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Abundance and biomass of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms coupled with environmental factors in an arid multi-pond solar saltern (Sfax, Tunisia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2008

Jannet Elloumi ,
Wassim Guermazi ,
Habib Ayadi ,
Abderrahmen Bouain  and
Lotfi Aleya
Jannet Elloumi
Affiliation:
Université de Sfax, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, Unité de Recherche LR/UR/05ES05 Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Route Soukra Km 3.5 – BP 1171 – CP 3000 Sfax (Tunisie)
Wassim Guermazi
Affiliation:
Université de Sfax, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, Unité de Recherche LR/UR/05ES05 Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Route Soukra Km 3.5 – BP 1171 – CP 3000 Sfax (Tunisie)
Habib Ayadi
Affiliation:
Université de Sfax, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, Unité de Recherche LR/UR/05ES05 Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Route Soukra Km 3.5 – BP 1171 – CP 3000 Sfax (Tunisie)
Abderrahmen Bouain
Affiliation:
Université de Sfax, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, Unité de Recherche LR/UR/05ES05 Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Route Soukra Km 3.5 – BP 1171 – CP 3000 Sfax (Tunisie)
Lotfi Aleya*
Affiliation:
Université de Franche-Comté, Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR CNRS 6249 1, Place Leclerc, 25030 Besançon cedex, France
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Lotfi Aleya, Université de Franche-Comté, Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR CNRS 6249 1, Place Leclerc, 25030 Besançon cedex, France email: lotfi.aleya@univ-fcomte.fr
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Abstract

The distribution of abundance and biomass of prokaryotes, flagellates, ciliates and phytoplankton, were studied in five ponds of increasing salinity in the Sfax solar saltern (Tunisia) coupled with environmental factors. The results showed that abundance of eukaryotic microorganisms decreased with increasing salinity of the ponds whereas prokaryotes (heterotrophic bacteria and Archaea) were abundant in the hyper-saline ponds. Phototrophic picoplankton was found in a large range of salinity values (70 and 200‰). Phototrophic non-flagellated nanoplankton which dominated in the first sampled pond was substituted by phototrophic flagellated nanoplankton in the other ponds. Heterotrophic nanoplankton dominated in the crystallizer pond but its quantitative importance declined in the less saline ponds. Diatoms and dinoflagellates were the major contributors to phytoplankton abundance in the first ponds (>90% of total abundance). Ciliated protozoa were found in all the ponds except in the crystallizer in which prokaryotes proliferated. Oligotrichida and Heterotrichida were the most abundant ciliate groups. Overall, species richness decreased with salinity gradient. We propose a simplified diagram of the Sfax saltern's food web showing the dominant role of the microbial loop along the salinity gradient.

Keywords

solar salternsheterotrophic bacteriaflagellatesciliatesphytoplankton
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 243 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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