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Kazmi SSUH, Tayyab M, Uroosa, Pastorino P, Barcelò D, Khan S, Yaseen ZM. Vertical variations and environmental heterogeneity drove the symphony of periphytic protozoan fauna in marine ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 932:173115. [PMID: 38734082 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024]
Abstract
Periphytic protozoa are esteemed icons of microbial fauna, renowned for their sensitivity and role as robust bioindicators, pivotal for assessing ecosystem stress and anthropogenic impacts on water quality. Despite their significance, research exploring the community dynamics of protozoan fauna across diverse water columns and depths in shallow waters has been notably lacking. This is the first study that examines the symphony of protozoan fauna in different water columns at varying depths (1, 2, 3.5 and 5 m), in South China Sea. Our findings reveal that vertical changes and environmental heterogeneity plays pivotal role in shaping the protozoan community structure, with distinct preferences observed in spirotrichea and phyllopharyngea classes at specific depths. Briefly, diversity metrics (i.e., both alpha and beta) showed significantly steady patterns at 2 m and 3.5 m depths as well as high homogeneity in most of the indices was observed. Co-associations between environmental parameters and protozoan communities demonstrated temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, and pH, are significant drivers discriminating species richness and evenness across all water columns. Noteworthy variations of the other environmental parameters such as SiO3-Si, PO4--P, and NO2--N at 1 m and NO3--N, and NH4+-N, at greater depths, signal the crucial role of nutrient dynamics in shaping the protozoan communities. Moreover, highly sensitive species like Anteholosticha pulchara, Apokeronopsis crassa, and Aspidisca steini in varying environmental conditions among vertical columns may serve as eco- indicators of water quality. Collectively, this study contributes a thorough comprehension of the fine-scale structure and dynamics of protozoan fauna within marine ecosystems, providing insightful perspectives for ecological and water quality assessment in ever-changing marine environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed Shabi Ul Hassan Kazmi
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Prevention, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China.
| | - Muhammad Tayyab
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster Prediction and Prevention, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China
| | - Uroosa
- National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia, Poland; Institute of Oceanology of Polish, Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland
| | - Paolo Pastorino
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, 10154 Torino, Italy
| | - Damià Barcelò
- Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sohrab Khan
- National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia, Poland
| | - Zaher Mundher Yaseen
- Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
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Kazmi SSUH, Uroosa, Warren A, Xu G, Xu H. Use of functional units of periphytic protozoa for monitoring water quality in marine ecosystems: bioindicator redundancy. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:22139-22150. [PMID: 34780015 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17447-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Although periphytic protozoan communities have long been used for the bioassessment of water quality, their utility is hampered by functional redundancy, leading to high "signal-to-noise" ratios. In this study, a 1-year baseline survey of periphytic protozoan communities was carried out in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China, in order to determine redundancy levels in conditions of differing water quality. Samples were collected at four sampling sites along a pollution gradient. Environmental variables such as salinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO), soluble reactive phosphates (SRP), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N), and nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) were measured to compare with biotic factors. A total of 53 functional units (FUs) were identified from 144 observed protozoan species based on four biological traits, i.e., feeding type, body size, movement type, and source of food supply. For reducing the "signal-to-noise" ratios of species-abundance/biomass data, the peeling procedure was used to identify the bioindicator redundancy levels based on these FUs. Three consecutive subsets of response units (RU1-RU3) with correlation coefficients > 0.75 of the full FU dataset were identified, comprising 12 FUs, 21 FUs, and 9 FUs, respectively. Algivores and bacterivores were dominant in RU1 and RU2 among the polluted sites, whereas raptors were dominant in RU3 at the unpolluted site. In terms of relative abundance, RU1 was the primary contributor to the protozoan communities during the 1-year cycle and its relative abundance increased with the increasing pollution, whereas RU2 and RU3, with complementary temporal distributions, generally decreased with increasing pollution. Ordinations based on bootstrapped average analyses revealed a significant variation in the functional pattern of all three RUs among the four sampling sites. Biological-environmental match analysis demonstrated that the variability was driven by the increasing concentrations of nutrients (e.g., NH4-N, NO3-N, and PO4-P) and decreasing concentrations of DO (P < 0.05). There were high levels of functional redundancy among periphytic protozoan communities which could be used as bioindicators of marine water quality.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Uroosa
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, People's Republic of China
| | - Alan Warren
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Guangjian Xu
- College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266000, People's Republic of China.
| | - Henglong Xu
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, People's Republic of China.
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Kazmi SSUH, Rahman MS, Xu H. Use of biological trait analysis of periphytic protozoan assemblages for evaluating effects of harmful algal blooms on ecological quality status in marine ecosystem. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2021; 164:112083. [PMID: 33517091 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The effects of two harmful algal bloom (HAB) species Alexandrium tamarense and Gymnodinium catenatum on ecological quality status were studied using 14-day protozoan samples as test organisms. A fuzzy coding system with four traits and 11 categories of the test organisms was used for biological trait analysis. Five treatments were designed following the concentrations of 100, 102, 103, 104 and 105 cell ml-1 of each algal species. The community-weighted means were used to summarize the functioning process of the test organism assemblages. The community functioning of the protozoa showed a significant change in the treatments with high algal concentrations (104 and 105 cell ml-1). The functional richness of the test organisms showed continuous increasing trend from 102 to 104 cell ml-1, and sharply dropped. These findings suggest that the BTA may be used as a useful tool for assessing the effects of HABs on ecological quality status in marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Henglong Xu
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
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Zhu C, Bass D, Wang Y, Shen Z, Song W, Yi Z. Environmental Parameters and Substrate Type Drive Microeukaryotic Community Structure During Short-Term Experimental Colonization in Subtropical Eutrophic Freshwaters. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:555795. [PMID: 33072015 PMCID: PMC7541896 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.555795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Microeukaryotes are key components of aquatic ecosystems and play crucial roles in aquatic food webs. However, influencing factors and potential assembly mechanisms for microeukaryotic community on biofilms are rarely studied. Here, those of microeukaryotic biofilms in subtropical eutrophic freshwaters were investigated for the first time based on 2,585 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from 41 samples, across different environmental conditions and substrate types. Following conclusions were drawn: (1) Environmental parameters were more important than substrate types in structuring microeukaryotic community of biofilms in subtropical eutrophic freshwaters. (2) In the fluctuating river, there was a higher diversity of OTUs and less predictability of community composition than in the stable lake. Sessile species were more likely to be enriched on smooth surfaces of glass slides, while both free-swimming and attached organisms occurred within holes inside PFUs (polyurethane foam units). (3) Both species sorting and neutral process were mechanisms for assembly of microeukaryotic biofilms, but their importance varied depending on different habitats and substrates. (4) The effect of species sorting was slightly higher than the neutral process in river biofilms due to stronger environmental filtering. Species sorting was a stronger force structuring communities on glass slides than PFUs with more niche availability. Our study sheds light on assembly mechanisms for microeukaryotic community on different habitat and substrate types, showing that the resulting communities are determined by both sets of variables, in this case primarily habitat type. The balance of neutral process and species sorting differed between habitats, but the high alpha diversity of microeukaryotes in both led to similar sets of lifecycle traits being selected for in each case.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changyu Zhu
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.,Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - David Bass
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yutao Wang
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Dongli Planting and Farming Industrial Co., Ltd., Lianzhou, China
| | - Zhuo Shen
- Institute of Microbial Ecology and Matter Cycle, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Weibo Song
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.,Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Zhenzhen Yi
- Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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Sikder MNA, Xu G, Xu H. Seasonal variability in taxonomic breadth of biofilm-dwelling ciliates in colonization surveys for marine bioassessment. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2020; 151:110828. [PMID: 32056620 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2019] [Revised: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
To determine an optimal sampling strategy for collecting samples with an expected taxonomic breadth, a 1-year baseline colonization survey was conducted in Chinese coastal waters using glass slides as an artificial substratum for biofilm-dwelling ciliates. A total of 240 slide samples were collected at a depth of 1 m in a four-season cycle. The taxonomic composition and structure of the ciliate communities differed from spring to winter. The colonization dynamics in taxonomic distinctness showed a significant variability among the four seasons. Expectation tests on the pairs of average taxonomic distinctness indices demonstrated a seasonal variability in taxonomic breadth of the ciliates, with high expectation levels in spring and autumn and low levels in the other two seasons. These findings suggest that there was a significant seasonal variability in taxonomic breadth for colonization surveys of biofilm-dwelling ciliates, and that an optimal sampling strategy should be determined for bioassessment in marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Guangjian Xu
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Henglong Xu
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
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Sikder MNA, Xu H. Seasonal variations in colonization dynamics of periphytic protozoa in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Eur J Protistol 2020; 72:125643. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2019.125643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Sikder MNA, Abdullah Al M, Xu G, Hu G, Xu H. Spatial variations in trophic-functional patterns of periphytic ciliates and indications to water quality in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2019; 26:2592-2602. [PMID: 30474813 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3744-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
To evaluate the water quality status using ecological features of the periphytic ciliate communities, a 1-year (Jan. to Dec., 2016) investigation was conducted in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Four trophic-functional groups (TFgrs) were recorded from a total of 141 species-abundance dataset: algivores (A); bacterivores (B); non-selectives (N); and predators (R), comprising of 65, 34, 26, and 16 species, respectively. In terms of species number, TFgr A was predominant in clean areas while TFgrs B and N were dominant in heavy polluted areas and TFgr R was dominant in slightly polluted area. The trophic-functional patterns of the periphytic ciliate communities showed a clear spatial variation within the pollution gradient. Trophic-functional trait diversity measures represented a clear increasing trend from polluted stations to the clean area regarding the pollution gradients. Multivariate correlation and best matching analysis revealed that the spatial pattern of the trophic-functional groupings were significantly shaped by environmental variable nutrients and chemical oxygen demand, alone or in combination with pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, and transparency. Thus, we suggest that the ecological features based on the trophic-functional patterns of periphytic ciliate communities might be used for bioassessment of water quality in marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mamun Abdullah Al
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Guangjian Xu
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Guobin Hu
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Henglong Xu
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, China.
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