<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Biomanipulation of consumer populations can have strong top-down impacts on the composition and biomass of lower trophic levels. In this paper, we assess how changes in crustaceans’ biomass influence classical grazing and the microbial food web in an oligo-mesohumic, low-pH lake (Mazurian Lake District, Poland). Removal of mesozooplankton from the experimental mesocosms created a gradient of crustacean biomass resulting in the biomass increase of rotifers, phytoplankton and protozooplankton, while autotrophic eukaryotic picoplankton (eu-APP) and bacteria were not affected. The strongest modifications concerned the rotifer biomass and phytoplankton community structure. Our results imply that the trophic cascade generated in the experiment did not extend to bacteria and eu-APP.</p>
</abstract>

Biomanipulation of consumer populations can have strong top-down impacts on the composition and biomass of lower trophic levels. In this paper, we assess how changes in crustaceans’ biomass influence classical grazing and the microbial food web in an oligo-mesohumic, low-pH lake (Mazurian Lake District, Poland). Removal of mesozooplankton from the experimental mesocosms created a gradient of crustacean biomass resulting in the biomass increase of rotifers, phytoplankton and protozooplankton, while autotrophic eukaryotic picoplankton (eu-APP) and bacteria were not affected. The strongest modifications concerned the rotifer biomass and phytoplankton community structure. Our results imply that the trophic cascade generated in the experiment did not extend to bacteria and eu-APP.

Fading out of the trophic cascade at the base of the microbial food web caused by changes in the grazing community in mesocosm experiments

Microbial Ecology Department, Institute of Botany

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Biomanipulation of consumer populations can have strong top-down impacts on the composition and biomass of lower trophic levels. In this paper, we assess how...

Fading out of the trophic cascade at the base of the microbial food web caused by changes in the grazing community in mesocosm experiments

Published Online: Dec 27, 2011

Page range: 1 - 11

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13545-012-0001-7

Keywords
trophic cascade, mesocosms, microbial food web, low-pH lake

© 2012 Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fading out of the trophic cascade at the base of the microbial food web caused by changes in the grazing community in mesocosm experiments

Published Online: Dec 27, 2011

Page range: 1 - 11

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13545-012-0001-7

Keywordstrophic cascade, mesocosms, microbial food web, low-pH lake

© 2012 Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
trophic cascade, mesocosms, microbial food web, low-pH lake