Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.

Large rivers represent a significant component of inland waters and are considered sentinels and integrators of terrestrial and atmospheric processes. They represent hotspots for the transport and processing of organic and inorganic material from the surrounding landscape, which ultimately impacts t...

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Autores principales:	Jean-Jacques Frenette, Philippe Massicotte, Jean-François Lapierre
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/324f1c73a86f4ba3a7a69e8f542e6df4
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:324f1c73a86f4ba3a7a69e8f542e6df4
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:324f1c73a86f4ba3a7a69e8f542e6df42021-11-18T07:20:12ZColorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0035891https://doaj.org/article/324f1c73a86f4ba3a7a69e8f542e6df42012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22558259/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Large rivers represent a significant component of inland waters and are considered sentinels and integrators of terrestrial and atmospheric processes. They represent hotspots for the transport and processing of organic and inorganic material from the surrounding landscape, which ultimately impacts the bio-optical properties and food webs of the rivers. In large rivers, hydraulic connectivity operates as a major forcing variable to structure the functioning of the riverscape, and--despite increasing interest in large-river studies--riverscape structural properties, such as the underwater spectral regime, and their impact on autotrophic ecological processes remain poorly studied. Here we used the St. Lawrence River to identify the mechanisms structuring the underwater spectral environment and their consequences on pico- and nanophytoplankton communities, which are good biological tracers of environmental changes. Our results, obtained from a 450 km sampling transect, demonstrate that tributaries exert a profound impact on the receiving river's photosynthetic potential. This occurs mainly through injection of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and non-algal material (tripton). CDOM and tripton in the water column selectively absorbed wavelengths in a gradient from blue to red, and the resulting underwater light climate was in turn a strong driver of the phytoplankton community structure (prokaryote/eukaryote relative and absolute abundances) at scales of many kilometers from the tributary confluence. Our results conclusively demonstrate the proximal impact of watershed properties on underwater spectral composition in a highly dynamic river environment characterized by unique structuring properties such as high directional connectivity, numerous sources and forms of carbon, and a rapidly varying hydrodynamic regime. We surmise that the underwater spectral composition represents a key integrating and structural property of large, heterogeneous river ecosystems and a promising tool to study autotrophic functional properties. It confirms the usefulness of using the riverscape approach to study large-river ecosystems and initiate comparison along latitudinal gradients.Jean-Jacques FrenettePhilippe MassicotteJean-François LapierrePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 4, p e35891 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Jean-Jacques Frenette Philippe Massicotte Jean-François Lapierre Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
description	Large rivers represent a significant component of inland waters and are considered sentinels and integrators of terrestrial and atmospheric processes. They represent hotspots for the transport and processing of organic and inorganic material from the surrounding landscape, which ultimately impacts the bio-optical properties and food webs of the rivers. In large rivers, hydraulic connectivity operates as a major forcing variable to structure the functioning of the riverscape, and--despite increasing interest in large-river studies--riverscape structural properties, such as the underwater spectral regime, and their impact on autotrophic ecological processes remain poorly studied. Here we used the St. Lawrence River to identify the mechanisms structuring the underwater spectral environment and their consequences on pico- and nanophytoplankton communities, which are good biological tracers of environmental changes. Our results, obtained from a 450 km sampling transect, demonstrate that tributaries exert a profound impact on the receiving river's photosynthetic potential. This occurs mainly through injection of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and non-algal material (tripton). CDOM and tripton in the water column selectively absorbed wavelengths in a gradient from blue to red, and the resulting underwater light climate was in turn a strong driver of the phytoplankton community structure (prokaryote/eukaryote relative and absolute abundances) at scales of many kilometers from the tributary confluence. Our results conclusively demonstrate the proximal impact of watershed properties on underwater spectral composition in a highly dynamic river environment characterized by unique structuring properties such as high directional connectivity, numerous sources and forms of carbon, and a rapidly varying hydrodynamic regime. We surmise that the underwater spectral composition represents a key integrating and structural property of large, heterogeneous river ecosystems and a promising tool to study autotrophic functional properties. It confirms the usefulness of using the riverscape approach to study large-river ecosystems and initiate comparison along latitudinal gradients.
format	article
author	Jean-Jacques Frenette Philippe Massicotte Jean-François Lapierre
author_facet	Jean-Jacques Frenette Philippe Massicotte Jean-François Lapierre
author_sort	Jean-Jacques Frenette
title	Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
title_short	Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
title_full	Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
title_fullStr	Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
title_full_unstemmed	Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
title_sort	colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/324f1c73a86f4ba3a7a69e8f542e6df4
work_keys_str_mv	AT jeanjacquesfrenette colorfulnichesofphytoplanktonshapedbythespatialconnectivityinalargeriverecosystemariverscapeperspective AT philippemassicotte colorfulnichesofphytoplanktonshapedbythespatialconnectivityinalargeriverecosystemariverscapeperspective AT jeanfrancoislapierre colorfulnichesofphytoplanktonshapedbythespatialconnectivityinalargeriverecosystemariverscapeperspective
_version_	1718423589298896896

Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.

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