Ciliate community structure and interactions within the planktonic food web in two alpine lakes of contrasting transparency

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The limnology of Lac ďIfni (High Atlas Mountains, Morocco), an unusually productive mountain lake

• 1 Lac ?Ifni (surface area 30 ha, z_max 60 m, altitude 2300 m) lies in a catchment comprised of Precambrian igneous rocks in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Previously described as a typical ohgotrophic lake, it was also reported to have a warm layer at the base of the hypolimnion which was ascribed to phreatic water supply and drainage.
• 2 Visits to the lake made in May/June and September 1990 showed strong thermal stratification but no hypolimnial warm layer. Drainage from the lake is subterranean, through a natural rubble dam, and the water level dropped by at least 7m through the summer. The flushing rate is about 0.6 year^?1.
• 3 The upper part of the metalimnion and the lower epilimnion were strongly supersaturated with oxygen in June, and there was a pH gradient from 7 to 10.5 between the hypolimnion and the epilimnion. These features were less marked in September when planktonic gross primary productivity was estimated to be about 145mgCm^?2 h^?1. In September the hypolimnion was 38% saturated with oxygen; the areal hypolimnetic oxygen deficit between June and September was 0.073mg O₂ cm^?2 day^?1. Total dissolved phosphate concentrations were 7–14 μgl^?1.
• 4 The open water faunal assemblage consisted of Brachionus calyciflorus and Filinia lotigiseta (Rotifera), Cyclops abyssorum (Copepoda), and stunted Salmo trutta (Pisces). Trout diets were comprised principally of adult copepods and copepodites, which showed diurnal vertical migration, and of algal material apparently scraped from rock surfaces. The dry biomass density of Cyclops was at least 2gm^?2 in June and at least 4.1 gm ^?2 in September.
• 5 Tubifex tubifex (Oligochaeta) dominated the benthos below depths of 40m. Mean dry biomass density was 2.8gm^?2, but ranged from 0.6–8.1 gm^?2 between samples. About 50% of the lake bottom is below 40m depth.
• 6 The persistent oxygen supersaruration of the euphoric zone, the field estimate of primary productivity, the hypolimnetic oxygen deficit, the biomass of zooplankton and the benthic biomass together indicate that Lac ?Ifni is an unusually productive mountain lake. This high level of productivity may be sustained by nutrient addition through contamination by dust originating outside the catchment, aided by efficient nutrient recycling in the euphoric zone.

     

Ecological sensitivity of marl lakes to nutrient enrichment: evidence from Hawes Water,UK

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Quantitative relationships between oligochaete communities and phosphorus concentrations in lakes

SUMMARY.

• 1 The relative abundance of oligotrophic species in tubificid and lumbriculid communities was related to phosphorus concentration in eight lakes of Western Europe and three large lakes of North America.
• 2 Mean annual concentrations of total phosphorus, recorded in the whole lake during the 5 years preceding the sampling of worms, were averaged and this mean was used to indicate the trophic state.
• 3 Mean relative abundance (%) of oligotrophic species (OS) was negatively correlated with mean concentrations (mg m^?3) of total phosphorus (TP): OS = 80.29 – 8.35 TP^0.5r²= 0.81
• 4 Location and depth from which worms were sampled also influenced values of OS.

     

Phytoplankton community structure and environment in the Kenyan waters of Lake Victoria

• 1 Phytoplankton species composition, numerical abundance, spatial distribution and total biomass measured as chlorophyll a concentration were studied in relation to environmental factors in September 1994 (dry season) and March 1995 (rainy season), respectively, in the Kenyan waters of Lake Victoria; 103 species were recorded.
• 2 Blue‐green algae (Cyanophyceae) were most diverse, followed by diatoms (Bacillariophyceae), green algae (Chlorophyceae) and dinoflagellates (Dinophyceae).
• 3 Twinspan separated the phytoplankton communities in the Nyanza Gulf and those in the open lake during both seasons. During the dry season, the Nyanza Gulf was strongly dominated by blue‐greens, while diatoms dominated in the open lake. During the rainy season, blue‐greens remained dominant in the Nyanza Gulf although the number of species found was lower than during the dry season; in the open lake, blue‐greens replaced diatoms as the dominant group and there were more species than in the dry season.
• 4 Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the phytoplankton species distribution was significantly correlated with turbidity during the dry season and with SiO₂ during the rainy season. Chlorophyll a concentrations ranging from 2.0 to 71.5 mg m^‐3 in the dry season and 2.0–17.2 mg m^‐3 in the rainy season confirm earlier reports of increasing phytoplankton biomass in Lake Victoria since the 1960s.

     

Diel, episodic and seasonal changes in pH and concentrations of inorganic carbon in a productive lake

• 1 Two pH electrodes and a thermistor were used to record conditions in the surface of Esthwaite Water every 15 min over a 12-month period. Combined with approximately weekly measurements of alkalinity they allowed inorganic carbon speciation to be calculated.
• 2 Large changes in pH from 7.1 to nearly 10.3, and hence in concentrations of inorganic carbon species, were measured over a year. Carbon speciation and pH varied on a diel, episodic and seasonal basis. Diel variation of up to pH 1.8 was recorded, although typical daily variation was between 0.03 and 1.06 (5 and 95 percentiles). Daily change in concentration of inorganic carbon varied between 4 and 63 mmol m^-3 (5 and 95 percentiles).
• 3 During lake stratification, episodes of high pH, typically of 1–2 weeks' duration were interspersed with episodes of lower pH. These changes appeared to relate to the weather: e.g. low wind velocity, high pressure, low rainfall and high sunshine hours correlated with periods of high pH.
• 4 Seasonal progression of carbon depletion generally followed stratification and the development of high phytoplankton biomass. When the lake was isothermal, the phytoplankton biomass caused relatively small amounts of carbon depletion.
• 5 During autumn, winter and spring, the lake had concentrations of CO₂* (free CO₂) up to 0.12 mol m^-3 which is nearly seven times the calculated atmospheric equilibrium concentration so the lake will accordingly be losing carbon to the atmosphere. In contrast, during periods of elevated pH the concentration of CO₂* was reduced close to zero and the lake will take up atmospheric CO₂. The rates of transfer between water and the atmosphere were estimated using a chemical equilibrium model with three boundary layer thicknesses. The calculations show that over a year the lake loses CO₂ to the atmosphere with the current mean atmospheric level of 360 μmol mol^-1, at between 0.28 and 2.80 mol m^-2 yr^-1. During elevated pH, rates of CO₂-influx increased up to nearly tenfold as a result of chemical-enhancement by parallel flux of HCO^-₃. Input of CO₂* to the lake from the catchment is suggested to be the main source of the carbon lost to the atmosphere.
• 6 The turnover time for CO₂ between the air and water was calculated to be 1 year for the gross influx and 3.3 years for the net flux. These values are less than the average water residence time of 0.25 years, which indicates that over a year inflow from streams is a more important source of inorganic carbon than the atmosphere.
• 7 Influx of CO₂ from the atmosphere was calculated to be roughly equivalent to between 1 and 4% of the rates of production in the water during mid-summer indicating that this source of inorganic carbon is not a major one in this lake.
• 8 Influx of CO₂ from the hypolimnion was estimated on one occasion to be 6.9 10^-9 mol m^-2 s^-1 using transfer values based on mass eddy-diffusion. These rates are equivalent to 23% of the rate of influx of CO₂ from the atmosphere on this occasion which suggests that the hypolimnion is probably a small source of inorganic carbon to the epilimnion. The exception appears to be during windy episodes when pH is depressed. Calculations based on depth-profiles of CO₂* and HCO^-₃ suggest that the measured changes in pH can be accounted for by entrainment of hypolimnetic water into the epilimnion.
• 9 The solubility product for calcite was exceeded by up to about sixfold which, although insufficient to allow homogeneous precipitation, may have allowed heterogeneous precipitation around algal particles.

     

Effects of ultraviolet radiation on the eggs of landlocked Galaxias maculatus (Galaxiidae, Pisces) in northwestern Patagonia

• 1 Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) damages early life stages of several fish species. Galaxias maculatus is a small catadromous fish, with landlocked forms occurring in many lakes within the Nahuel Huapi National Park (Patagonia, Argentina). In this work, the vulnerability of G. maculatus eggs exposed to both natural and artificial UVR was investigated in relation to water transparency.
• 2 Field experiments were performed in two lakes differing in UVR attenuation. Galaxias maculatus eggs were exposed to in situ levels of UVR in quartz tubes incubated at various depths. For laboratory experiments, the eggs were exposed to five levels of artificial UVB radiation.
• 3 Exposure to natural UVR causes various degrees of egg mortality depending on water transparency and incubation depth. In the less transparent lake (K_d320 = 3.08 m^‐1), almost complete mortality was observed near the surface. At a depth of 43 cm the observed mortality was only 22%, but was still significantly different from the dark control. In the most transparent lake (K_d320 = 0.438 m^‐1), almost total mortality was observed in tubes incubated at 2.56 m or shallower. A gradual decline in mortality was recorded from that depth to 3.78 m where the values approached those in the dark control treatments.
• 4 A monotonic relationship between mortality and UV exposure could be observed both in field and laboratory experiments. Using the results from field incubations, a LD₅₀ of 2.5 J cm^‐2 nm^‐1 was estimated. In a few mountain lakes, this value would be exceeded even if the eggs were laid at the maximum depth of the lake. Thus UVR seems a sufficient cause to explain the absence of G. maculatus populations in some mountain lakes. For most lakes, however, UVR is probably one of several important environmental factors, which together determine the habitat suitability.

     

Impacts of freshwater aquaculture on fish communities: A whole‐ecosystem experimental approach

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Regime shift in the littoral ecosystem of volcanic Lake Atitlán in Central America: combined role of stochastic event and invasive plant species

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Life history, growth and production of Mysis relicta in the large, fiord-type Lake Mjøsa, Norway

SUMMARY.

• 1 Biomass, production and life history of Mysis relicta were studied in the large Lake Mjøsa during the years 1976–80. Biomass fluctuations were large, but biomass averaged about 1 g wet wt m^?2 or 200 ind. m^?2. Cumulative net production during summer ranged from 1.6 to 2.1 g wet wt m^?2. Mean population P/B-ratio was close to 2.
• 2 Neither production or biomass of Mysis were correlated with the biomass of phytoplankton or the main Zooplankton prey species (Daphnia and Bosmina), suggesting a predominant ‘top down’ control of Mysis in this lake.
• 3 The life cycle was well synchronized with development of food items, but predation pressure also affected life-history patterns. The proportion of juveniles apparently increased in years with strong fish predation pressure, producing a predominantly 1-year life-cycle pattern the following year.
• 4 Mysis had a predominant 2-year life history, but a traction of the population may reproduce after 1 or 3 years. Reproduction occurred exclusively during winter. Even in such a large and stable system, where Mysis has coexisted with its main food items and predators for 8–10 000 years, a flexible life history is maintained and is probably an important buffer against year-to-year fluctuations in food and predator abundance.

     

A bioenergetic assessment of the influence of stocking practices on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) growth and consumption in a New Zealand lake

Summary

• 1 To investigate the carrying capacity and factors affecting growth of rainbow trout in Lake Rotoiti, we employed a bioenergetics model to assess the influence of stocking rates, timing of releases and prey abundance on growth and prey consumption. We hypothesised that stocking rates and prey abundance would affect growth and prey consumption by influencing per‐capita prey availability, and that the environmental conditions encountered by fish at the time of stocking would affect growth and consumption.
• 2 Prey consumption of stocked rainbow trout was calculated with the Wisconsin bioenergetics model. We calculated growth trajectories of released trout based on data from stocked trout that were released in spring and autumn from 1993 to 2009 and then re‐captured by anglers. Diet, prey energy density, body mass lost during spawning and lake temperature were measured locally.
• 3 Stocking timing had no effect on return rates to anglers or length or weight of caught fish. Although trout released in autumn were smaller than those released in spring, autumn‐released trout grew at a faster rate and had similar lengths and weights to spring cohorts after 2 years of growth in the lake. Modelled consumption parameters were negatively correlated with trout population size, suggesting that stocking rates (347–809 fish ha^?1 year^?1) caused density‐dependent effects on growth. Although common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) accounted for 85% of total prey consumption, no significant relationship was found between prey consumption by individual trout and adult smelt abundance, possibly because trout are targeting smaller smelt that our abundance estimate did not account for.
• 4 Releasing trout in autumn appears to be advantageous for growth, possibly because (i) temperature is more suitable for growth in autumn–winter than in spring–summer and (ii) prey for small trout is abundant in autumn. Mild winter conditions appear to enhance overwinter survival and growth of rainbow trout in warm‐temperate lakes compared to higher latitudes. This implies that moderately productive warm‐temperate lake ecosystems are highly suitable for trout growth in winter, but less so in summer, when lake stratification and high nutrient levels may create conditions suitable for algal blooms and hypolimnetic deoxygenation. High growth rates of trout in warm‐temperate lakes can therefore be supported by timing releases to coincide with favourable winter conditions.

     

Abundance and size change of Hannaea baicalensis in Lake Baikal

Hannaea baicalensis is a benthic pennate diatom that predominantly grows at depths of less than a metre attached to rocks and filamentous algae in Lake Baikal, Russia. This narrow zone at the edge of the lake is subject to frequent wave action and lake level fluctuations, which combine with other factors to affect seasonal abundance. During ice cover from January to May in 2008, when lake levels decreased from 42 to 14 cm above datum, H. baicalensis cell abundance remained low (0.39 × 10⁶ cells cm^–2). The main period of net cell increase occurred in autumn, when there was a period of stable lake level (±10 cm changes in water depth) that coincided with the return of nutrients during autumn overturn. Cell abundance reached 1.52 × 10⁶ cells cm^–2 on 31 October. Alongside the changes in abundance, cyclic size changes in cell apical lengths were found (40 to 144 µm), which were associated with timing of the length of the life cycle. Size decline occurred in both spring and autumn, with an average decrease in apical length of 36 µm per year. It took two years for the mean apical length of a single cohort to decrease from 128 µm to 56 µm, which was then below the threshold (< 65 µm) for initiation of size regeneration.     

Littoral microcrustacea in Lake 302S in the Experimental Lakes Area of Canada: acidification and recovery

• 1 The littoral microcrustacean community (Cladocera and Copepoda) was examined from 1989 to 1991 in a lake experimentally acidified to pH 4.5, and from 1992 to 1997 during the early stages of pH recovery.
• 2 Cladoceran abundance declined significantly from 1989 to 1991 (pH 4.5), but species richness did not change. Acantholeberis curvirostris, Simocephalus serrulatus, Latona spp. (Latona setifera, L. parviremis), and all species of chydorid Cladocera declined markedly in abundance while at pH 4.5. The abundance of cyclopoid copepods was low and Ceriodaphnia and calanoid copepods were absent.
• 3 Recovery of the community was subsequently monitored as pH was incrementally changed to a target pH 5.1 in 1992 and 1993, and to 5.8 in 1994–97. Species richness remained unchanged. Chydorid cladocerans remained at low abundance in 1992, and only Chydorus cf. brevilabris increased substantially from 1993 to 1996. Non‐chydorid Cladocera increased in abundance in 1992, declined again in 1993, then gradually increased (mainly due to Ophryoxus gracilis) in 1994–96. All species declined in 1997 as minnows recolonized the lake. The calanoid copepod Leptodiaptomus minutus was present in low numbers in 1997.
• 4 The microcrustacean community in the littoral zone of Lake 302S has not yet shown consistent signs of recovery from acidification.

     

A palaeolimnological record of human disturbance from Harvey's Lake, Vermont: geochemistry, pigments and diatoms

• 1 Stratigraphic analyses of inorganic geochemistry, pigments and fossil diatoms in a 0.7 m core of profundal sediments are used to reconstruct the limnological history of Harvey's Lake, Vermont, over the last 1000 years. The lake is moderately productive, deep (44 m) and clear, and the phytoplankton today is dominated by the blue-green alga, Oscillatoria rubescens. Sedimentary pigments unique to blue-green algae, oscillaxanthin and myxoxanthophyll, provide a detailed history of changes in the O. rubescens population. Accurate sediment chronology is derived from ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs and ¹⁴C dating and from the stratigraphy of pollen and sawmill wastes.
• 2 Primary production increased in Harvey's Lake in 1780 following European settlement and again after 1945, as shown by greater accumulation of sedimentary pigments and diatom frustules, and changes in fossil algal assemblages. Blue-green algae first appeared in abundance about 1945, indicating nutrient enrichment from dairy wastes and shoreline development. Increased deposition of elements associated with classic minerals also suggests greater soil erosion during both of these intervals.
• 3 Two episodes of increased sedimentary anoxia (1820–1920 and 1945–present) are marked in the sedimentary record by enhanced pigment preservation, changes in authigenic Fe and Mn stratigraphy,’and the development of laminated sediments. The earlier episode of oxygens depletion is correlated with the discharge of sawmill wastes into the lake, and the later episode is associated with increased primary production.
• 4 Based on these data a new model for Fe and Mn sediment stratigraphy is proposed for lakes that do not undergo complete hypolimnetic anoxia.
• 5 Fine-scale resolution of recent diatom and oscillaxanthin stratigraphy provides historical evidence for a long-term negative interaction between diatom and blue-green algal populations in Harvey's Lake.

     

Effects of nutrients and warming on Planktothrix dynamics and diversity: a palaeolimnological view based on sedimentary DNA and RNA

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Hydrologic and anthropogenic influences on aquatic macrophyte development in a large,shallow lake in China

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Bird abundance and species richness on Florida lakes: influence of trophic status,lake morphology,and aquatic macrophytes

Data from 46 Florida lakes were used to examine relationships between bird abundance (numbers and biomass) and species richness, and lake trophic status, lake morphology and aquatic macrophyte abundance. Average annual bird numbers ranged from 7 to 800 birds km^–2 and bird biomass ranged from 1 to 465 kg km^–2. Total species richness ranged from 1 to 30 species per lake. Annual average bird numbers and biomass were positively correlated to lake trophic status as assessed by total phosphorus (r = 0.61), total nitrogen (r = 0.60) and chlorophyll a (r = 0.56) concentrations. Species richness was positively correlated to lake area (r = 0.86) and trophic status (r = 0.64 for total phosphorus concentrations). The percentage of the total annual phosphorus load contributed to 14 Florida lakes by bird populations was low averaging 2.4%. Bird populations using Florida lakes, therefore, do not significantly impact the trophic status of the lakes under natural situations, but lake trophic status is a major factor influencing bird abundance and species richness on lakes. Bird abundance and species richness were not significantly correlated to other lake morphology or aquatic macrophyte parameters after the effects of lake area and trophic status were accounted for using stepwise multiple regression. The lack of significant relations between annual average bird abundance and species richness and macrophyte abundance seems to be related to changes in bird species composition. Bird abundance and species richness remain relatively stable as macrophyte abundance increases, but birds that use open-water habitats (e.g., double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus) are replaced by species that use macrophyte communities (e.g., ring-necked duck, Aythya collaris).     

Biogenic methane contributes to the food web of a large,shallow lake

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Spatial distribution of phytoplankton in Lake Baikal, Spring 1991

• 1 Studies carried out in Lake Baikal in late spring (late May-early June) 1991 showed marked differences in the species composition and abundance of phytoplankton in different regions of the lake. The south and north basins were characterized by small forms of algae. The middle basin, Maloe More and the shallow waters of the Selenga had species with large cells including Aulacoseira islandica subsp. helvetica, Dinobryon cylindricum and D. divergens.
• 2 Areas of high biomass were correlated with shallow waters and river inputs. This was especially apparent in the region of the Selenga delta. The vertical distribution of phytoplankton indicated the non-synchronous start of the spring homothermy throughout the lake. Phytoplankton were concentrated in the upper 100 m layer with subsurface maxima resulting from the sinking of large algae.
• 3 The concentration of phytoplankton biomass in general at this time characterized the lake as moderately productive.

     

In situ life table of a subtropical copepod

• 1 A life table of a subtropical population of Mesocyclops edax(Copepoda: Cyclopoida) was constructed from a cohort of individuals reared in enclosures in a small, eutrophic lake.
• 2 The lake population was sampled concurrently to determine age structure, per capita birth, death and growth rates, body size and clutch size.
• 3 Maturation times of enclosed males and females were 9.3 and 11.4 days, respectively. The population growth rate. r. was estimated to be 0.18 females day^-1 for the enclosed population, but approximated zero on most dates in the lake population. Mortality was low in the enclosures which excluded predators and high in the field population exposed to planktivorous fish and Chaoborus.
• 4 The means and variances of several fitness traits are related to the specific environment. The enclosure approach promises to be a useful tool in the study of zooplankton life history variation.