Annual dynamics of North Sea bacterioplankton: seasonal variability superimposes short-term variation

The dynamics of coastal marine microbial communities are driven by seasonally changing abiotic and biotic factors as well as by rapidly occurring short-term changes such as river fresh water influxes or phytoplankton blooms. We examined the variability of the free-living bacterioplankton at Helgoland Roads (German Bight, North Sea) over a period of one year with high temporal and taxonomic resolution to reveal variation patterns and main influencing factors. 16S rRNA gene tag sequencing of the bacterioplankton community hints at annual recurrence and resilience of few main taxa belonging to Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Flavobacteriia, Acidimicrobiia and Thermoplasmata. Multiple regression analyses with various environmental factors revealed changes in water current patterns and resulting phytoplankton blooms as the main driving factors for short-term variation and temperature as the overlying factor for seasonal variation. Comparison of bacterioplankton successions during spring and summer phytoplankton blooms revealed the same dominating Flavobacteriia operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but shifts in Roseobacter related OTUs (Alphaproteobacteria) and SAR92 clade members (Gammaproteobacteria). Network analysis suggests that during spring and summer phytoplankton blooms temperature-dependent guilds are formed. In conclusion, our data imply that short-term bacterioplankton successions in response to phytoplankton blooms are indirectly affected by temperature, which is a major niche-defining factor in the German Bight.