title: Are algae relevant to the detritus-based food web in tank-bromeliads?
abstract: We assessed the occurrence of algae in five species of tank-bromeliads found in contrasting environmental sites in a Neotropical, primary rainforest around the Nouragues Research Station, French Guiana. The distributions of both algal abundance and biomass were examined based on physical parameters, the morphological characteristics of bromeliad species and with regard to the structure of other aquatic microbial communities held in the tanks. Algae were retrieved in all of the bromeliad species with mean densities ranging from ∼10(2) to 10(4) cells/mL. Their biomass was positively correlated to light exposure and bacterial biomass. Algae represented a tiny component of the detrital food web in shaded bromeliads but accounted for up to 30 percent of the living microbial carbon in the tanks of Catopsis berteroniana, located in a highly exposed area. Thus, while nutrient supplies are believed to originate from wind-borne particles and trapped insects (i.e., allochtonous organic matter), our results indicate that primary producers (i.e., autochtonous organic matter) are present in this insectivorous bromeliad. Using a 24-h incubation of size-fractionated and manipulated samples from this plant, we evaluated the impact of mosquito foraging on algae, other microorganisms and rotifers. The prey assemblages were greatly altered by the predation of mosquito larvae. Grazing losses indicated that the dominant algal taxon, Bumilleriopsis sp., like protozoa and rotifers, is a significant part of the diet of mosquito larvae. We conclude that algae are a relevant functional community of the aquatic food web in C. berteroniana and might form the basis of a complementary non-detrital food web.
authors.affiliation: LMGE, Laboratoire Microorganismes: Génome et Environnement, Université Blaise Pascal, UMR CNRS 6023, Aubière, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Brouard
authors.forename: Anne-Hélène
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Le Jeune
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cereghino
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pelozuelo
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dejean
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corbara
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Carrias
mesh_terms: D031231:Bromelia / Q000502:physiology*; D020387:Food Chain; D013045:Species Specificity