Mixotrophic ciliates in north-patagonian andean lakes: Stoichiometric balances in nutrient limited environments

Abstract

Transparent ultraoligotrophic lakes in the North-Patagonian Andes have a particular microbial food web, with the presence of large mixotrophic ciliates. These organisms exhibit different features that allow them to colonize either the epilimnion (Stentor araucanus) or the metalimnion (Ophrydium naumanni). S. araucanus is a dark pigmented (stentorin) species resistant to ultraviolet radiation and needs high light supply to maintain endosymbiotic algal photosynthesis. In contrast, O. naumanni dominates the phothosynthetic biomass in the deep chlorophyll maxima (metalimnion) of these lakes, being photosynthetically efficient at low light intensities but susceptible to photoinhibition at epilimnetic light irradiances. Analysis of food vacuoles revealed a weak niche overlap, however light climate, shaped by temporal or spatial variations in thermocline depth, resulted in a key factor modulating the relative success of these mixotrophic ciliate species. Overall, these species are stoichiometrically, carbon to nutrients, more balanced than the bulk seston, but the mechanisms by which each species regulates the elemental balance differ. O. naumanni increases bacterivory with light, thus increasing phosphorus uptake, while S. araucanus regulates carbon fixation. The low carbon:nutrient ratio of these organisms would represent a very good food source for zooplankton. Finally, we pointed out that different effects of local and global changes will affect negatively the particular ciliate assemblage of North-Patagonian Andean lakes.