Interactive Effects of Temperature, Nitrogen, and Zooplankton on Growth and Protein and Carbohydrate Content of Cyanobacteria from Western Lake Erie

Abstract

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater ecosystems, especially of cyanobacterial species, are becoming more frequent and expanding geographically, including in Lake Erie in North America. HABs are the result of complex and synergistic environmental factors, though N or P eutrophication is a leading cause. With global mean temperatures expected to increase an additional 2˚C - 5˚C by 2100, cyanobacterial blooms are predicted to increase even more, given their typically-high temperature optimum for growth. We investigated how increases in temperature and nitrogen, singly or in combination, affect the growth, food quality, and herbivory of Lake Erie cyanobacteria. Algal community samples collected from Lake Erie, and isolated non-N-fixing (Microcystis aeruginosa) and N-fixing (Anabaena flos-aquae) cyanobacterial species, were cultured at 20˚C, 25˚C, or 30˚C, and at 5, 50, 150, or 250 μM N, and then analyzed for growth and (for isolates) content of total protein and non-structural carbohydrates (NSC). Temperature and N both affected algal growth, and there were temperature x N interactions, which were sometimes affected by presence/absence of zooplankton. For example, cyanobacteria (but not green algae) growth increased with both temperature and N, especially from 25˚C to 30˚C, but N and herbivore presence increased cyanobacterial growth primarily only at 30˚C. In general, temperature and N had little consistent effect on NSC, but increasing temperature and N tended to increase protein content in Microcystis and Anabaena (temperature effects mostly at higher N levels). In Anabaena, increases in N did not increase growth or protein at 20˚C or 25˚C, but did increase both at 30˚C, indicating that N fixation is damaged at high temperatures and that high NO3 can overcome this damage. These results indicate that future global warming and continued eutrophication will increase cyanobacterial growth, as well influence algal herbivory and competition between N-fixing and non-N-fixing cyanobacteria.