Trophic strategies of picoeukaryotic phytoplankton vary over time and with depth in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

In oligotrophic oceans, the smallest eukaryotic phytoplankton are both significant primary producers and predators of abundant bacteria such as Prochlorococcus. However, the drivers and consequences of community dynamics among these diverse protists are not well understood. Here, we investigated how trophic strategies along the autotrophy-mixotrophy spectrum vary in importance over time and across depths at Station ALOHA in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. We combined picoeukaryote community composition from a 28-month time-series with traits of diverse phytoplankton isolates from the same location, to examine trophic strategies across 13 operational taxonomic units and 8 taxonomic classes. We found that autotrophs and slower-grazing mixotrophs tended to prevail deeper in the photic zone, while the most voracious mixotrophs were relatively abundant near the surface. Within the mixed layer, there was greater phagotrophy when conditions were most stratified and when Chl a concentrations were lowest, although the greatest temporal variation in trophic strategy occurred at intermediate depths (45–100 m). Dynamics at this site are consistent with previously described spatial patterns of trophic strategies. The success of relatively phagotrophic phytoplankton at shallower depths in the most stratified waters suggests that phagotrophy is a competitive strategy for acquiring nutrients when energy from light is plentiful.