Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina

Autores
García, Maximiliano D.; Bonel, Nicolás
Año de publicación
2014
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
In this study we investigated the spatial distribution of the plankton community, bacterio-, phyto-, and zooplankton, in relation with environmental conditions along the intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina. Plankton was analyzed in terms of species composition, abundance, biomass (carbon content), and size-structure. We aim to evaluate the potential effects of anthropogenic impacts (e.g., nutrient enrichment) and physicochemical gradients alongshore (e.g., salinity, turbidity) on the composition and functioning of the plankton. We asked whether the natural structuring of the plankton by salinity and turbidity, known to be true of estuaries, is modified by eutrophication along the studied shoreline. We found that the density and biomass of bacteria and phytoplankton were strikingly enhanced by high eutrophication levels along the intertidal southwest coast of the Río de la Plata estuary. We also found that the highest zooplankton density in the most polluted area but the biomass showed a different distribution pattern. Nevertheless, when zooplankton was analyzed by means of its size fraction, we accordingly found that the microzooplankton biomass was positively associated with smaller-size phytoplankton groups and the most polluted study sites. Copepods were the major taxonomic groups that best represented the mesozooplankton biomass. We therefore expected that its distribution was modulated by the presence of its food items (i.e., large cells) which, in turn, were more abundant in the middle-outer zone. In contrast, we found that the highest biomass of copepods occurred at the innermost site of the estuary and we found no significant association with other planktonic groups. Overall, this study highlights the noteworthy impacts of human activities modifying the functioning of this coastal ecosystem. The differences found in the taxonomic composition and size structure of the planktonic community assemblage between the most polluted and less polluted sites constitutes excellent baseline for considering plankton as ecological an indicator of water quality.
Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet"
Materia
Biología
Bacteria
Biomass
Density
Estuarine environment
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/85307

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network_name_str SEDICI (UNLP)
spelling Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, ArgentinaGarcía, Maximiliano D.Bonel, NicolásBiologíaBacteriaBiomassDensityEstuarine environmentPhytoplanktonZooplanktonIn this study we investigated the spatial distribution of the plankton community, bacterio-, phyto-, and zooplankton, in relation with environmental conditions along the intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina. Plankton was analyzed in terms of species composition, abundance, biomass (carbon content), and size-structure. We aim to evaluate the potential effects of anthropogenic impacts (e.g., nutrient enrichment) and physicochemical gradients alongshore (e.g., salinity, turbidity) on the composition and functioning of the plankton. We asked whether the natural structuring of the plankton by salinity and turbidity, known to be true of estuaries, is modified by eutrophication along the studied shoreline. We found that the density and biomass of bacteria and phytoplankton were strikingly enhanced by high eutrophication levels along the intertidal southwest coast of the Río de la Plata estuary. We also found that the highest zooplankton density in the most polluted area but the biomass showed a different distribution pattern. Nevertheless, when zooplankton was analyzed by means of its size fraction, we accordingly found that the microzooplankton biomass was positively associated with smaller-size phytoplankton groups and the most polluted study sites. Copepods were the major taxonomic groups that best represented the mesozooplankton biomass. We therefore expected that its distribution was modulated by the presence of its food items (i.e., large cells) which, in turn, were more abundant in the middle-outer zone. In contrast, we found that the highest biomass of copepods occurred at the innermost site of the estuary and we found no significant association with other planktonic groups. Overall, this study highlights the noteworthy impacts of human activities modifying the functioning of this coastal ecosystem. The differences found in the taxonomic composition and size structure of the planktonic community assemblage between the most polluted and less polluted sites constitutes excellent baseline for considering plankton as ecological an indicator of water quality.Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet"2014info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdf562-573http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/85307enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1129-5767info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.4081/jlimnol.2014.911info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:16:25Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/85307Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:16:26.003SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
title Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
spellingShingle Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
García, Maximiliano D.
Biología
Bacteria
Biomass
Density
Estuarine environment
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
title_short Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
title_full Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
title_fullStr Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
title_sort Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv García, Maximiliano D.
Bonel, Nicolás
author García, Maximiliano D.
author_facet García, Maximiliano D.
Bonel, Nicolás
author_role author
author2 Bonel, Nicolás
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Biología
Bacteria
Biomass
Density
Estuarine environment
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
topic Biología
Bacteria
Biomass
Density
Estuarine environment
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv In this study we investigated the spatial distribution of the plankton community, bacterio-, phyto-, and zooplankton, in relation with environmental conditions along the intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina. Plankton was analyzed in terms of species composition, abundance, biomass (carbon content), and size-structure. We aim to evaluate the potential effects of anthropogenic impacts (e.g., nutrient enrichment) and physicochemical gradients alongshore (e.g., salinity, turbidity) on the composition and functioning of the plankton. We asked whether the natural structuring of the plankton by salinity and turbidity, known to be true of estuaries, is modified by eutrophication along the studied shoreline. We found that the density and biomass of bacteria and phytoplankton were strikingly enhanced by high eutrophication levels along the intertidal southwest coast of the Río de la Plata estuary. We also found that the highest zooplankton density in the most polluted area but the biomass showed a different distribution pattern. Nevertheless, when zooplankton was analyzed by means of its size fraction, we accordingly found that the microzooplankton biomass was positively associated with smaller-size phytoplankton groups and the most polluted study sites. Copepods were the major taxonomic groups that best represented the mesozooplankton biomass. We therefore expected that its distribution was modulated by the presence of its food items (i.e., large cells) which, in turn, were more abundant in the middle-outer zone. In contrast, we found that the highest biomass of copepods occurred at the innermost site of the estuary and we found no significant association with other planktonic groups. Overall, this study highlights the noteworthy impacts of human activities modifying the functioning of this coastal ecosystem. The differences found in the taxonomic composition and size structure of the planktonic community assemblage between the most polluted and less polluted sites constitutes excellent baseline for considering plankton as ecological an indicator of water quality.
Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet"
description In this study we investigated the spatial distribution of the plankton community, bacterio-, phyto-, and zooplankton, in relation with environmental conditions along the intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina. Plankton was analyzed in terms of species composition, abundance, biomass (carbon content), and size-structure. We aim to evaluate the potential effects of anthropogenic impacts (e.g., nutrient enrichment) and physicochemical gradients alongshore (e.g., salinity, turbidity) on the composition and functioning of the plankton. We asked whether the natural structuring of the plankton by salinity and turbidity, known to be true of estuaries, is modified by eutrophication along the studied shoreline. We found that the density and biomass of bacteria and phytoplankton were strikingly enhanced by high eutrophication levels along the intertidal southwest coast of the Río de la Plata estuary. We also found that the highest zooplankton density in the most polluted area but the biomass showed a different distribution pattern. Nevertheless, when zooplankton was analyzed by means of its size fraction, we accordingly found that the microzooplankton biomass was positively associated with smaller-size phytoplankton groups and the most polluted study sites. Copepods were the major taxonomic groups that best represented the mesozooplankton biomass. We therefore expected that its distribution was modulated by the presence of its food items (i.e., large cells) which, in turn, were more abundant in the middle-outer zone. In contrast, we found that the highest biomass of copepods occurred at the innermost site of the estuary and we found no significant association with other planktonic groups. Overall, this study highlights the noteworthy impacts of human activities modifying the functioning of this coastal ecosystem. The differences found in the taxonomic composition and size structure of the planktonic community assemblage between the most polluted and less polluted sites constitutes excellent baseline for considering plankton as ecological an indicator of water quality.
publishDate 2014
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2014
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Articulo
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dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/85307
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dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1129-5767
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.4081/jlimnol.2014.911
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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