Didymosphenia geminata, its geographic distribution and formation of nuisance blooms: status in the northern hemisphere

S.A. Spaulding1, S. Kumar2 and K. Hermann3

1U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins CO 805232Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO 805233U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Denver CO 80202

• introduction to diatoms• global distribution of Didymosphenia• repeating pattern of nuisance blooms in rivers• relation to climate in US• increased incidence of other stalked diatoms• impact of invasive diatoms is not realized• tools to determine relationship of global populations and ultimately, the natural ecological controls on growth

photosyntheticchloroplasts w/ chlorophyll a, ccharacteristic golden brown colorability to store chrysolaminarin, lipids, phosphate bodies

~ 70,000 speciesmarine and freshwaterrange in size from < 5 microns to> 1 mm

diatom cell, or “frustule”composed of silicon dioxidetwo silica parts, or “valves”numerous girdle bands

Round et al. 1990

Diatoms are consumed by other organisms.Amoeba sp. that has ingested diatoms

image courtesty R. Lowe

diatom – from Greek, meaning to “cut into two”

van Heurck 1880

size dimunition series –

cells within a population become smaller with age, morphology of the valves may also change

Class Coscinodiscophyceae

centric diatomsprimarily planktonic

Class Fragilariophyceae

araphid diatoms – lack a raphe systemnon motile

Class Bacillariophyceae

raphid diatoms – possess a raphe systemmotile

8+ species of Didymospheniarestricted to Lake Baikal

Didymosphenia geminatanorthern hemisphere and invasive

Didymosphenia was a trophyarrangement courtesy S. Nagy

YEAR LOCATION CITATION

1819 Faroe Islands Lyngbye 18131894 Vancouver Island, Canada Cleve 1894-18961894 Scotland Cleve 1894-18961894 Ireland Cleve 1894-18961894 Sweden Cleve 1894-18961894 Finland Cleve 1894-18961894 France Cleve 1894-18961894 Spain Cleve 1894-18961894 Switzerland Cleve 1894-18961924 Sarek Mountians, Lapland Hustedt 19241927 Chicago, US Boyer 19271927 Delaware River, US Boyer 19271927 Ivigut, Greenland Boyer 19271928 Lake Baikal, Siberia Skvortzov & Meyer 19281932 Sidlaws, Tay District, UK McCall 19321935 Kanchou, China Skvortzov 1935 (large masses)1937 Kiushiu Island, Japan Skvortzov 1937 (fossil deposits)1938 French Pyranees Hustedt 1938 (“most interesting find”)1939 Zaravshan River, Uzbekistan Kisseleva 19391949 Biya River, Russia Levadnaya 19701950 Targou, Saradzhou, Varzob R. Kisselev & Voszhennikova 19501953 Lake Telezkoe, Russia Poretsky & Shesukova 1953

YEAR LOCATION CITATION

1958 West Greenland Foged 19581959 Afganistan Foged 19591960 Karluk Lake, Alaska Manguin 19601961 Utukak River, Alaska Patrick & Freese 19611970 Katun River Levadnaya 19701971 Lake Tuney, Russia Moisseva 19711975 Ural River Poryadina & Ergashev 19751977 South Greenland Johansson 19771980 Lake Elghyghyghyn, Russia Kharitonov 19801981 China Hu Hang Ging & Li Yao Ing 19811982 Lake Saiful Muluk, Pakistan Metzeltin & Lange-Bertalot 19951982 River Glama, Norway Skulberg 19821987 San Juan River, Colorado Dufford et al. 19871987 Angara River, Russia Metzeltin & Lange-Bertalot 19951990 Adak Island, Alaska Hein 19901993 Vancouver Island, Canada Sherbot & Bothwell 1993 (nuisance)1999 Kharkovskaya, Ukraine Bukhtiyarova 19991999 Maloe Polissya, Ukraine Bukhtiyarova 19992000 Iceland Jonsson et al. 2000 (nuisance)2000 Xizang Plateau, China Zhu Hui Zong & Chen Jiayou 20002001 Degirmendere River, Turkey Kara & Sahin 2001 (high nutrients)2001 Poland Rakowska 2001

YEAR LOCATION CITATION

2002 Pechora River, Russia Stenina 20022003 San River, Poland Kawecka & Sanecki 2003 (high nutrients)2003 Southwest China Li et al. 20032003 Czarna Orawa River, Poland Noga 20032004 Tisa River, Serbia Subakov-Simić & Cvijan 2004 (nutrients)2005 Trento, Italy Cuitti et al. 2005 (nuisance)2005 Karelian coast, on the White Sea Komulainen et al. 20052006 Yztysh River, near Omsk Bazhenova 20062006 Dalaee Lake, Kamchatka Shkurina & Belyakova 20062006 Matapedia River & others, Quebec unpublished report 2007 (nuisance)

Didymosphenia geminata (Lyngbe) Schmidt – extant distribution

Spaulding, unpublished

Repeating, characteristic pattern of recent nuisance blooms, a few examples

1)Thompson River, British Columbia 19852)River Nordura, Iceland 19943)South Island, New Zealand 20044)White River, Arkansas 20055)Matapedia River, Quebec 2006

Iceland

expansion of D. geminata in rivers, 1994-1997

HISTORIC GROWTH HABIT?Biogeographical range - northern, circumboreal

Ecological range - low N, low P, low temperature, high light

Growth habit - patchy tufts, growing on stream benthos and in lakes

Seasonality - spring, fall episodic growths

CURRENT GROWTH HABIT

Biogeographical extent – widespread in North America, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand.

Present at low latitudes and low elevation

Present in streams with high NO3 concentrations (above 4 mg/l), temperatures (above 25 C), range of light exposure

Forming nuisance blooms in North America, covering benthic surfaces in streams, extending greater than 1-2 km

Seasonality - present throughout year in areas with stable flow

White River, ArkansasJune 2005contributed by Erica Shelby

Kootenay River, Montana

Boulder Creek populationAugust 2002

Waiau River populationOctober 2004

extraordinary production of biomasshow is it possible to have high production in low nutrient streams?

EBR Chlorophyll a Concentration Data Showing Mean (bar) and Standard Deviation (whisker) for August Samples from 1999-2004 (database)

vs. Extensive Didymosphenia geminata Periphyton Growth on August 31, 2005

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EBR-002 database EBR-002 2005 EBR-003 database EBR-003 2005 EBR-004 database EBR-004 2005

Site

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Confirmed records of Didymosphenia geminata

Relationship to regulated rivers, impoundments, low flow

2001 - 2002Didymosphenia geminata dominated the biomass at 7 sampling locations covering 140 miles of the Kootenai River. Commonly forming nuisance growths (Hardy & Holderman)

Suitable habitats for freshwater diatom Didymosphenia geminata in the Continental United States

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Spatial distribution of presence records

LegendTraining data (235) – blueTest data (59)- red

Model FactorsMean temp of warmest quarterFrequency of precipitationBase flow indexFlow accumulation

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0 450225 Kilometers

Maxent model -Best performance

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GARP model

Legend

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Are other stalked diatom species also tending to form blooms?

Gomphoneis – FranceCymbella janischii – western US

Clackamas River, OR 200605

Didym

osphenia

Cym

bella mexicana

Cym

bella

Encyonema

Reim

eria

Brebissonia

Gom

phocymbella

Gom

phonema

Gom

phoneis elegans

Gom

phoneis herculeana

Placoneis

Anom

oeneis Cymbella, C. mexicana, Didymosphenia

differentiated apical porefieldslack intermissioapical porefield not bisected by rapheventrally placed stigmadistal raphe ends deflected dorsallydorsally rotated chloroplast w/ ventral nucleus

Kociolek & Stoermer 1988

Didymosphenia geminata

Cymbella janischii

Invasive species

Introduction of organisms to new environments is estimated to cost $138 billion/year in the US

spread of diatoms to new environments has not been appreciated, effects have not been accounted for

Stephanodiscus binderanus, Actinocyclus normanii v. subsalsa, Thalassiosira baltica are documented introductions to the Laurentian Great Lakes (Stoermer et al. 1985, Edlund et al. 2000)

introduction of Asterionella formosa to New Zealand with European settlement (Harper 1994)

introductions are capable of resulting in extirpation (extinction) of diatoms - several examples in the Great Lakes (Julius et al. 1998)

Flow Cam – automated shape recognition and counting3000 cells / 10 minutes

D. geminata is present in streams with high NO3 concentrations temperatures, and range of light exposure

human-induced change is creating favorable environments and encouraging the spread (through physical transport) of D. geminatainto new habitats.

responses include:

1)continue to expand national and international public education programs to reduce the spread of microorganisms2)implement a global population study based on molecular and morphological markers to determine the source populations for nuisance and invasive blooms and to understand the natural controls on growth in endemic populations.

“what is going on with didymo?”

a. Why don’t we see the entire life cycle? – size structure and change over time, mode of sexual reproduction and enlargement of cells

b. What is the chemical composition stalks and what is their role in stream ecosystems?

c. How are North American, European, and Asian populations related? – use molecular markers to determine genetic variation

d. Are related populations the same shape? – examine morphological variation in relation to genetic variation in didymo

e. What is the importance of water chemistry in controlling distribution? determine the relationship of environmental factors to species distributions through habitat modeling

f. How does didymo impact other diatom species, invertebrates, and fish?

g. How do humans impact streams on local and global scales? – loss of biodiversity, homogenization of aquatic habitats