Combined stress effect of pH and temperature narrows the niche width of flagellates in acid mining lakes

Strains of the green alga Chlamydomonas acidophila and two chrysomonads, Ochromonas spp., isolated from each of two similar acid mining lakes (AMLs) with extremely low pH (∼2.6) were investigated to consider a possible synergistic stress effect of low pH and unfavourable temperature. We measured flagellate growth rates over a combination of four pH (2.5, 3.5, 5.0 and 7.0) and three temperatures (10, 17.5 and 25°C) in the laboratory. Our hypothesis was that, under highly acidic conditions (pH <3), an obligate acidophil species (C. acidophila) would be less sensitive to the combined stress of pH and temperature than acidotolerant species (Ochromonas spp.). We expected that the difference of the fundamental vs. realized pH niche would be greater in the latter. Another chrysomonad, Poterioochromonas malhamensis strain DS, served as a reference for a closely related neutrophil species. Surprisingly, C. acidophila did not survive temperatures >27°C. The lowest temperature tested reduced growth rates of all three chrysomonad strains significantly. Since all chrysomonads were tolerant to high temperature, growth rate of one Ochromonas spp. strain was measured exemplarily at 35°C. Only at this high temperature was the realized pH niche significantly narrowed. We also recorded significant intraspecific differences within the C. acidophila strains from the two AML, illustrating that the niche width of a species is broader than that of individual clones.