Heterotrophic and autotrophic metabolism in Mediterranean streams

Abstract

[eng] Helerotrophic (cetoenzymatic and respiratory activities) and autotrophic (photosynthetic activity) metabolism on epilithic strearn biofilms have been measured, analyzed and studied in this thesis. The main objective was to determine the role of the heterotrophs in organic matter use (autochthonous and allochthonous) in Mediterranean streams. In Riera Major, a siliceous forest Mediterranean stream, the capacity to cleave polysaccharides is more important in the epipsammon than in the epilithon. The heterotrophic activity in the surface sediment was higher than in the subsurface sediment. This has been related to the higher quantity and quality of the organic matter which accumulates in the surface sediment. A drastic increase in benthic algal biomass and ectoenzymatic activities was observed in a stream stretch where the riparian vegetation had been removed. The bedrock of La Solana, a calcareous Mediterranean stream, is covered by a thick cyanobacterial crust with a layered structure similar to a stromatolite where different algal patches developed. This structure has a great capacity for organic matter utilization and seems to be adapted to the drastic environmental changes characteristic of Mediterranean streams. Specially, the ectoenzymatic activities were immediately recovered after a dry period. The ectoenzyme kinetics in Riera Major and La Solana was investigated along a seasonal study. In La Solana Vmax values for the three enzymes studied were always higher and the turnover time of substrate hydrolysis was lower (faster) than in the Riera Major which might be related to the more labile substrates for the heterotrophs (organic compounds from the primary producers) while Riera Major is receiving a more recalcitrant material (Ieaf from the riparian vegetation). The ectoenzymatic activity in the epilithic biofiIm of a fourth-order river, the Ter, followed a markedly seasonal pattern, most activities and biomass showing a peak in spring and autumn. Discharge and nutrients were the most important factors for Ihe regulation of biofilm metabolism. The epilithic ectoenzymatic activities were also measured in a Central European mountain stream. Colonization studies (by using clay tiles as substrates for the epilithon) showed that algal material is used by the heterotrophs as an organic matter source.