Influence of potential grazers on picocyanobacterial abundance in Lake Biwa revealed with empirical dynamic modeling

ABSTRACT

Picocyanobacteria in lakes generally occur as single cells (single-celled picocyanobacteria; SPcy) or colonies (colonial picocyanobacteria; CPcy), and the latter form has been considered an adaptation to grazing pressure. In addition to direct effects of grazing, grazers may also have important indirect effects on picocyanobacteria, such as those from nutrient regeneration and trophic cascades. Interactions between picocyanobacteria and their grazers in lakes can thus be complex and difficult to predict. To evaluate the influence of various grazers on SPcy and CPcy in Lake Biwa, Japan, we followed seasonal changes in their abundances and potential grazers at 2-week intervals over 2 years. The data collected were analyzed using empirical dynamic modeling (EDM), a model-free, nonlinear time-series method. We found that heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), rotifers (Keratella, Polyarthra, and Trichocerca), cladocerans, and copepods played important and differing roles in controlling the abundances of SPcy and CPcy. Notably, HNF had an apparent positive influence on SPcy abundance, despite being considered major consumers of SPcy. This result suggested that the enhancement of SPcy growth due to nutrient regeneration by HNF might exceed losses from mortality due to grazing by HNF. EDM also suggested that colony formation by picocyanobacteria may be unidirectional, with SPcy tending to form CPcy. Our findings show that the seasonal dynamics of SPcy and CPcy in Lake Biwa are influenced by a variety of grazers, which may play differing ecological roles in the aquatic food web.

KEYWORDS:

• empirical dynamic modeling
• grazers
• heterotrophic nanoflagellates
• indirect effects
• picocyanobacteria

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Drs. Yukiko Goda and Tetsushi Akatsuka, the crew of our sampling vessel “HASU,” for providing technical assistance during sample collection. We also thank Dr. Yusuke Okazaki, Dr. Indranil Mukherjee, and Mr. Fujinaga Shohei for their valuable help during the sampling.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partly supported by KAKENHI, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, [grant number 19H03302] from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.