Explore the vast range of titles available.

Under-ice community dynamics are barely understood. Temporal and spatial studies are needed to fully understand the consequences of a declining ice cover on microbial biodiversity. Here, bacterial communities of different years (2015, 2017–2021) and layers (upper and lower euphotic layer, euphotic layer, hypolimnion) were assessed by Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Alpha- and beta-diversity of summer and under-ice hypolimnetic communities were similar, and a seasonal difference was found only when excluding summer hypolimnetic communities. Similarly, in non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), summer and under-ice communities were different even though hypolimnetic communities were similar. Investigating under-ice conditions, the year 2017 showed highest under-ice light and chlorophyll-a while 2021 showed no under-ice light and lowest chlorophyll-a. Under-ice communities were not linked to layer differences implying that a spatial distinction under ice was less important than in summer, especially in years with little or no under-ice light. Most under-ice bacterial classes and ASVs showed direct and indirect dependencies on light availability and primary production. Similarly in NMDS with only under-ice communities, light transparency and primary production were important. In the future, ice conditions with less snow cover might lead to bacterial communities similar to that of high-light years (2017, 2018, 2020).

In recent years, trait-based research on plankton has gained interest because of its potential to uncover general roles in ecology. While trait categories for phytoplankton and crustaceans have been posited, rotifer trait assessment has lagged behind. Here, we reviewed the literature to assess traits key to their life histories and provided a data matrix for the 138 valid genera of phylum Rotifera. We considered seven traits: habitat type, trophi type, presence of lorica and foot, predation defense attributes, corona type, and feeding traits. While most traits were morphological attributes and supposedly easy to assess, we were faced with several challenges regarding trait assignment. Feeding traits were especially difficult to assess for many genera because relevant information was missing. Our assembled trait matrix provides a foundation that will initiate additional research on rotifer functional diversity, diminish the misclassification of rotifer genera into trait categories, and facilitate studies across trophic levels.

Molecular tools have revolutionized the exploration of biodiversity, especially in organisms for which traditional taxonomy is difficult, such as for microscopic animals (meiofauna). Environmental (eDNA) metabarcode surveys of DNA extracted from sediment samples are increasingly popular for surveying biodiversity. Most eDNA surveys use the nuclear gene-encoding small-subunit rDNA gene (18S) as a marker; however, different markers and metrics used for delimiting species have not yet been evaluated against each other or against morphologically defined species (morphospecies). We assessed more than 12,000 meiofaunal sequences of 18S and of the main alternatively used marker [Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) mtDNA] belonging to 55 datasets covering three taxonomic ranks. Our results show that 18S reduced diversity estimates by a factor of 0.4 relative to morphospecies, whereas COI increased diversity estimates by a factor of 7.6. Moreover, estimates of species richness using COI were robust among three of four commonly used delimitation metrics, whereas estimates using 18S varied widely with the different metrics. We show that meiofaunal diversity has been greatly underestimated by 18S eDNA surveys and that the use of COI provides a better estimate of diversity. The suitability of COI is supported by cross-mating experiments in the literature and evolutionary analyses of discreteness in patterns of genetic variation. Furthermore its splitting of morphospecies is expected from documented levels of cryptic taxa in exemplar meiofauna. We recommend against using 18S as a marker for biodiversity surveys and suggest that use of COI for eDNA surveys could provide more accurate estimates of species richness in the future.

Rotifers are ubiquitous freshwater animals for which many complexes of cryptic species (i.e. distinct species that are morphologically difficult to distinguish) are described. Keratella cochlearis occurs globally and shows a wide phenotypic diversity indicating the potential presence of a species complex. We sampled lakes of the Trentino-South Tyrol region (Italy) and investigated mitochondrial genetic diversity in K. cochlearis in relation to detailed lorica measurements. We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and used the generalised mixed Yule coalescent approach, Poisson tree process model and automatic barcode gap discovery to delimit mitochondrial groups, associated with putative evolutionary significant units (ESUs). Based on 248 sequences, eight putative ESUs were indicated that could only partially be delimited by lorica morphology. Specifically, several morphological characteristics (i.e. spinelets, bended median ridge, and posterior spine) were found in specimens of different putative ESUs, and thus, these characters seem to be of poor discriminatory value. Furthermore, different putative ESUs of K. cochlearis were found in the same lake. We conclude that the high mitochondrial genetic diversity may be linked to tolerance of K. cochlearis to varying environmental conditions.

The quality of lake ice is of uppermost importance for ice safety and under-ice ecology, but its temporal and spatial variability is largely unknown. Here we conducted a coordinated lake ice quality sampling campaign across the Northern Hemisphere during one of the warmest winters since 1880 and show that lake ice during 2020/2021 commonly consisted of unstable white ice, at times contributing up to 100% to the total ice thickness. We observed that white ice increased over the winter season, becoming thickest and constituting the largest proportion of the ice layer towards the end of the ice cover season when fatal winter drownings occur most often and light limits the growth and reproduction of primary producers. We attribute the dominance of white ice before ice-off to air temperatures varying around the freezing point, a condition which occurs more frequently during warmer winters. Thus, under continued global warming, the prevalence of white ice is likely to substantially increase during the critical period before ice-off, for which we adjusted commonly used equations for human ice safety and light transmittance through ice. Under continued global warming, lakes will increasingly be covered by white ice, in particular towards the end of the ice cover season when fatal winter drownings occur most often and light limits the growth and reproduction of primary producers.

Swimming is a fundamental trait of many protists and optimizes growth and survival. We present an easy to use set-up for filming algal cells using Apocalathium aciculiferum and Borghiella dodgei as case studies; both dinoflagellates are model organisms of psychrophilic dinoflagellates. We filmed at low temperature (4.5°C) using a digital camera directly connected to a microscope and used open-source software to track their movement. We encountered several technical issues that were solved by using specific software settings (scaling, grey scale of images, restrictive particle recognition), and thus we obtained unbiased speed estimates. Borghiella dodgei showed a faster (minimum = 80, maximum = 255, median = 141 µm s−1) swimming speed than A. aciculiferum (minimum = 29, maximum = 134, median = 85 µm s−1). We linked differences in swimming speed to the dinoflagellates’ environmental niche, and suggested that B. dodgei is more adapted to turbulent spring conditions than A. aciculiferum, occurring under ice. The use of a generic digital camera and open-source software makes filming and tracking of plankton movement very affordable. We provided code and detailed instructions to disseminate this type of movement analysis of plankton.

Cyanobacterial blooms have substantial direct and indirect negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems including releasing toxins, blocking light needed by other organisms, and depleting oxygen. There is growing concern over the potential for climate change to promote cyanobacterial blooms, as the positive effects of increasing lake surface temperature on cyanobacterial growth are well documented in the literature; however, there is increasing evidence that cyanobacterial blooms are also being initiated and persisting in relatively cold‐water temperatures (< 15°C), including ice‐covered conditions. In this work, we provide evidence of freshwater cold‐water cyanobacterial blooms, review abiotic drivers and physiological adaptations leading to these blooms, offer a typology of these lesser‐studied cold‐water cyanobacterial blooms, and discuss their occurrence under changing climate conditions.

Information based on taxon-based indices is species-specific while information gained from function-based research can give a comprehensive view of ecosystem processes. We applied the guild-ratio, an index based on the proportion of functional groups of rotifers (i.e. microphagous and raptorial species), on a long-term data set of Lago Maggiore. By applying seasonal trend decomposition based on smoothing techniques and non-metrical multidimensional scaling, we assessed the response of rotifer functional groups to changes in trophic state and climate. While the taxon-based indices showed smooth changes, the function-based index showed a dramatic shift from a raptorial to a microphagous dominance, with a back-shift to raptorial dominance starting in 2000. The seasonal peak of microphagous and raptorial dry weight was clearly separated in the pre-eutrophication period. When mesotrophic conditions prevailed both peaks overlapped, only to be separated again with re-oligotrophication. We attributed these alterations of rotifer functional groups to changes in competition with crustacean zooplankton and to decreased phytoplankton algal abundance and size while altered seasonality in functional groups could be related to inter-group competition for food. We hypothesise that the effects of trophic state (i.e. altered phytoplankton) and climate (i.e. altered cladoceran community) were transferred across trophic levels to rotifer functional groups. Our study highlights that functional groups are valid instruments for illustrating unifying principles in ecology through a better understanding of ecosystem processes and the interrelationship between trophic levels.

Community assembly depends on dispersal, environmental parameters and species interactions. Here, we compared rotifer communities from two environmentally distinct, but connected basins of Lake Tovel for 5 years, with biweekly (2002) and monthly (2003–2006) sampling. We applied taxonomic and functional diversity-based multivariate analyses (principal components analysis, redundancy analysis) to compare rotifer communities in both basins. For functional diversity, we focused separately on defence and feeding traits that were inferred from rotifer morphology. Taxonomic and functional diversity were generally higher in the deep compared to the shallow basin. In multivariate analyses, water residence time and surface water temperature were important environmental predictors for both taxonomic and functional diversity while the importance of competitors and predators varied according to defence or feeding traits used. The difference between basins showed a gradient from taxonomic (marked difference) to functional diversity, indicating that the processes that regulate feeding traits were similar in both basins while those regulating defence traits were different. The distinction of different aspects of rotifer life (i.e. feeding and predation) outlined different important drivers that would have been neglected by focusing solely on species abundance. Furthermore, we outlined the status quo of trait research in rotifer ecology including its challenges and difficulties.