Short-term responses of unicellular planktonic eukaryotes to increases in temperature and UVB radiation

Abstract

Abstract Background Small size eukaryotes play a fundamental role in the functioning of coastal ecosystems, however, the way in which these micro-organisms respond to combined effects of water temperature, UVB radiations (UVBR) and nutrient availability is still poorly investigated. Results We coupled molecular tools (18S rRNA gene sequencing and fingerprinting) with microscope-based identification and counting to experimentally investigate the short-term responses of small eukaryotes ( Conclusions This multifactorial experiment highlights the potential impacts, over short time scales, of changing environmental factors on the structure of various functional groups like small primary producers, parasites and saprotrophs which, in response, can modify energy flow in the planktonic food webs.

Keywords

• Small eukaryotes
• Molecular diversity
• Temperature
• UVB radiation
• Microcosms experiment
• Mediterranean lagoon