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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Chemotactic Response of Marine Micro-Organisms to Micro-Scale Nutrient Layers

Chemotactic Response of Marine Micro-Organisms to Micro-Scale Nutrient Layers

Published on: May 28, 2007

Dam-induced flow velocity decrease leads to the transition from heterotrophic to autotrophic system through modifying

Nan Yang¹, Yi Li¹, Li Lin²

¹Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development of Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, PR China.

Environmental Research

|June 1, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Dam impoundment shifts river food webs from heterotrophic to autotrophic systems. Reduced flow velocity is the primary driver, impacting microbial plankton and potentially causing algal blooms in reservoirs.

Keywords:

Food web model Hydrodynamics Nitrogen transformation River-reservoir system Trophic interactions

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Area of Science:

Environmental Microbiology
Aquatic Ecology
Biogeochemistry

Background:

Reservoir impoundment transforms riverine ecosystems into lacustrine systems.
Dam-induced disturbances alter pelagic microbial food webs, shifting from heterotrophic to autotrophic dominance.
Key factors controlling these food web dynamics and interactions remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of flow velocity and nutrient supply on microbial plankton.
To identify the primary factor controlling shifts in river-reservoir microbial food webs.
To mechanistically explain microbial food web dynamics and nitrogen transformation.

Main Methods:

Microcosm experiments manipulating flow velocity and nutrient supply.
Flow-velocity manipulation experiments.
Construction of a multi-trophic nitrogen cycling model.
Model prediction and sensitivity analysis.

Main Results:

Decreased flow velocity is the main driver for the shift from detritus-based to autotroph-based food webs.
Heterotrophic bacteria and protozoa dominate at high velocities, while phytoplankton and metazoa prevail in low-velocity (lentic) environments.
Lentic-acclimated algae genera exhibited hysteresis upon velocity recovery, indicating potential for algal blooms.
Predator-prey interactions and nutrient utilization, influenced by bottom-up and top-down forces, control food web dynamics and nitrogen cycling.

Conclusions:

Flow velocity is a critical factor in regulating microbial food web structure in river-reservoir transitions.
Understanding trophic interactions across all levels is crucial for predicting biogeochemical processes in these systems.
The findings highlight the potential for algal blooms in reservoirs and downstream due to altered flow regimes.