José Luiz Attayde

Ecological impacts of global warming and water abstraction on lakes and reservoirs due to changes in water level and related changes in salinity

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in September 2014, unprecedented changes in temperature and precipitation patterns have been recorded globally in recent decades and further change is predicted to occur in the near future, mainly as the result of human activity. In particular, projections show that the Mediterranean climate zone will be markedly affected with significant implications for lake water levels and salinity. This may be exacerbated by increased demands for irrigation water. Based on long-term data from seven lakes and reservoirs covering a geographical gradient of 52° of latitudes and a literature review, we discuss how changes in water level and salinity related to climate change and water abstraction affect the ecosystem structure, function, biodiversity and ecological state of lakes and reservoirs. We discuss mitigation measures to counteract the negative effects on ecological status that are likely to result from changes in climate and water abstraction practices. Finally, we highlight research required to improve knowledge of the impacts of anthropogenically induced changes on lake water level and consequent changes in salinity.

Drought-induced water-level reduction favors cyanobacteria blooms in tropical shallow lakes

Many arid and semiarid regions are likely to become warmer and drier by the end of this century, due to human-induced climate change. We hypothesize that a reduction in water level caused by droughts will aggravate eutrophication, leading to higher cyanobacteria biomass and dominance in tropical regions. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed physical and chemical variables and plankton communities of 40 man-made lakes in warm semiarid northeastern Brazil at the end of the wet and dry seasons. We also constructed a predictive model of cyanobacteria biovolume in these lakes. The lakes had significantly lower water volume, transparency, and CO2 concentrations but higher water temperature, water column stability, electrical conductivity, pH, suspended solids, ammonium, total nitrogen concentrations, bacteria biomass, phytoplankton biomass, and cyanobacteria biomass and dominance in the dry than in the wet season. Our regression model suggested that cyanobacteria biovolume was positively related to water column stability, pH, and total nitrogen and negatively related to water transparency and concentrations of inorganic suspended solids. These results suggest that the projected warmer and drier climate in the future will reduce water quantity and quality of man-made lakes in the region, increasing the risks of salinization, anoxia, eutrophication, and cyanobacteria blooms.

The Coupling Between Grazing and Detritus Food Chains and the Strength of Trophic Cascades Across a Gradient of Nutrient Enrichment

A minimal food web model was constructed comprising one grazing and one detritus food chain coupled by nutrient cycling and generalist carnivores to investigate how prey preference by carnivores may affect the strength of trophic cascades across a gradient of nutrient enrichment. The equilibrium or mean abundance of each food web component and the magnitude of the carnivore effect on lower trophic levels were calculated for different values of the prey preference and nutrient input parameters. Our model predicts that nutrient enrichment increases the mean abundances of carnivores, autotrophs and detritus, but the magnitude of this effect is dependent on the prey preference term. On the other hand, herbivores and detritivores are relatively unaffected by enrichment but are strongly affected by carnivore preference. Carnivores have a negative effect on herbivores and a positive effect on autotrophs and detritus, whereas the effect on detritivores can be both positive and negative. At high preference for herbivores, carnivores have a positive effect on detritivores, because the positive effect of increased detritus availability due to reduced herbivore grazing outweighs the negative effect of predation. At high preference for detritivores, the balance is changed in the other direction. We argue that in systems where authochtonous primary production is the major source of detritus, herbivores can control the rates of detritus production and have indirect effects on detritivores, which may feed back into effects on herbivores through their shared enemies. This positive feedback is probably one mechanism affecting the resilience of alternative stable states in shallow lakes.

Omnivory by Planktivores Stabilizes Plankton Dynamics, but May Either Promote or Reduce Algal Biomass

Classical models of phytoplankton–zooplankton interaction show that with nutrient enrichment such systems may abruptly shift from limit cycles to stable phytoplankton domination due to zooplankton predation by planktivorous fish. Such models assume that planktivorous fish eat only zooplankton, but there are various species of filter-feeding fish that may also feed on phytoplankton. Here, we extend these classical models to systematically explore the effects of omnivory by planktivorous fish. Our analysis indicates that if fish forage on phytoplankton in addition to zooplankton, the alternative attractors predicted by the classical models disappear for all realistic parameter settings, even if omnivorous fish have a strong preference for zooplankton. Our model also shows that the level of fish biomass above which zooplankton collapse should be higher when fish are omnivorous than when fish are zooplanktivorous. We also used the model to explore the potential effects of the now increasingly common practice of stocking lakes with filter-feeding fish to control cyanobacteria. Because omnivorous filter-feeding fish forage on phytoplankton as well as on the main grazers of phytoplankton, the net effect of such fish on the phytoplankton biomass is not obvious. Our model suggests that there may be a unimodal relationship between the biomass of omnivorous filter-feeding fish and the biomass of phytoplankton. This implies that to manage for reductions in phytoplankton biomass, heavy stocking or strong reduction of such fish is best.

Lower biodiversity of native fish but only marginally altered plankton biomass in tropical lakes hosting introduced piscivorous Cichla cf. ocellaris

We compared the species richness and abundance of fish, zooplankton and phytoplankton in nine mesotrophic coastal shallow lakes (Northeastern Brazil) with and without the exotic predator cichlid tucunaré or ‘peacock bass’ (Cichla cf. ocellaris). We hypothesized that the introduction of tucunaré would lead to decreased abundance and species diversity of native fish assemblages and cause indirect effects on the abundance and species diversity of the existing communities of zooplankton and phytoplankton and on water transparency. Our hypotheses were only partly confirmed. Although fish richness and diversity were, in fact, drastically lower in the lakes hosting tucunaré, no significant differences were traced in total fish catch per unit of effort, zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass, plankton diversity or the zooplankton:phytoplankton biomass (TZOO:TPHYTO) ratio. However, zooplankton biomass and TZOO:TPHYTO tended to be higher and the phytoplankton biomass lower in lakes with tucunaré. Our analyses therefore suggest that the introduction of tucunaré had marked effect on the fish community structure and diversity in these shallow lakes, but only modest cascading effects on zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Effects of water level reduction on the dynamics of phytoplankton functional groups in tropical semi-arid shallow lakes

Abstract Droughts are large-scale perturbations that affect freshwater ecosystems worldwide. A water level reduction caused by drought is an important driving factor of phytoplankton dynamics. It has been suggested that a water level reduction alters the light and mixing regime and increases nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton biomass favoring cyanobacterial blooms. We took advantage of two exceptionally dry years in the Brazilian semi-arid region to investigate the effects of the water level reduction on the water quality and phytoplankton communities of two shallow man-made lakes. In both lakes, the water level was reduced by half, while the water turbidity, conductivity, and nutrient concentrations increased. In the deeper lake, the phytoplankton biomass increased and was dominated by a cyanobacteria group as expected, but it decreased in the shallower lake and was dominated by mixotrophic flagellate groups. This was because of sediment resuspension by wind and fish facilitated by a water level reduction and increased the water turbidity more strongly in the shallower than in the deeper lake. Therefore, a water level reduction caused by a drought may either increase or decrease the phytoplankton biomass and cyanobacteria dominance in tropical shallow lakes depending on the lake depth and the concentration of inorganic suspended sediments.

Zooplankton assemblages in eutrophic reservoirs of the Brazilian semi-arid

Species composition, density, and temporal dynamics of zooplankton were studied in six reservoirs in a semi-arid region in tropical northeastern Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte state). All the reservoirs are highly eutrophic, with high contents of total nitrogen (minimum of 1200 µg.L(-1)) and total phosphorus (minimum of 10 µg.L(-1)), and extremely high algal biomass was registered (surpassing 20 µg Chl a.L(-1)). All the reservoirs showed an enduring condition of high turbidity and phytoplankton assemblages dominated by cyanobacteria. Zooplankton also showed quantitative patterns suggestive of eutrophic conditions, expressed by high densities, mainly in Passagem das Traíras and Sabugi reservoirs. A spatial differentiation in the composition of the zooplankton community was registered. Rotifers (especially Keratella tropica, Brachionus havanensis, and Keratella americana) were the dominant forms in the zooplankton community of Itans, Passagem das Traíras, and Sabugi reservoirs, while calanoid copepods (mainly Notodiaptomus cearensis) dominated in the Armando Ribeiro, Gargalheiras, and Parelhas systems. The existence of novel relationships in zooplankton community composition in eutrophic reservoirs in this tropical semi-arid region must be considered in designating zooplankton indicators of eutrophic conditions.

Ecological literacy and beyond: Problem-based learning for future professionals

Ecological science contributes to solving a broad range of environmental problems. However, lack of ecological literacy in practice often limits application of this knowledge. In this paper, we highlight a critical but often overlooked demand on ecological literacy: to enable professionals of various careers to apply scientific knowledge when faced with environmental problems. Current university courses on ecology often fail to persuade students that ecological science provides important tools for environmental problem solving. We propose problem-based learning to improve the understanding of ecological science and its usefulness for real-world environmental issues that professionals in careers as diverse as engineering, public health, architecture, social sciences, or management will address. Courses should set clear learning objectives for cognitive skills they expect students to acquire. Thus, professionals in different fields will be enabled to improve environmental decision-making processes and to participate effectively in multidisciplinary work groups charged with tackling environmental issues.

Cyanobacteria are controlled by omnivorous filter-feeding fish (Nile tilapia) in a tropical eutrophic reservoir

Omnivorous filter-feeding fish are common in tropical lakes and reservoirs, and can potentially reduce phytoplankton biomass in eutrophic systems. The goal of this study was to evaluate direct grazing or indirect increase in phytoplankton biomass through the trophic cascade and fish-mediated nutrient recycling produced by Nile tilapia. Natural phytoplankton assemblages were incubated in permeable chambers placed inside mesocosms with and without fish. Outside these chambers (mesocosms), phytoplankton was exposed to effects from nutrient recycling by zooplankton and fish, and to grazing by these consumers. Inside the permeable chambers, phytoplankton was exposed only to nutrient recycling by zooplankton and fish. Our results showed that in mesocosms, cyanobacteria biomass was significantly reduced by fish; water transparency and ammonium concentrations also increased, but did not affect soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations or zooplankton biomass. Fish-mediated nutrient recycling did not enhance phytoplankton growth inside permeable chambers, because phytoplankton growth was limited in this study by phosphorus availability. The estimated grazing rates showed that tilapia were able to reduce approximately 60% of phytoplankton biomass (mostly cyanobacteria). Our data indicated that fish grazing was the mechanism controlling cyanobacteria biomass. This study provides evidence that Oreochromis niloticus has the potential to reduce cyanobacteria community in eutrophic reservoirs.

Effects of polyaluminum chloride and lanthanum-modified bentonite on the growth rates of three Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii strains

In tropical and subtropical lakes, eutrophication often leads to nuisance blooms of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. In laboratory experiments, we tested the combined effects of flocculant polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and lanthanum-modified bentonite (LMB) on the sinking and growth rates of three C. raciborskii strains. We tested the hypothesis that the combination of PAC and LMB would (1) effectively sink C. raciborskii in a test tube experiment and (2) impair C. raciborskii growth, irrespective of the biomass of the inoculum (bloom) and the strain in the growth experiment. We tested the recommended (LMB1) and a three-times higher dose of LMB (LMB3). The combined addition of PAC and LMB enhanced the sedimentation of all C. raciborskii strains. Moreover, both the PAC and LMB doses decreased the phosphate concentration. PAC and LMB1 decreased the growth rate of all strains, but the efficacy depended on the biomass and strain. The combined addition of PAC and LMB3 inhibited the growth of all strains independently of the biomass and strain. We conclude that a low dose of PAC in combination with the recommended dose of LMB decreases C. raciborskii blooms and that the efficiency of the technique depends on the biomass of the bloom. A higher dose of LMB is needed to obtain a more efficient control of C. raciborskii blooms.