AUTHOR=Giesler Jakob Karl , Lemley Daniel Alan , Adams Janine Barbara , Moorthi Stefanie Devi 

TITLE=Interactive effects of salinity, temperature and food web configuration on performance and harmfulness of the raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1244639

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2023.1244639

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=Brachionus plicatilis. In monoculture, H. akashiwo growth was promoted at high temperature -low salinity conditions, while H. rotundata thrived under low temperature -high salinity conditions. In polyculture, H. akashiwo dominated at high temperature irrespective of the salinity regime, while at low temperature, it only dominated at low salinity and was suppressed by H. rotundata at high salinity.Grazing assays revealed highly negative effects of H. akashiwo on copepod nauplii survival and growth as well as mucus-induced immobilization, especially at high temperatures in combination with low salinity, while the estuarine adapted rotifers showed highest mortalities at the higher salinity level. The presence of H. rotundata significantly alleviated the harmful effects of H. akashiwo on both grazers, and the selectively feeding copepod nauplii actively avoided H. akashiwo when non-harmful prey was present. Overall, this study demonstrates that population dynamics and harmful effects of H. akashiwo are interactively determined by both abiotic conditions and food web configuration, implying competitor and consumer specific tolerances to the abiotic environment and their susceptibility to the harmful alga H. akashiwo.