Respiration in eutrophic lakes: the contribution of bacterioplankton and bacterial growth yield

The contribution of bacterioplankton to total plankton respirationwas measured in two eutrophic Danish lakes and in experimentalenclosures treated with planktivorous fish and nutrients. Bacterialrespiration was calculated from measured oxygen uptake ratesin particles passing a 1.0-µm pore size filter, the rateswere then corrected for the size distribution of glucose uptake.During summer the respiration of the planktonic bacteria contributed{small tilde}50% of the community respiration in the two lakes.Prolific phytoplankton growth induced by biomanipulation andnutrient addition created situations where the contributionof the bacteria decreased to 20%. High bacterial contributionsto community respiration were found when the phytoplankton biomassdecreased. Simultaneous measurements of bacterial respirationand production (by means of ³H]thymidine incorporation) allowedan estimation of bacterial growth yield, which ranged from 9to 66%. In the two lakes the growth yield was constant witha mean of 29 ± 5% (±SD, RQ = 1). The variabilityof the growth yield was larger in the enclosures. The wide range(9–66%) was mainly caused by changes in bacterial netproduction without concomitant changes in respiration. The discussionincludes an evaluation of the oxygen uptake method in size fractionatedsamples and the availability of labile organic substrates asa factor controlling bacterial growth yield. Present address: Institute of Biology and Chemistry, Universityof Roskilde, P. Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark