Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats
There is no doubt that seagrass beds constitute one of the most productive ecosystems in shallow coastal waters. Despite this, picoplankton in seagrass ecosystems has received relatively little attention. The purpose of this study was to compare picoplankton growth and mortality rates between seagra...
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MDPI AG
2024-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/7/939 |
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| author | Patrichka Wei-Yi Chen Clara Natalie Annabel Madeline Olivia Wen-Chen Chou Jian-Jhih Chen Ruei-Feng Shiu Vladimir Mukhanov Mariche Natividad Yi-Le Shen An-Yi Tsai |
| author_facet | Patrichka Wei-Yi Chen Clara Natalie Annabel Madeline Olivia Wen-Chen Chou Jian-Jhih Chen Ruei-Feng Shiu Vladimir Mukhanov Mariche Natividad Yi-Le Shen An-Yi Tsai |
| author_sort | Patrichka Wei-Yi Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is no doubt that seagrass beds constitute one of the most productive ecosystems in shallow coastal waters. Despite this, picoplankton in seagrass ecosystems has received relatively little attention. The purpose of this study was to compare picoplankton growth and mortality rates between seagrass and unvegetated habitats using chamber incubations. We tested two main hypotheses: (i) incubation with seagrass would result in higher bacterial growth rates due to increased DOM release from seagrass photosynthesis, and (ii) <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. would be lower in the presence of seagrass due to competition for inorganic nutrients. Bacterial growth rates were higher in seagrass chambers (2.44 d<sup>–1</sup>) than in non-seagrass chambers (2.31 d<sup>−1</sup>), respectively, suggesting that organic carbon coming from the seagrass community may support bacterial production. Furthermore, the growth rate of <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. was significantly lower in the seagrass treatment than in the non-seagrass treatment, likely reflecting nutrient competition with the seagrass. Small-scale chambers proved to be a useful tool for studying the factors controlling spatial and temporal patterns of picoplankton across different habitats. Furthermore, future studies should examine picoplankton growth over a wider range of spatial scales in seagrass beds and adjacent unvegetated sediment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:34:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4d3bf7e7c27e4bc494425db7c1008022 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:34:28Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-4d3bf7e7c27e4bc494425db7c10080222024-04-12T13:26:59ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412024-03-0116793910.3390/w16070939Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass HabitatsPatrichka Wei-Yi Chen0Clara Natalie Annabel1Madeline Olivia2Wen-Chen Chou3Jian-Jhih Chen4Ruei-Feng Shiu5Vladimir Mukhanov6Mariche Natividad7Yi-Le Shen8An-Yi Tsai9Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanDepartment of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 81157, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanA.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Russian Academy of Sciences, 299011 Sevastopol, RussiaInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanPenghu Fisheries Biology Research Center, Fisheries Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Penghu 880, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, TaiwanThere is no doubt that seagrass beds constitute one of the most productive ecosystems in shallow coastal waters. Despite this, picoplankton in seagrass ecosystems has received relatively little attention. The purpose of this study was to compare picoplankton growth and mortality rates between seagrass and unvegetated habitats using chamber incubations. We tested two main hypotheses: (i) incubation with seagrass would result in higher bacterial growth rates due to increased DOM release from seagrass photosynthesis, and (ii) <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. would be lower in the presence of seagrass due to competition for inorganic nutrients. Bacterial growth rates were higher in seagrass chambers (2.44 d<sup>–1</sup>) than in non-seagrass chambers (2.31 d<sup>−1</sup>), respectively, suggesting that organic carbon coming from the seagrass community may support bacterial production. Furthermore, the growth rate of <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. was significantly lower in the seagrass treatment than in the non-seagrass treatment, likely reflecting nutrient competition with the seagrass. Small-scale chambers proved to be a useful tool for studying the factors controlling spatial and temporal patterns of picoplankton across different habitats. Furthermore, future studies should examine picoplankton growth over a wider range of spatial scales in seagrass beds and adjacent unvegetated sediment.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/7/939seagrassbacteria<i>Synechococcus</i> spp.growth ratespicoplankton |
| spellingShingle | Patrichka Wei-Yi Chen Clara Natalie Annabel Madeline Olivia Wen-Chen Chou Jian-Jhih Chen Ruei-Feng Shiu Vladimir Mukhanov Mariche Natividad Yi-Le Shen An-Yi Tsai Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats Water seagrass bacteria <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. growth rates picoplankton |
| title | Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats |
| title_full | Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats |
| title_short | Investigation of the Growth and Mortality of Bacteria and <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. in Unvegetated and Seagrass Habitats |
| title_sort | investigation of the growth and mortality of bacteria and i synechococcus i spp in unvegetated and seagrass habitats |
| topic | seagrass bacteria <i>Synechococcus</i> spp. growth rates picoplankton |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/7/939 |
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