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Systematics and Ecology of Chlorophyte Picoplankton in German Inland Waters along a Nutrient Gradient
Author(s) -
Hepperle Dominik,
Krienitz Lothar
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international review of hydrobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 1434-2944
DOI - 10.1002/1522-2632(200106)86:3<269::aid-iroh269>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - picoplankton , ecology , systematics , nutrient , biology , german , phytoplankton , geography , taxonomy (biology) , archaeology
The community structure and succession of autotrophic picoplankton in several oligotrophic to hypertrophic German freshwater ecosystems were studied with emphasis on the occurrence and characterization of chlorophyte picoplankton. Depending on the trophic status and the time of the year, the relation of green eukaryotic picoplankton to picocyanobacteria, the contribution of the picoplankton to the total phytoplankton biomass, and the succession and dominance of picoplankton groups changed considerably. A significant correlation between the picoplankton abundances, their biomass and their biomass contribution could not be found. Although the chlorophyte picoplankton were similar with respect to their ultrastructure, phylogenetic analyses of the rbc L genes revealed that these organisms evolved independently within several green algal lineages. The most common picoplanktonic green algae in the lakes that were studied belong to the genera Choricystis and Pseudodictyosphaerium . Considering the new molecular biological findings, the systematics of picoplanktonic green algae from freshwater and marine habitats are discussed.