Response of primary producers to water level fluctuations of Lake Peipsi
Laen...
Kuupäev
2018
Kättesaadav alates
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Estonian Academy Publishers
Abstrakt
The amplitude of natural fluctuation between annual averages of the water level (WL) of Lake Peipsi (3555 km 2) is
1.5 m. A study aimed to examine the impact of WL fluctuations on phytoplankton, macrophytes, and their epiphyton was
performed annually at littoral stations during 2005–2015. Also the characteristics of pelagic water were collated with the WL.
Changes in littoral and pelagial phytoplankton were similar, with the exclusion of massive wind-caused accumulations of
cyanobacteria in the littoral. At the lowest WL a significant increase occurred in (a) the biomass of phytoplankton and the share of
phytoplankton-derived organic carbon in water and (b) the species richness and biomass of macrophytes, including submerged
plants and macroalgae. The abundance of epiphytes did not reveal a clear relation with the WL. The ratios of biomasses in
the years with the lowest and the highest average WL were 2.2 for Potamogeton spp. and 2.6 for phytoplankton. The assessment
of ecological status at the minimum and the maximum WL differs at least by one quality class. Decisions about ecological status
based on phytoplankton and large filamentous green algae at low water may be contrary to decisions based on macrophytes: high
biomasses of phytoplankton and macroalgae indicate hypertrophic status, but species-rich macrovegetation and high biomasses of
charophytes and elodeids are considered to be characteristic of meso- to eutrophic water bodies.
This study was supported by the Estonian Target Financed Project SF0362483s03, by the Estonian State Monitoring Programme, and by the materials of the herbarium of the Department of Botany in the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences.
This study was supported by the Estonian Target Financed Project SF0362483s03, by the Estonian State Monitoring Programme, and by the materials of the herbarium of the Department of Botany in the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences.
Kirjeldus
Märksõnad
limnology, water level, phytoplankton, macrophytes, epiphytes, biomass, ecological assessment, articles