| Abstract: | SUMMARY. 1. This study links maximum biomass from eighteen aquatic macrophyte communities in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, to sediment characteristics: chemically exchangeable nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, per cent organic matter, water content and texture, and to biotic variables: number of species and depth of maximum biomass. 2. Total biomass was positively and significantly related to sediment potassium content and to sediment texture. 3. Sediment nitrogen and potassium levels are correlated in the spring but not at the end of the growing season. 4. It appears that sediment potassium is a surrogate variable for the availability of sediment nitrogen which has been shown to limit aquatic macrophyte growth in this area. |
