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1. Lake stratification strengthens with increasing surface water temperatures, thereby reducing the depth of the mixed layer. Phytoplankton communities are not only exposed to different nutrient availability within a mixed water column, but also to different light quality. We conducted controled laboratory and mesocosm experiments to investigate phytoplankton, especially cyanobacteria, responses to different light quality and mixing depths.2. Our mesocosm experiment allowed the manipulation of mixing depth in situ by a mesocosm approach and to follow the effects of changing mixing depth on the phytoplankton community composition. Our laboratory experiment allowed the control of temperature and light quantity. To investigate the effect of light quality on phytoplankton, we created a light gradient from full photosynthetic active radiation to a reduced blue spectrum.3. In both experiments, shifts in phytoplankton community composition from eukaryote to cyanobacteria occurred at shallow mixing depth with higher availability of photosynthetic active radiation. Our results from the mesocosm experiment support the idea that reduced mixing depth can promote cyanobacterial abundance. With our laboratory experiment, we were able to manipulate light quality independent of temperature, available nutrients and light intensity influencing phytoplankton abundance. Results from the laboratory experiments support our hypothesis that a shift in light spectrum alone is a driver, strong enough to enhance cyanobacteria occurrence.4. Most of the previous studies dealing with cyanobacterial blooms have investigated temperature and eutrophication effects. Certainly, these are major factors for the growth of phytoplankton, but our experiments show that other aspects, such as the quality of light, must be also taken into account to explain cyanobacterial blooms. Such shifts in the phytoplankton community from eukaryote to cyanobacteria dominated communities will have strong consequences for food web dynamics. Several cyanobacteria specific traits, (e.g., toxin production, lack of essential fatty acids, and inedibility through production of large colonies) reduce transfer efficiencies of energy and matter between phyto- and zooplankton and therefore can influence higher trophic levels such as fish. published

Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a common predator avoidance strategy of zooplankton. Migration to deeper water layers during the day to escape visually hunting predators is most likely to require physiological adaptations to periodically changing temperatures. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) play crucial roles in membrane temperature acclimation. Exposure to cold temperatures typically results in an increase in the relative abundance of PUFA in cell membranes and PUFA requirements of Daphnia increase with decreasing temperatures. To assess the role of dietary PUFA in coping with temperature fluctuations experienced during DVM, we reared Daphnia magna at either constantly warm or fluctuating temperatures, simulating DVM both with and without dietary PUFA supplementation. We show that the well‐known positive effect of dietary eicosapentaenoic acid supplementation on offspring production and population growth rates of D. magna is more pronounced at alternating temperatures than at constantly warm temperatures. Exposure to alternating temperatures caused modification in body PUFA concentrations and, consequently, increased lipid peroxidation. However, detrimental effects of lipid peroxidation were not evident. Our data demonstrate that the capacity to cope with the distinct temperature fluctuations experienced during DVM increases with dietary eicosapentaenoic acid supplementation, suggesting that an adequate dietary PUFA supply is crucial especially for migrating Daphnia populations. A dietary deficiency in long‐chain PUFA may thus severely constrain predator evasion, potentially resulting in increased mortality and cascading effects on lower trophic levels.

Exploring the capability of organisms to cope with human-caused environmental change is crucial for assessing the risk of extinction and biodiversity loss. We study the consequences of changing nutrient pollution for the freshwater keystone grazer, Daphnia, in a large lake with a well-documented history of eutrophication and oligotrophication. Experiments using decades-old genotypes resurrected from the sediment egg bank revealed that nutrient enrichment in the middle of the 20th century, resulting in the proliferation of harmful cyanobacteria, led to the rapid evolution of grazer resistance to cyanobacteria. We show here that the subsequent reduction in nutrient input, accompanied by a decrease in cyanobacteria, resulted in the re-emergence of highly susceptible Daphnia genotypes. Expression and subsequent loss of grazer resistance occurred at high evolutionary rates, suggesting opposing selection and that maintaining resistance was costly. We provide a rare example of reversed evolution of a fitness-relevant trait in response to relaxed selection., Anthropogenic changes, such as eutrophication from lake pollution, can lead to rapid evolution. Comparing Daphnia resurrected from generations adapted to historical pollution to contemporary, post-cleanup populations finds that Daphnia rapidly reversed their evolved resistance to harmful cyanobacteria.