Regulation of bacterioplankton production and cell volume in a eutrophic estuary

During three periods of 16 to 25 days, bacterioplankton production, bacterial cell volume, chlorophyll a, CO(2) assimilation, and particulate organic carbon were measured in enclosures situated in the eutrophic estuary Roskilde Fjord, Denmark. The enclosures were manipulated with respect to sediment contact and contents of inorganic nutrients, planktivorous fish, and suspension-feeding bivalves.

Nutrient enrichment, the presence of suspension feeders, and sediment contact induced pronounced changes in bacterial production, as well as minor changes in bacterial cell volume; however, these effects seemed to be indirect, transmitted via phytoplankton. Bacterial production, measured as [H]thymidine incorporation, closely followed changes in phytoplankton biomass and production, with time lags of 5 to 10 days.

Good correlations of mean bacterioplankton production to chlorophyll a concentration and CO(2) assimilation suggested phytoplankton to be the dominating source of bacterial substrate, apparently independent of nutrient stress. Zooplankton >140 mum, bivalves, and sediment seemed to provide insignificant, if any, substrate for bacterioplankton, and benthic suspension feeders seemed not to act as direct competitors for dissolved organic carbon.

The bacterioplankton mean cell volume, measured by image analysis, changed seasonally, with the smallest cells during the summer. Within each period, the bacterial cell volume correlated positively to growth rate and negatively to temperature.