Influência de fatores ascendentes sobre a produção bacteriana em ecossistemas aquáticos continentais tropicais

Abstract

Heterotrophic bacteria are important components of plankton, actively participating in the carbon cycle in aquatic ecosystems and incorporating carbon biomass through the process of bacterial production (BP). Changes in ecosystems influence bacterial activity and thus the carbon cycle in these systems. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of temperature, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and nutrient availability on the BP in five tropical coastal lagoons, which represented a gradient of carbon concentration (12; 18,3; 46,7; 86 and 117,1 mg/L). Water samples from the lagoons were incubated at three different temperatures (25, 30 and 35º C) factorially combined with the addition of nutrients: carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen + phosphorus (NP). The results revealed that the addition of nutrients stimulates the BP, but differently in each of the lagoons. In systems with higher DOC concentration, the addition of C stimulated the BP, while in lakes with lower DOC, the addition of N and P resulted in higher BP rates. In general, the temperature increase negatively affected BP. According to the results, the effect of temperature and nutrient addition on the BP is dependent of some characteristics of the carbon stock of aquatic ecosystems, as well on its quality for bacterial consumption. Thus, it is expected that the temperature and quality of C are more important on the rates of BP in the ecosystem with the highest humic carbon concentrations, while in ecosystems with low DOC, these two factors play weak or no influence on BP. Given the current events of eutrophication and climate change, a reduction in the activity of bacterial communities in aquatic ecosystems would be expected, with consequences for the entire food web. The present results point out that factors like substrate quality and ix the structure of the bacterial community deserve special attention in future studies for a better understanding of the influence of temperature and nutrient on BP in humic tropical aquatic ecosystems.