Interplay between resistance and resilience governs the stability of a freshwater microbial food web under multiple stressors

Abstract

Energy (photosynthetically active [PAR] and ultraviolet [UVR] radiation) and matter (organic and inorganic nutrients) fluxes regulate the ecosystem's stability. However, the mechanisms underpinning the potential interplay between resistance and resilience to shifts in nutrient inputs and UVR are poorly understood. To assess how the UVR × nutrients interaction alters ecosystem stability, we exposed in situ a microbial food web from an oligotrophic ecosystem to: (1) two light (UVR + PAR and PAR), and (2) four nutrient (ambient concentrations, phosphorus [P], carbon [C] and C × P addition) treatments for three weeks. During this period, we quantified the community composition and biomass, sestonic P and C:P ratio, primary [PP] and bacterial [BP] production, community [CR] and bacterial [BR] respiration, excreted organic carbon [EOC], as well as the commensalistic phytoplankton-bacteria interaction (i.e. bacterial carbon demand [BCD]:EOC ratio) and the metabolic balance of the ecosystem (i.e. [PP:R] ratio). The stability of all response variables under the four environmental scenarios tested (i.e. UVR, UVR × C, UVR × P, and UVR × C × P) was quantified by means of the resistance and resilience indexes. The microbial community was dominated by phototrophs during the experimental period regardless of the treatment considered. The most complex scenario, i.e. UVR × C × P, decreased the resistance for all variables, except for BR and the PP:R ratio. Despite that PP:R ratio showed the highest resistance under such scenario, it was >1 in all environmental scenarios (i.e. net autotrophic), except under the UVR × C interaction, where, concomitant with increased resilience, the balance shifted towards net heterotrophy (PP:R < 1). Under the UVR × C × P scenario, the metabolic balance of the ecosystem proved strongly resistant due mainly to high resistance of bacterial respiration and a firm stability of the commensalistic interaction. Our results evidence that the high resilience of phototrophs (favoring their predominance over mixo- and heterotrophs) may lead to the maintenance of the autotrophic nature and carbon (C) sink capacity of the ecosystem.