Inferring time-variable effects of nutrient enrichment on marine ecosystems using inverse modelling and ecological network analysis

Anh D Luong; Frederik De Laender; Yngvar Olsen; Olav Vadstein; Jo Dewulf; Colin R Janssen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.027

Inferring time-variable effects of nutrient enrichment on marine ecosystems using inverse modelling and ecological network analysis

Sci Total Environ. 2014 Sep 15:493:708-18. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.027. Epub 2014 Jul 1.

Authors

Anh D Luong¹, Frederik De Laender², Yngvar Olsen³, Olav Vadstein⁴, Jo Dewulf⁵, Colin R Janssen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry and Technology, Research Group EnVOC, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environment, Hanoi University of Agriculture, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Laboratory of Environmental Toxicity and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, J. Plateaustraat 22, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: ducanh.luong@ugent.be.
² Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Université de Namur, Rue de Bruxelles, 61, Namur, Belgium. Electronic address: frederik.delaender@unamur.be.
³ Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: yngvar.olsen@bio.ntnu.no.
⁴ Department of Biotechnology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: olav.vadstein@biotech.ntnu.no.
⁵ Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry and Technology, Research Group EnVOC, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: jo.dewulf@ugent.be.
⁶ Laboratory of Environmental Toxicity and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, J. Plateaustraat 22, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: colin.janssen@ugent.be.

PMID: 24992463
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.027

Abstract

We combined data from an outdoor mesocosm experiment with carbon budget modelling and an ecological network analysis to assess the effects of continuous nutrient additions on the structural and functional dynamics of a marine planktonic ecosystem. The food web receiving no nutrient additions was fuelled by detritus, as zooplankton consumed 7.2 times more detritus than they consumed algae. Nutrient supply instantly promoted herbivory so that it was comparable to detritivory at the highest nutrient addition rate. Nutrient-induced food web restructuring reduced carbon cycling and decreased the average number of compartments a unit flow of carbon crosses before dissipation. Also, the efficiency of copepod production, the link to higher trophic levels harvestable by man, was lowered up to 35 times by nutrient addition, but showed signs of recovery after 9 to 11 days. The dependency of the food web on exogenous input was not changed by the nutrient additions.

Keywords: Carbon budget; Ecological network analysis; Linear inverse model; Marine ecosystem; Nutrient enrichment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomass
Copepoda
Ecology
Ecosystem*
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Models, Theoretical*
Nitrogen / analysis
Phosphorus / analysis*
Plankton / classification
Plankton / growth & development
Plants
Seawater / chemistry

Substances

Phosphorus
Nitrogen