Climate-driven shifts in algal-bacterial interaction of high-mountain lakes in two years spanning a decade

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 10278 - 12
• Main Authors: González-Olalla, Juan Manuel, Medina-Sánchez, Juan Manuel, Lozano, Ismael L., Villar-Argaiz, Manuel, Carrillo, Presentación
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 06-07-2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/158/2165; 631/158/853/2006; 704/286; Aerosols; Algae; Bacteria; Bacteria - metabolism; Biomass; Carbon - metabolism; Climate; Commensalism; Ecosystem; Environmental conditions; Food Chain; Food webs; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hypotheses; Lakes; Mediterranean Region; Microalgae - metabolism; Mixotrophy; Mountain lakes; multidisciplinary; Mutualism; Nitrogen - metabolism; Phosphorus - metabolism; Predation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spain; Mediterranean Region; Spain
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28543-2

Algal-bacterial interactions include mutualism, commensalism, and predation. However, how multiple environmental conditions that regulate the strength and prevalence of a given interaction remains unclear. Here, we test the hypothesis that the prevailing algal-bacterial interaction shifted in two years (2005
versus
2015), due to increased temperature (T) and Saharan dust depositions in high-mountain lakes of Sierra Nevada (S Spain). Our results support the starting hypothesis that the nature of the prevailing algal-bacterial interaction shifted from a bacterivory control exerted by algae to commensalism, coinciding with a higher air and water T as well as the lower ratio sestonic nitrogen (N): phosphorous (P), related to greater aerosol inputs. Projected global change conditions in Mediterranean region could decline the functional diversity and alter the role of mixotrophy as a carbon (C) by-pass in the microbial food web, reducing the biomass-transfer efficiency up the web by increasing the number of trophic links.