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Murray-Darling Freshwater Research CentreMDFRC item.

Multiannual delayed gametophyte cultures can stay vegetative for years, while also having the ability to grow. This study aims to investigate whether male and female multiannual delayed gametophyte strains of the species Saccharina latissima and Alaria esculenta grow at different rates in culture. We furthermore assessed how changing sex ratios can affect the reproductive yields of these cultures. The results indicate that the reproductive yield of cultures declines with decreasing male:female ratios, a correlation that becomes especially apparent at higher culture densities for both species. Female gametophyte densities inparticular affected the observed reproductive yield of the cultures, with S. latissima cultures showing a clear reproductive optimum (sporophytes·mL−1) at 0.013 mg·mL−1 DW femalegametophyte biomass, while the reproductive success of A. esculenta peaked at a density of 0.025 mg·mL−1 DW of female gametophyte biomass, after which the reproductive yield started to decline in both species. The results show that the sex ratio of a gametophyte culture is an important biotic life cycle control, with higher amounts of female gametophyte biomass halting gametophyte reproduction. Understanding how these changing sex ratios in gametophyte cultures affect reproduction is especially important in the aquaculture of kelp, where reliable preforming cultures are key to long-term success.

Delayed gametophytes are able to grow vegetatively for prolonged periods of time. As such, they are potentially very valuable for kelp aquaculture given their great promise in opening up novel opportunities for kelp breeding and farming. However, large-scale application would require more in-depth understanding of how to control reproduction in delayed gametophytes. For newly formed gametophytes, many environmental factors for reproduction have been identified, with key drivers being light intensity, temperature, and the initial gametophyte density. However, the question of whether delayed gametophytes react similarly to these life cycle controls remains open for exploration. In this study, we performed a full factorial experiment on the influences of light intensity, temperature, and densityon the reproduction of multiannual delayed gametophytes of Saccharina latissima, during which the number of sporophytes formed were counted. We demonstrate that delayed gametophytes of S . latissima can reliably reproduce sexually after more than a year of vegetative growth, depending on the effects between light intensity andtemperature. Under higher light intensities (≥29 µmol photons · m -2 · s-1), optimal reproduction was observed at lower temperatures (10.2°C), while at lower light intensities (≤15 µmol photons · m-2 · s-1), optimal reproduction was observed at higher temperatures (≥12.6°C). Given the seasonal lag between solar radiation and sea surface temperature in natural systems, these conditions resemble those found during spring (i.e., increasing light intensity with low temperatures) and autumn (i.e., decreasing light intensity with higher temperatures). Seasonality that can be used as an aquaculture tool to better control the reproduction of delayed gametophytes.

Marine waters can be highly heterogeneous both on a spatial and temporal scale, yet monitoring is currently mainly limited to low-resolution methods. This study explores the use of two high-resolution methods to study phytoplankton dynamics; Fast Repetition Rate fluorometry (FRRf) to study phytoplankton photosynthesis and scanning flowcytometry (FCM) to study phytoplankton biomass and composition. Measurements were conducted during four cruises on the Dutch North Sea in April, May, June, and August of 2017. Both FRRf and FCM data show spatial heterogeneity with monthly variation. Automated unsupervised Hidden Markov Model (uHMM) spatial clustering resulted in the identification of regions with distinct phytoplankton communities. Manual adjustments were necessary to optimize visualization of some distinct phytoplankton communities. Stepwise multiple linear regression (n = 61) revealed that photophysiology (alpha), phytoplankton biomass (total red fluorescence) and abiotic predictors (Turbidity, DIN, time of the day and temperature) determined integrated water column gross primary productivity. Apart from spatial heterogeneity, the diurnal trend is a significant predictor exposing clear trends with other photophysiological parameters. Consequently, spatial patterns are difficult as temporal and spatial patterns occur simultaneously. Nevertheless, high-resolution monitoring is a very useful supplement in addition to regular low-resolution monitoring.

Based on an analysis in the frequency domain of the governing equation of oxygen dynamics in aquatic systems, we derive a new method for estimating gross primary production (GPP) from oxygen time series. The central result of this article is a relation between time averaged GPP and the amplitude of the diel harmonic in an oxygen time series. We call this relation the Fourier method for estimating GPP. To assess the performance and accuracy of the method, we generate synthetic oxygen time series with a series of gradually more complex models, and compare the result with simulated GPP. We demonstrate that the method is applicable in systems with a range of rates of mixing, airwater exchange and primary production. We also apply the new method to oxygen time series from the Scheldt estuary (Belgium) and compare it with 14C-based GPP measurements. We demonstrate the Fourier method is particularly suited for estimating GPP in estuarine and coastal systems where tidal advection has a large imprint in observed oxygen concentrations. As such it enlarges the number of systems where GPP can be estimated from in situ oxygen concentrations. By shifting the focus to the frequency domain, we also gain some useful insights on the effect of observational error and of stochastic drivers of oxygen dynamics on metabolic estimates derived from oxygen time series.

Sets of photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) curves yield more information about community photosynthesis when analyzed with proper models in mind. Based on ecosystem-specific considerations regarding the factors that explain spatial and temporal patterns of photosynthesis, theWebb model of photosynthesis can be extended and fitted to P-I data. We propose a method based on a series of nested models of increasing complexity to test whether supposed effects of environmental factors are reflected in the P-I data, whether more complex models fit the data significantly better than more simple models, and whether parameters describing the presumed dependencies can be estimated from the data set. We compare a direct approach, fitting the extended model to all P-I data at once, with a two-step approach in which photosynthetic efficiencies and maximum photosynthetic rates of individual P-I curves are determined first, and then related to environmental variables. A nested model approach prevents overfitting of multiparameter models. Monte Carlo analysis sheds light on the error structure of the model, by separating parameter and model uncertainty, and provides an assessment of the performance of the formulations used in ecosystem models. We demonstrate that the two-step approach underperforms when used to compute photosynthetic rates. We apply the proposed method to an extensive P-I data set from the Schelde estuary, where spatiotemporal patterns of photosynthesis arise from a combination of seasonality, silica depletion, phytoplankton community composition, and salinity effects.