Composition change and decreased diversity of microbial eukaryotes in the coastal upwelling waters of South China Sea

Upwelling plays an important role in marine ecosystems and potentially reshapes microbial communities by enhanced dispersal and distinct environmental drivers. Relative to that of bacterioplankton, however, the response of eukaryotic microbes to upwelling is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the influence of coastal upwelling in South China Sea on the microbial eukaryotic communities. Unlike several folds of increase in the cell abundance of bacterioplankton in upwelling than non-upwelling stations at corresponding water layers, no significant difference was detected for the total microbial eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene abundance. Moreover, the microbial eukaryotes in the upwelling stations exhibited increasing 18S rRNA gene abundance from the surface to the deep, contrasting the vertical cell abundance pattern of the bacterioplankton; but their vertical abundance patterns were similar in non-upwelling stations. Importantly, the coastal upwelling significantly reduced the community evenness of the microbial eukaryotes and slightly reduced their Shannon diversity. Their community composition also varied obviously especially between the surface waters of upwelling and non-upwelling stations. Among the dominant supergroups, Alveolata was found to be less abundant while Stramenopiles, particularly thraustochytrids and diatoms, to be more abundant in the surface water of upwelling than non-upwelling stations. Temperature was identified as the most important factor of the microbial eukaryotic community composition, suggesting potential effects of the cold upwelling water masses on specific taxa. Overall, our results reveal significant and distinct impacts of coastal upwelling on the abundance, diversity, and community structure of microbial eukaryotes, filling the knowledge gap about the microbial responses to this important marine phenomenon. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study revealed significant and distinct impacts of coastal upwelling on the abundance, diversity, and community structure of microbial eukaryotes. While the evenness of the microbial eukaryotes was reduced and Shannon diversity slightly decreased, the community composition showed obvious variations, especially between upwelling and non-upwelling stations in the surface waters. Additionally, temperature was identified as the most important factor influencing the microbial eukaryotic community composition.