Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 194064, Russia; Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock 18059, Germany.
Harmful Algae. 2016 Nov;59:100-111. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2016.09.006. Epub 2016 Oct 27.
This study analyses three decades of the peculiar bloom-formation history of the potentially toxic invasive planktonic dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum (Pavillard) Schiller in the SW Baltic Sea. We tested a research hypothesis that the unexpectedly long delay (nearly two decades) in population development of P. minimum prior to its first bloom was caused by competition with one or several closely related native dinoflagellate species due to ecological niche partitioning which hampered the spread and bloom-forming potential of the invader. We applied the ecological niche concept to a large, long-term phytoplankton database and analysed the invasion history and population dynamics of P. minimum in the SW Baltic Sea coastal waters using the data on phytoplankton composition, abundance and biomass. The ecological niche dimensions of P. minimum and its congener P. balticum were identified as the optimum environmental conditions for the species during the bloom events based on water temperature, salinity, pH, concentration of nutrients (PO; total phosphorus, TP; total nitrogen, TN; SiO), TN/TP-ratio and habitat type. The data on spatial distribution and ecological niche dimensions of P. minimum have contributed to the development of the "protistan species maximum concept". High microplankton diversity at critical salinities in the Baltic Sea may be considered as a possible reason for the significant niche overlap and strong competitive interactions among congeners leading to prolonged delay in population growth of P. minimum preceding its first bloom in the highly variable brackishwater environment.
本研究分析了 30 年来有毒入侵浮游甲藻原甲藻（Pavillard）Schiller 在波罗的海南部奇特的繁殖历史。我们检验了一个研究假设，即在其首次繁殖之前，原甲藻种群发展的异常长的延迟（近二十年）是由于与一个或几个密切相关的本地甲藻物种竞争引起的，由于生态位的分化，这阻碍了入侵者的传播和繁殖潜力。我们将生态位概念应用于大型长期浮游植物数据库，并使用浮游植物组成、丰度和生物量数据分析了 SW 波罗的海近岸水域中原甲藻的入侵历史和种群动态。根据水温和盐度、pH 值、营养物（PO；总磷、TP；总氮、TN；SiO）浓度、TN/TP 比和栖息地类型，确定了原甲藻和其近缘种 P. balticum 的生态位维度作为物种在繁殖期间的最佳环境条件。原甲藻的空间分布和生态位维度的数据促进了“原生动物物种最大概念”的发展。波罗的海关键盐度下的高微型浮游生物多样性可能是导致同种类之间显著生态位重叠和强烈竞争相互作用的原因，从而导致原甲藻在高度可变的半咸水环境中首次繁殖之前的种群增长延迟。
