Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Associations in a Set of Alpine High Altitude Lakes: Geographic Distribution and Ecology |
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| Authors: | M Tolotti M Manca N Angeli G Morabito B Thaler E Rott E Stuchlik |
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| Institution: | (1) Institute of Zoology and Limnology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;(2) C.N.R. – Institute for Ecosystem Study (ISE), Largo Tonolli 50/52, 28922 Verbania Pallanza, Italy;(3) Museum of Natural History of Trento, Via Calepina 14, 38100 Trento, Italy;(4) Biological laboratory of the Autonomous Province of Bozen, APPA, Unterbergstrasse 2, 39055 Leifers, Italy;(5) Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestrasse 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;(6) Department of Hydrobiology, Charles University, Vinicna 7, Prague, Czech Republic;(7) Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all’Adige, Via Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all’Adige, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Species composition and interactions, biomass dominance, geographic distribution and driving variables were investigated for
two key elements of the pelagic food web of Alpine lakes, the phytoplankton and the zooplankton, based on a single sampling
campaign during summer 2000. Altogether, 70 lakes were surveyed, 49 of which located in three different lake districts of
the west and eastern Italian Alps and 21 in the central Austrian Alps (within the uppermost Danube catchment). In addition
to the analysis of environmental variables affecting distribution and species structure of the two planktonic compartments,
a brief review of the main research lines and hypotheses adopted in the past for the study of phytoplankton and zooplankton
in high Alpine lakes is given. The lakes, investigated partly within the European project EMERGE (EVK1-CT-1999-00032) and
partly within a regional project in the eastern Alps, comprise a wide range of morphological, chemical and trophic conditions.
The phytoplankton communities were found to be diverse and mostly dominated by flagellates (chrysophytes, cryptophytes and
dinoflagellates), and only to a lesser extent by non-motile green algae, desmids and centric diatoms. The zooplankton communities
were mainly dominated by Alpine cladocerans and copepod species, while rotifers were abundant within one group of Italian
lakes (sampled in early summer). The multivariate statistical analyses (CCA) showed that catchment features (i.e. percentage
of vegetation cover and geochemical composition) and nitrate concentration are essential drivers for the phytoplankton, whereas
for zooplankton also trophic status of the lakes and phytoplankton structure are important. The combined variance analysis
of the lake clusters outlined by the multivariate analyses on phytoplankton and zooplankton data, respectively, allowed the
identification of four principal lake types (three located on siliceous and one on carbonaceous bedrock), each one characterised
by a certain combination of habitat features, which in their turn influence trophic state, and phytoplankton and zooplankton
species composition and functionality. |
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| Keywords: | clear high altitude lakes phytoplankton zooplankton species diversity trophic status driving variables |
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