Description: The influence of fluctuating light on diversity and species number of a natural phytoplankton assemblage competing for nutrients was investigated for 48 days under semicontinuous culture conditions. Light conditions were either changed periodically from high (65 μmol photons·m−2·s−1) to low intensity (15 μmol photons·m−2·s−1) at intervals of 1, 3, 6, and 12 days or fixed at constant light conditions of intermediate intensity (40 μmol photons·m−2·s−1). Fluctuating light at intervals of 1–12 days significantly affected phytoplankton diversity. The development of phytoplankton communities differed in treatments with different light regimes. In treatments with long light intervals, species abundance oscillated with the light phases. Differences in the temporal development of phytoplankton communities resulted in hump‐shaped relations between the interval length of the light phases and both species number and diversity index and can be explained by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. Fluctuating light tends to sustain phytoplankton diversity under nutrient limitation if the light regime changes in the order of several days. This indicates that temporal changes in weather regime are important in preventing competitive exclusion of phytoplankton species in nature.

Description: Conceptual models predict a unimodal effect of consumer abundance on prey diversity with the highest diversity at intermediate consumer abundance (intermediate disturbance hypothesis). Consumer selectivity and prey productivity are assumed to be further important determinants. Preferential grazing on dominant prey species favoured by high nutrient supply is supposed to increase prey diversity, whereas the effect of consumers on prey diversity may be negative under low nutrient conditions (grazer reversal hypothesis). We tested the effect of four common consumers the isopod Idotea baltica, the amphipod Gammarus oceanicus, and the gastropods Littorina littorea and Rissoa membranacea on diversity and composition of epiphytes growing on eelgrass Zostera marina. Consumer density was manipulated (four levels: grazer free control, low, medium, high) based on abundances observed in eelgrass systems. Additionally, we manipulated nutrient supply (three levels) and the presence of Idotea in a factorial experiment. The impact of consumer abundance on epiphyte diversity varied depending on consumer identity and epiphyte evenness was affected rather than species number in this short-term experiment. Idotea reduced epiphyte diversity (Shannon-Wiener index H') and Gammarus increased epiphyte diversity. Littorina had no effect at low and medium abundance, but a negative effect in the high density treatment. Only Rissoa supported the conceptual models as it caused the proposed unimodal pattern in epiphyte diversity. The varying species-specific selectivity of the studied consumers is likely to explain their diverse impact on epiphyte diversity. Nutrients enhanced epiphyte diversity at medium enrichment, whereas higher nutrient supply reduced epiphyte diversity. The effect of Idotea changed from negative at low nutrient concentration to positive at higher nutrient supply, supporting the grazer reversal hypothesis. This study implies that consumer species identity and nutrient concentrations are important in controlling prey diversity and composition. Different consumer selectivity and changes in selectivity with growing consumer abundance and nutrient concentration are the causal factors for this effect.

Description: Increasing levels of environmental stress due to global warming and eutrophication, and concerns about an unparalleled global diversity loss, have triggered new interest in the question whether the stability of ecosystem properties depends on population dynamics of dominant species or on compensatory growth of rare species. Recent meta-analyses suggest that compensatory dynamics are rare in natural systems. Experimental results, however, indicate that the interdependence of stressor regime, species traits, and species richness determines which mechanisms stabilise communities. Stability will depend on population dynamics of dominant species, if they remain the best performers regardless of disturbance. If dominant species become rare or lost, compensatory growth of rare species will insure natural communities against complete failure. Salinity is an important stressor governing growth and distribution of phytoplankton in brackish ecosystems, and its impact on coastal aquatic ecosystems is likely to change due to global warming. We performed two short-term experiments to investigate the effects of salinity stress on community structure and biomass production of natural phytoplankton communities collected in tidally influenced and polymictic Lake Waihola (New Zealand). The lake was brackish when the inoculum for the first experiment was collected. The inoculum for the second experiment originated from a fresh water situation. In both experiments, the phytoplankton assemblage was exposed to a salinity gradient ranging from 0 to 5. To assess the importance of dominance and compensatory growth, we determined biomass production, species richness, diversity, evenness and dominance indices, and species specific growth rates. Biomass production in our experiments was determined by dominant species. Anabaena flos-aquae dominated in the first experiment, and Asterionella formosa in the second experiment. Despite the importance of these species, we found significant growth responses of rare and abundant species. Even if these species showed high growth rates, biomass production was carried by the dominant species as long as the salinity level allowed them to grow. When the salinity level was detrimental to the growth of the dominant species, reduced dominance and increased diversity indices emphasised the importance of compensatory growth of rare species. The salinity stress applied in our experiments was strong enough to change the hierarchy of successful functional traits, which affected community structure and biomass production of the plankton communities. If the predicted sea water rise, increasing frequency of storm tides, rising water temperatures, and altered precipitation and run-off cause the salinity of coastal aquatic ecosystems to change, major changes in community composition, diversity and dominance structure of planktonic primary producers might be expected.

Description: The European water framework directive and the marine strategy framework directive have the objective to establish at least ‘good’ ecological status in all European waters by 2015. Therefore a classification system has to be established in each European country, in order to assess their water bodies. For the German coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, a classification system for phytoplankton based on the abundance of Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae was already presented. This system has been successfully adapted in regions with low salinity levels (〈10 PSU). With this study, we present the results trying to develop a classification system for our German region of the Baltic Sea characterized by higher salinity (〉15 PSU). All present taxonomic groups, most common species and functional groups were tested. It could be shown that all tested correlations to nitrogen concentration as eutrophication descriptor are relatively week. Nevertheless, the biovolume of Cryptophyceae was found to be the most reliable phytoplankton composition indicator, which could serve as future assessment criterion. Furthermore, as proposed by some experts, the use of maximal dissolved winter nitrogen concentration as eutrophication descriptor might be an advantage over using the total nitrogen concentrations in summer.

Description: According to Connell�s intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), diversity within a community is maximal at intermediate frequencies and intensities of disturbances. In order to test the IDH, disturbances of different frequencies and intensities were imposed on natural plankton communities in controlled field experiments. These disturbances consisted of an artificial deepening of the mixed layer, leading to the dilution of epilimnetic populations and to a higher level of nutrients. Intervals between disturbances ranged from 2 to 12 d. Different intensities of disturbance were caused by differences in the experimental mixing depth (150 and 225% of the original epilimnion depth). Investigation focused on the effect that disturbances had on the diversity of natural phytoplankton communities. Additionally, we were interested in determining the effect of grazing by zooplankton. The results of the field experiments show for the first time the applicability of the IDH to phytoplankton within complete planktonic communities. Diversity showed a clear maximum at the intermediate disturbance interval of 6 d. Similarly, species number peaked at intermediate interval length (6-10 d).

Description: The influence of mixing frequency and depth on phytoplankton functional group composition (mobile versus immobile species) was studied by enclosure experiments in a shallow, stratified lake. Mixing events were artificially induced at intervals from 2–12 d. The mixing depth was increased from the natural level (4 m) to 6 and 9 m. The mobile phytoplankton in the experiments consisted of cyanobacteria and flagellates. Among the latter, large and rapid swimming species were represented by dinoflagellates. An increase of the relative abundance of gas vacuolated cyanobacteria occurred with increasing frequency of mixing. Additionally Reynolds' hypothesis predicting the occurrence of certain mobile phytoplankton genera in response to the mixing regime could be confirmed for the condition when mixing depth exceeds the euphoric depth.

Description: The influence of periodic salinity changes was investigated for 42 days under semicontinuous culture conditions with phosphorus limitation using phytoplankton assemblages from Lake Waihola, a tidally influenced shallow lake. To simulate tidal effects on the phytoplankton community, salinity in the cultures was increased in pulses at different intervals (3.5, 7, and 14 days), and these cultures were compared with those that experienced constant freshwater conditions. Salinity pulses significantly affected competition and succession with a major loss in diversity during the first days of the experiment due to the initial pulse that caused a transition from freshwater to brackish conditions in the cultures. After this initial phase, diversity index (H') and species number (Scorr) decreased less rapidly. The loss in H' and Scorr over time was highest under constant freshwater conditions and lowest in the treatment with an interval of 3.5 days between salinity pulses. At the end of the experiment, the combination of initial loss in H' and Scorr and the time course of H' and Scorr resulted in a U‐shaped relation between the interval length of salinity pulses and both H' and Scorrtemp1.txttemp1.txt. Our results indicate that salinity pulses at intervals of a few days tend to promote phytoplankton diversity. If saline intrusions in coastal freshwater systems occur only at spring tides, this will lead to decreases in diversity and species richness.

Description: The influence of fluctuating light intensities on phytoplankton composition and diversity was investigated for 49 days under semi-continuous culture conditions with sufficient nutrient supply, using phytoplankton assemblages from Lake Biwa, Japan. Light conditions were either periodically changed from high intensity (100 µmol photons m–2 s–1) to low intensity (20 µmol photons m–2 s–1) at intervals of 1, 3, 6 and 12 days, or fixed to constant intensities (permanent high and low light levels). All treatments additionally experienced a day:night cycle of 16:8 h. Phytoplankton abundance increased and reached a saturation level on day 19 of the treatment with permanent high light, but increased continuously until the end of the experiment (day 49) in the treatment with permanent low light intensity. In treatments with periodically changing light intensities, the phytoplankton abundance reached saturation levels between these dates. Under phytoplankton abundance saturation, chlorophytes predominated in the treatment with permanent high light, while either cyanophytes or diatoms were abundant under permanent low light intensity. Treatments with changing light supply had chlorophyte- and cyanobacteria-dominated replicates as well as replicates with balanced proportions of both. Furthermore, species diversity, measured by the Shannon index, was low in cultures under permanent light intensity, while slow fluctuating light at the scale of 3 –12 days resulted in an increased diversity index. These results indicate that species composition and diversity of the phytoplankton were affected by the periodically changing light regime in the order of days, and suggest that temporal changes in weather conditions are a major impediment to competitive exclusion of phytoplankton species in nature.