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Ciliates as a tool to assess planktonic patchiness: the case of Myrionecta rubra
Author(s) -
BULIT CELIA
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2005.05202003_1_14.x
Subject(s) - ciliate , plankton , biology , spatial ecology , ecology , mesoscale meteorology , zooplankton , autotroph , abundance (ecology) , oceanography , geology , paleontology , bacteria
Protists, and especially planktonic ciliates, exploit space by forming distinct patches at different scales. Powerful new statistical techniques for the analysis of structure in spatial and temporal distributions are being developed. One of these, geostatistics, has been used to assess patchiness of the autotrophic ciliate Myrionecta rubra in a tropical coastal lagoon. Patchiness varies with scale and over time: M. rubra forms patches of different size, and abundance exhibits a temporal pulse‐like pattern. While large‐scale patches (∼2000 m) are likely to be related to fresh‐and marine water influx and seasonal variations in nutrient inputs, mesoscale patches (100–1000 m) may originate by dissipation of larger patches, migration and growth. Fine‐scale patches (1–100 m) may be formed and advected by physical–behavioural aggregation of cells.