Primary productivity and related parameters in three different types of inland waters in Sri Lanka

Gross and net primary production together with chlorophyll-a biomass were investigated with respect to depth and diurnal changes in three categories of inland waters (reservoirs, temporary ponds, brackish water lagoons) in Sri Lanka. Ten field sites, in both the dry and wet zones of the island, were investigated. Bimodal productivity profiles were recorded in two of the three reservoirs studied. The diel pattern of net photosynthetic rate varied between sites although peak photosynthetic efficiency occurred at solar noon. Surface photoinhibition was characteristic of the reservoirs and brackish water lagoons but not of the temporary ponds. Mean gross primary production was 3.02 g C m^–2 d^–1 but was higher in the temporary ponds than in the reservoirs. The gross primary production in the brackish water Koggala Lagoon at 0.08 g C m^–2 d^–1 is a record low for tropical lagoons and was 2.5 times less than the two other lagoons investigated. Variability in net primary production between sites was similar to the variation in gross production with a relatively low mean value for tropical inland waters of 0.495 C m^–2 d^–1. Mean maximum photosynthetic rate was 0.30 mg C m^–3 h^–1 but was lower in the reservoirs than in the temporary ponds and lagoons.     

Comparative bioenergetics of permanent and temporary pond populations of the freshwater clam,Musculium partumeium (Say)

The population energetics of a temporary and a permanent pond population of Musculium partumeium in Southwest Ohio were studied. In the permanent pond (surface area = 396 m², maximum depth = 0.7 m) the population was bivoltine and iteroparous whereas in the temporary pond (surface area = 1042 m², maximum depth = 0.9 m) the population was usually univoltine and semelparous.Growth and biomass were assessed as total organic carbon and total nitrogen to provide estimates of productivity and seasonal changes in C:N for each generation. Productivity (non-respired assimilation = growth + reproduction; N-R.A. = G + R) was 6939 mgC·m^–2·a^–1 (3858 and 3353 mgC·m^–2·a^–1 for each generation) and 1661 mgC·m^–2·a^–1 for the permanent and temporary pond populations respectively. The average standing crop biomass (B) was 606.8 mgC·m^–2 (357.5 and 249.3 mgC·m^–2 for each generation) and 231.9 mgC·m^–2 with overall productivity: biomass ratios of 11.4 and 7.2 for the permanent pond and temporary pond populations respectively.Respiration rates were converted to carbon equivalents (respired assimilation = R.A.) and used to evaluate the components of total assimilation (T.A. = R.A. + N-R.A.) and the efficiency of partitioning this energy to N-R.A. for G and R. When expressed as a percentage, the production efficiencies (100 × N-R.A.:T.A.) were 50.4 and 62%, and the reproductive efficiencies (100 × R:N-R.A.) were 26.4 and 18% for the permanent and temporary pond populations respectively. The reproductive efficiencies for populations of these viviparous clams are greater than those for most oviparous molluscs.The comparative information on the energetics of these populations does not completely fit any theoretical consideration of reproductive effort or life-history strategy. These data are discussed in relation to selection for population success in temporary ponds.Funded in part by grants to Albert J. Burky from the Ohio Biological Survey and the University of Dayton Research CouncilFunded in part by grants to Albert J. Burky from the Ohio Biological Survey and the University of Dayton Research Council     

Temporal dynamics of estuarine phytoplankton: A case study of San Francisco Bay

Detailed surveys throughout San Francisco Bay over an annual cycle (1980) show that seasonal variations of phytoplankton biomass, community composition, and productivity can differ markedly among estuarine habitat types. For example, in the river-dominated northern reach (Suisun Bay) phytoplankton seasonality is characterized by a prolonged summer bloom of netplanktonic diatoms that results from the accumulation of suspended particulates at the convergence of nontidal currents (i.e. where residence time is long). Here turbidity is persistently high such that phytoplankton growth and productivity are severely limited by light availability, the phytoplankton population turns over slowly, and biological processes appear to be less important mechanisms of temporal change than physical processes associated with freshwater inflow and turbulent mixing. The South Bay, in contrast, is a lagoon-type estuary less directly coupled to the influence of river discharge. Residence time is long (months) in this estuary, turbidity is lower and estimated rates of population growth are high (up to 1–2 doublings d^–1), but the rapid production of phytoplankton biomass is presumably balanced by grazing losses to benthic herbivores. Exceptions occur for brief intervals (days to weeks) during spring when the water column stratifies so that algae retained in the surface layer are uncoupled from benthic grazing, and phytoplankton blooms develop. The degree of stratification varies over the neap-spring tidal cycle, so the South Bay represents an estuary where (1) biological processes (growth, grazing) and a physical process (vertical mixing) interact to cause temporal variability of phytoplankton biomass, and (2) temporal variability is highly dynamic because of the short-term variability of tides. Other mechanisms of temporal variability in estuarine phytoplankton include: zooplankton grazing, exchanges of microalgae between the sediment and water column, and horizontal dispersion which transports phytoplankton from regions of high productivity (shallows) to regions of low productivity (deep channels).Multi-year records of phytoplankton biomass show that large deviations from the typical annual cycles observed in 1980 can occur, and that interannual variability is driven by variability of annual precipitation and river discharge. Here, too, the nature of this variability differs among estuary types. Blooms occur only in the northern reach when river discharge falls within a narrow range, and the summer biomass increase was absent during years of extreme drought (1977) or years of exceptionally high discharge (1982). In South Bay, however, there is a direct relationship between phytoplankton biomass and river discharge. As discharge increases so does the buoyancy input required for density stratification, and wet years are characterized by persistent and intense spring blooms.     

HCO−3 uptake through the roots and its effect on the productivity of willow cuttings

Abstract Young willow plants (Salix‘aquatica gigantea’) were grown in hydroponic culture media, and ¹⁴C–labelled sodium bicarbonate was fed to the roots. Uptake of ¹⁴C-label in the leaves and shoots was assayed after two different feeding periods (6 h, 48 h). Even during the shortest feeding period, ¹⁴C-label had been transferred to the leaves and shoots. Compared with the longer feeding period, after the 6 h feeding period more label was in the form of acid-labile products, whereas after the 48 h feeding period most of the label was in acid-stable products. A second experiment was designed to test whether carbon uptake by roots affects the growth of young willow plants. Uniform rooted cuttings were grown in hydroponic cultures at five different levels of bicarbonate: 0, 0.015, 0.147 0.737, and 1.473 mol m^?3 NaHCO₃. After a 4-week growing period we determined the biomass of leaves, shoots, roots and cuttings. Production of total dry matter (shoots, leaves and roots) increased with increasing bicarbonate concentration. Saturation of dry matter production was reached at 0.737 mol m^?3 NaHCO₃, but a higher concentration of NaHCO₃ (1.470 mol m^?3) caused a slight decrease in the dry matter production. At 0.737 mol m^?3 NaHCO₃ the total dry weight increased by 31.1%, which suggests that uptake of dissolved carbon dioxide through the roots might affect carbon budgeting in young willow plants.     

Primary production and respiration of the phytoplankton in the Blue and White Niles at Khartoum

Phytoplankton production and respiration in the Blue Nile and White Nile at Khartoum were measured during the period November 1969–January 1971 using the light and dark bottle technique. Maximum rates of production coincided with periods of maximum phytoplankton densities. In the Blue Nile gross production varied between 0.00 gCm^–3d^–1 during the flood season and 2.19 gCm^–3d^–1 (0.49 mgO₂l^–1h^–1) during November 1969. In the White Nile the range was from 0.41 gCm^–3d^–1 (0.09 MgO₂l^–1h^–1) in May to 3.74 gCm^–3d^–1 (0.83 MgO₂l^–1h^–1) in November. The maximum rates of respiration in the Blue Nile and White Nile were 0.10 and 0.63 MgO₂l^–1h^–1 respectively. The ratios net:gross production were generally higher in the White Nile than in the Blue Nile.     

A comparison of the accuracy and precision of several open-water oxygen productivity techniques

Several methods for the estimation of the reaeration coefficient were compared by determining the ability of the methods to recover the correct K value from a computer-simulated stream oxygen record affected by a variety of non-ideal conditions. Noisy data and long observation intervals were not a serious problem for most methods. Saturating photosynthesis, fluctuating light intensity, afternoon depression and temperature variation caused failures by some methods but were well handled by others. Serious impairment of all methods occurred with low productivity or high K. In general, the best-performing methods were the modified hysteresis, nighttime regression, daytime regression, Odum and Hornberger-Kelly daytime methods.     

Primary production in Rattlesnake Springs,a cold desert spring-stream

Primary productivity and respiration were measured in Rattlesnake Springs, Washington, using the upstream-downstream diel pH-CO₂ curve and harvest methods.Daily P_g and P_n rates averaged 8.7 and 0.9, 0.6 and 0.3, and 9.3 and 1.2 g C m^–2 d^–1 for periphyton, watercress, and total community, respectively. Average photosynthetic efficiencies (%, P _n Lt^–1) were approximately 0.22 and 0.07 for periphyton and watercress, respectively. Annual community P_g was 2 700 g C m^–2 a^–1 and was highest for periphyton (2 526 g C m^–2 a^–1). Periphyton P_n (356 g C m^–2 a^–1) exceeded that of watercress (87 g C m^–2 a^–1). Community R was 2 257 g C m^–2 a^–1, and was highest for periphyton (2 170 g C m² a^–1).Desert streams appear to be enigmas in terms of their relationship between autotrophy and heterotrophy and their ability to be net importers or exporters of organic matter. The fact that they can be autotrophic and net importers of organic matter is probably related to the characteristic flash-flooding of desert streams, and emphasizes the necessity of examining these systems over more than a single annual cycle.