Microcosm on a bottle: experimental tests on the colonization of plastic and glass substrates in a retention reservoir

Abstract

The last few decades have seen a dramatic increase in water pollution due to various types of waste generated by human activity. These include plastic and glass accumulating in the shore area of lakes and oceans. These substrates may be colonized by various groups of aquatic organisms. Little is known of the trophic interrelationships between micro- and macroorganisms colonizing plastic (PB) and glass bottles (GB). Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to determine the taxonomic composition and abundance of micro- and macroorganisms colonizing artificial, anthropogenic substrates, the trophic relationships between the organisms colonizing these substrates, and the influence of the physicochemical properties of the water on the formation of such assemblages. Studies of micro- and macroorganisms were carried out on the surface of PB and GB in a eutrophic retention basin. Both the species richness and abundance of microorganisms and metazoa were found to be determined by the type of substrate colonized as well as by the physicochemical properties of the water (primarily the content of total organic carbon and biogenic compounds). Furthermore, the trophic structure of microbial assemblages demonstrated seasonal variability. In spring, the substrates were colonized by typical bacterivorous ciliates, whereas in the following seasons there was a larger share of omnivorous species (ciliates and rotifers). This may indicate that the accumulation of various types of anthropogenic waste, in the present case GB and PB, may contribute to changes in the matter and energy cycle, including the carbon cycle, in various microhabitats of aquatic ecosystems.