Effects of an artificial breakwater on the distributions of planktonic microbial communities

Abstract

The summer distributions of planktonic microbial communities (heterotrophic and phtosynthetic bacteria, phtosynthetic and heterotrophic nanoflagellates, ciliate plankton, and microphytoplankton) were compared between inner and outer areas of Lake Sihwa, divided by an artificial breakwater, located on the western coast of Korea, in September 2003. The semi-enclosed, inner area was characterized by hyposaline surface water (<17 psu), and by low concentrations of dissolved oxygen (avg. 0.4 mg L-1) and high concentrations of inorganic nutrients (nitrogenous nutrients >36 μM, phosphate >4 μM) in the bottom layer. Higher densities of heterotrophic bacteria and nanoflagellates also occurred in the inner area than did in the outer area, while microphytoplankton (mainly diatoms) occurred abundantly in the outer area. A tiny tintinnid ciliate, Tintinnopsis nana, bloomed into more than 106 cells L-1 at the surface layer of the inner area, while its abundance was much lower (103-104 cells L-1) in the outer area of the breakwater. Ciliate abundance was highly correlated with heterotrophic bacteria (r=0.886, p < 0.001) and heterotrophic flagellates (r=0.962, p<0.001), indicating that rich food availability may have led to the T. nana bloom. These results suggest that the breakwater causes the eutrophic environment in artificial lakes with limited flushing of enriched water and develops into abundant bacteria, nanoflagellates, and ciliates.