Succession of protistan functional traits is influenced by bloom timing

Abstract

Surface ocean eukaryotic phytoplankton biogeography can be determined as chlorophyll-a using remote sensing techniques yet evaluating its community composition remains limited. Given our ability to track site-specific chlorophyll-a concentration, we tested which factors influenced protistan functional trait distribution, and whether the distributions can be inferred from bloom succession. Here we surveyed the Labrador Sea during spring over three consecutive years, sequenced 18S data over 15 stations and collected satellite-derived chlorophyll-a concentration from March to July for each year. We evaluated changes in distribution of taxonomic composition as well as the functional traits of protistan size, trophic strategy (defined as phototrophy, phagotrophy, and mixotrophy as capable of both), motility and dimethylsulfoxide or dimethylsulfoniopropionate production by building a functional trait database after an extensive literature review. More variability in the biogeography of protistan functional traits was explained across water masses, and among years than taxonomic composition and patterns in trait variability were more apparent when site-specific timing of peak chlorophyll-a was considered. We found that reconstructing bloom phenology using days before peak (DBP) chlorophyll explained a significant amount of variability in functional trait community structure that was previously attributed to water masses or years, suggesting that spatial and interannual variations can be explained by the sampling moment during succession. Approximately 30 days prior to peak, mixotrophy as a trophic strategy was replaced by phototrophic protists of typically larger size classes. Our work suggests DBP influences protistan community trait succession that could inform biogeochemical models, and likely acts a proxy for the onset of stratification.