Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers
Abstract The chironomids of Lake Mývatn show extreme population fluctuations that affect most aspects of the lake ecosystem. During periods of high chironomid densities, chironomid larvae comprise over 90% of aquatic secondary production. Here, we show that chironomid larvae substantially stimulate...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecy.1654 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 |
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crwiley:10.1002/ecy.1654 2024-06-02T08:10:29+00:00 Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers Herren, Cristina M. Webert, Kyle C. Drake, Michael D. Jake Vander Zanden, M. Einarsson, Árni Ives, Anthony R. Gratton, Claudio National Science Foundation National Science Foundation 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecy.1654 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology volume 98, issue 2, page 447-455 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 journal-article 2017 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1654 2024-05-03T11:06:12Z Abstract The chironomids of Lake Mývatn show extreme population fluctuations that affect most aspects of the lake ecosystem. During periods of high chironomid densities, chironomid larvae comprise over 90% of aquatic secondary production. Here, we show that chironomid larvae substantially stimulate benthic gross primary production ( GPP ) and net primary production ( NPP ), despite consuming benthic algae. Benthic GPP in experimental mesocosms with 140,000 larvae/m 2 was 71% higher than in mesocosms with no larvae. Similarly, chlorophyll a concentrations in mesocosms increased significantly over the range of larval densities. Furthermore, larvae showed increased growth rates at higher densities, possibly due to greater benthic algal availability in these treatments. We investigated the hypothesis that larvae promote benthic algal growth by alleviating nutrient limitation, and found that (1) larvae have the potential to cycle the entire yearly external loadings of nitrogen and phosphorus during the growing season, and (2) chlorophyll a concentrations were significantly greater in close proximity to larvae (on larval tubes). The positive feedback between chironomid larvae and benthic algae generated a net mutualism between the primary consumer and primary producer trophic levels in the benthic ecosystem. Thus, our results give an example in which unexpected positive feedbacks can lead to both high primary and high secondary production. Article in Journal/Newspaper Mývatn Wiley Online Library Mývatn ENVELOPE(-16.985,-16.985,65.600,65.600) Ecology 98 2 447 455 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The chironomids of Lake Mývatn show extreme population fluctuations that affect most aspects of the lake ecosystem. During periods of high chironomid densities, chironomid larvae comprise over 90% of aquatic secondary production. Here, we show that chironomid larvae substantially stimulate benthic gross primary production ( GPP ) and net primary production ( NPP ), despite consuming benthic algae. Benthic GPP in experimental mesocosms with 140,000 larvae/m 2 was 71% higher than in mesocosms with no larvae. Similarly, chlorophyll a concentrations in mesocosms increased significantly over the range of larval densities. Furthermore, larvae showed increased growth rates at higher densities, possibly due to greater benthic algal availability in these treatments. We investigated the hypothesis that larvae promote benthic algal growth by alleviating nutrient limitation, and found that (1) larvae have the potential to cycle the entire yearly external loadings of nitrogen and phosphorus during the growing season, and (2) chlorophyll a concentrations were significantly greater in close proximity to larvae (on larval tubes). The positive feedback between chironomid larvae and benthic algae generated a net mutualism between the primary consumer and primary producer trophic levels in the benthic ecosystem. Thus, our results give an example in which unexpected positive feedbacks can lead to both high primary and high secondary production. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Herren, Cristina M. Webert, Kyle C. Drake, Michael D. Jake Vander Zanden, M. Einarsson, Árni Ives, Anthony R. Gratton, Claudio |
spellingShingle |
Herren, Cristina M. Webert, Kyle C. Drake, Michael D. Jake Vander Zanden, M. Einarsson, Árni Ives, Anthony R. Gratton, Claudio Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
author_facet |
Herren, Cristina M. Webert, Kyle C. Drake, Michael D. Jake Vander Zanden, M. Einarsson, Árni Ives, Anthony R. Gratton, Claudio |
author_sort |
Herren, Cristina M. |
title |
Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
title_short |
Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
title_full |
Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
title_fullStr |
Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
title_sort |
positive feedback between chironomids and algae creates net mutualism between benthic primary consumers and producers |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecy.1654 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1654 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-16.985,-16.985,65.600,65.600) |
geographic |
Mývatn |
geographic_facet |
Mývatn |
genre |
Mývatn |
genre_facet |
Mývatn |
op_source |
Ecology volume 98, issue 2, page 447-455 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1654 |
container_title |
Ecology |
container_volume |
98 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
447 |
op_container_end_page |
455 |
_version_ |
1800756371061211136 |