TY - JOUR A1 - Giling, Darren P. A1 - Nejstgaard, Jens C. A1 - Berger, Stella A. A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Kirillin, Georgiy A1 - Penske, Armin A1 - Lentz, Maren A1 - Casper, Peter A1 - Sareyka, Joerg A1 - Gessner, Mark O. T1 - Thermocline deepening boosts ecosystem metabolism: evidence from a large-scale lake enclosure experiment simulating a summer storm JF - Global change biology N2 - Extreme weather events can pervasively influence ecosystems. Observations in lakes indicate that severe storms in particular can have pronounced ecosystem-scale consequences, but the underlying mechanisms have not been rigorously assessed in experiments. One major effect of storms on lakes is the redistribution of mineral resources and plankton communities as a result of abrupt thermocline deepening. We aimed at elucidating the importance of this effect by mimicking in replicated large enclosures (each 9 m in diameter, ca. 20 m deep, ca. 1300 m 3 in volume) a mixing event caused by a severe natural storm that was previously observed in a deep clear-water lake. Metabolic rates were derived from diel changes in vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen concentrations using a Bayesian modelling approach, based on high-frequency measurements. Experimental thermocline deepening stimulated daily gross primary production (GPP) in surface waters by an average of 63% for > 4 weeks even though thermal stratification re-established within 5 days. Ecosystem respiration (ER) was tightly coupled to GPP, exceeding that in control enclosures by 53% over the same period. As GPP responded more strongly than ER, net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the entire water column was also increased. These protracted increases in ecosystem metabolism and autotrophy were driven by a proliferation of inedible filamentous cyanobacteria released from light and nutrient limitation after they were entrained from below the thermocline into the surface water. Thus, thermocline deepening by a single severe storm can induce prolonged responses of lake ecosystem metabolism independent of other storm-induced effects, such as inputs of terrestrial materials by increased catchment run-off. This highlights that future shifts in frequency, severity or timing of storms are an important component of climate change, whose impacts on lake thermal structure will superimpose upon climate trends to influence algal dynamics and organic matter cycling in clear-water lakes. Keywords: climate variability, ecosystem productivity, extreme events, gross primary production, mesocosm, respiration stratified lakes KW - climate variability KW - ecosystem productivity KW - extreme events KW - gross primary production KW - mesocosm KW - respiration stratified lakes Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13512 SN - 1354-1013 SN - 1365-2486 VL - 23 SP - 1448 EP - 1462 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lau, Maximilian P. A1 - Hupfer, Michael A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - Reduction-oxidation cycles of organic matter increase bacterial activity in the pelagic oxycline JF - Environmental microbiology reports N2 - Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic ecosystems contains redox-active moieties, which are prone to oxidation and reduction reactions. Oxidized moieties feature reduction potentials E-h, so that the moieties may be used as terminal electron acceptors (TEAs) in microbial respiration with a thermodynamic energy yield between nitrate and sulfate reduction. Here, we study the response of pelagic freshwater bacteria to exposure to native DOM with varying availabilities of oxidized moieties and hence redox state. Our results show that the prevalence of oxidized DOM favors microbial production and growth in anoxic waters. Reduced DOM in stratified lakes may be oxidized when fluctuations of the oxycline expose DOM in previously anoxic water to epilimnetic oxygen. The resulting oxidized DOM may be rapidly used as TEAs in microbial respiration during subsequent periods of anoxia. We further investigate if the prevalence of these organic electron sinks in anaerobic incubations can induce changes in the microbial community. Our results reveal that DOM traversing transient redox interfaces selects for species that profit from such spatially confined and cyclically restored TEA reservoirs. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12526 SN - 1758-2229 VL - 9 SP - 257 EP - 267 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -