky, R. E. and Barlow-Busch, L. 1999. “Factors controllingpelagic algal abundance and composition in Lake Malawi/Nyasa.”. In Water quality report: Lake Malawi/Nyasa biodiversity conservation project Edited by: Bootsma, H. A. and Hecky, R. E. 143–182.
Guildford, S. J., Bootsma, H. A., Fee, E. J., Hecky, R. E. and Patterson, G. 2000. Phytoplankton nutrient status and mean water column irradiance in Lakes Malawi and Superior. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management, 3: 35–45.
Guildford, S. J., Hecky, R. E., Taylor, W. D., Mugidde, R. and Bootsma, H. A. Nutrient enrichment experiments in African Great Lakes. J. Great Lakes Res., (in press)
Havens, K. E. and Beaver, J. R. 1997. Consumer vs. resource control of ciliate protozoa in a copepod-dominated subtropical lake. Arch. Hydrobiol., 140: 491–511.
Hecky, R. E. 1993. The eutrophication of Lake Victoria. Verh. Int. Verein. Limnol., 25: 39–48.
Hecky, R. E., Fee, E. J., Kling, H. and Rudd, J. W. M. 1978. Studies on the planktonic ecology of Lake Tanganyika, Technical Report 816 Canada: Fisheries and Marine Service.
Hecky, R. E. and Kling, H. J. 1981. Primary production and rates of algal growth in Lake Tanganyika. Limnol. Oceanogr, 26: 548–564.
Hecky, R. E. and Bugenyi, F. W. B. 1992. Hydrology and chemistry of the African Great Lakes and water quality issues: problems and solutions. Mitt. Internat. Verein. Limnol., 23: 45–54.
Hecky, R. E., Bugenyi, F. W. B., Ochumba, P. O. B., Tailing, J. F., Gophen, M., Mugidde, R. and Kaufman, L. S. 1994. Deoxygenation of the hypolimnion of Lake Victoria. Limnol. Oceanogr., 39: 1476–1480.
Hwang, S. and Heath, R. T. 1997. The distribution of protozoa across a trophic gradient, factors controlling their abundance and importance in the food web. J. Plankton Res., 19: 491–518.
Jack, J. D. and Gilbert, J. J. 1997. Effects of metazoan predators on ciliates in freshwater plankton communities. J. Euk. Microbiol., 44: 194–199.
Jansson, M., Blomqvist, P., Jonsson, A. and Bergström, A.-K. 1996. Nutrient limitation of bacterioplankton, autotrophic and mixotrophic phytoplankton, and meterotrophic nanoflagellates in Lake Örsträsket. Limnol. Oceanogr., 41: 1552–1559.
Jerome, C. A., Montagnes, D. J. S. and Taylor, F. J. R. 1993. The effect of the quantitative protargol stain and Lugol's and Bouin's fixatives on cell size: a more accurate estimate of ciliate species biomass. J. Euk. Microbiol., 40: 254–259.
Kling, H. J., Mugidde, R. and Hecky, R. E. 2001. “Recent changes in the phytoplankton community of Lake Victoria in response to eutrophication.”. In The Great Lakes of the World (GLOW): Food-web, health and integrity, Ecovision World Monograph Series Edited by: Munawar, M. and Hecky, R. E. 47–65. Backhuys, Leiden, , The Netherlands
Lehman, J. T. and Branstrator, D. K. 1993. Effects of nutrients and grazing on the phytoplankton of Lake Victoria. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol., 25: 850–855.
Lynn, D. H. and Small, E. B. 2002. “Phylum Ciliophora.”. In An Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa. Society of Protozoologists, Edited by: Lee, J. J., Bradbury, P. C. and Leedale, G. F. 371–656. Kansas: Lawrence.
Montagnes, D. J. S. and Lynn, D. H. 1993. “A quantitative protargol stain (QPS) for ciliates and other protists.”. In Handbook of Methods in Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Edited by: Kemp, P. F., Sherr, B. F., Sherr, E. B. and Cole, J. J. 229–240. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers.
Montagnes, D. J. S., Lynn, D. H., Roff, J. C. and Taylor, W. D. 1988. The annual cycle of heterotrophic planktonic ciliates in the waters surrounding the Isles of Shoals, Gulf of Maine: an assessment of their trophic role. Mar. Biol., 99: 21–30.
Müller, H. and Geller, W. 1993. Maximum growth rates of aquatic ciliated protozoa: the dependence on body size and temperature reconsidered. Arch. Hydrobiol., 126: 315–327.
Munawar, M. and Lynn, D. H. 2002. Planktonic ciliates of the North American Great Lakes. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Manage., 5: 345–354.
Mwebaza-Ndawula, L. 1994. Changes in relative abundance of zoo-plankton in northern Lake Victoria, East Africa. Hydrobiologia, 272: 259–264.
Ogutu-Ohwayo, R. 1992. The purpose, costs and benefits offish introductions: with specific reference to the Great Lakes of Africa. Mitt. Internat. Verein. Limnol., 23: 37–44.
Pemthaler, J., Simek, K., Sattler, B., Schwarzenbacher, A., Bobkova, J. and Psenner, R. 1996. Short-term changes of protozoan control on autotrophic picoplankton in an oligo-mesotrophic lake. J. Plankton Res., 18: 443–462.
Putt, M. and Stoecker, D. K. 1989. An experimentally determined carbon:volume ratio for marine Oligotrichs' ciliates from estuarine and coastal waters. Limnol. Oceanogr., 34: 1097–1103.
Roberts, E., Laybourn-Parry, J., McNight, D. M. and Novarino, G. 2000. Stratification and dynamics of microbial loop communities in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica. Freshwater Biol., 44: 649–661.
Roff, J. C. and Hopcroft, R. R. 1986. High precision microcomputer based measuring system for ecological research. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 43: 2044–2048.
Sanders, R. W., Porter, K. G., Bennett, S. J. and DeBiase, A. E. 1989. Seasonal patterns of bacterivory by flagellates, ciliates, rotifers, and cladocerans in a freshwater planktonic community. Limnol. Oceanogr., 34: 673–687.
Smith, L. W. 1998. Use of traditional practices and knowledge in monitoring a Lake Malawi artisanal fishery. N. Am. J. Fish. Mangmt., 18: 982–988.
Stoecker, D. K. and Capuzzo, J. M. 1990. Predation on protozoa: its importance to Zooplankton. J. Plankton Res., 12: 891–908.
Tailing, J. E. 1966. The annual cycle of stratification and phytoplankton growth in Lake Victoria (East Africa). Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol., 51: 545–621.
Taylor, W. D. and Heynen, M. L. 1987. Seasonal and vertical distribution of Ciliophora in Lake Ontario. Can. J. Eish. Aquat. Sci., 44: 2185–2191.
Taylor, W. D. and Sanders, R. W. 2001. “Protozoa.”. In Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates , 2nd edition, 43–96. Academic Press.
van der Knaap, M., Ntiba, M. J. and Cowx, I. G. 2002. Key elements of fisheries management on Lake Victoria. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Manage., 5: 245–254.
Weisse, T. 1990. Trophic interactions among heterotrophic microplankton, nanoplankton, and bacteria in Lake Constance. Hydrobiologic, 191: 111–122.
Wickham, S. A. 1998. The direct and indirect impact of Daphnia and Cyclops on a freshwater microbial food web. J. Plankton Res., 20: 739–755.
Yasindi, A. W. 2001. The ecology of planktonic ciliates in tropical lakes of East Africa, Africa, Waterloo, Ontario, , Canada: University of Waterloo. Ph.D. Thesis
Zingel, P. 1999. Pelagic ciliated protozoa in a shallow eutrophic lake: community structure and seasonal dynamics. Arch. Hydrobiol., 146: 495–511.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
