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Helena Filipsson, foto Erik Thor

Helena Filipsson

Professor

Helena Filipsson, foto Erik Thor

Cross-contamination risks in sediment-based resurrection studies of phytoplankton

Author

  • Björn Andersson
  • Karin Rengefors
  • Olga Kourtchenko
  • Kerstin Johannesson
  • Olof Berglund
  • Helena L. Filipsson

Summary, in English

Resurrection studies can answer some fundamental questions in aquatic ecology and evolutionary biology. For phytoplankton resting stages, longevity of thousands to millions of years has recently been reported. However, contamination during sediment sampling could distort these estimates, and this risk has not been systematically evaluated. Here we used 4.5 μm diameter microspheres to quantify contamination while reviving the resting stages of seven abundant estuarine diatom and cyanobacterial taxa. We observed a sharp decline in resting stages abundance from 106 (g wet sediment)−1 at the surface to < 0.8 (g wet sediment)−1 at 12.5 cm depth. Added microspheres (~ 4.5 × 107 cm−2) were translocated even deeper down the sediment and could well explain the vertical distributions and abundances of revived cells. Without this control, we could have claimed to have revived seven multi-decades to centennial-old taxa. Our findings suggest that improved contamination controls are needed for sediment core sampling of rare cells, microfossils, or DNA molecules.

Department/s

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Division aquatic ecology
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Quaternary Sciences

Publishing year

2022

Language

English

Pages

376-384

Publication/Series

Limnology and Oceanography Letters

Volume

8

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Ecology
  • Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
  • Climate Research

Keywords

  • environmental stressors
  • resurrection
  • metal pollution
  • diatoms
  • phytoplankton
  • sediment
  • contaminiation

Status

Published

Project

  • Future landscapes depend on their communities - how does a plankton Community adapt to metal contamination

Research group

  • Aquatic Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2378-2242