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Influence of substrate type on periphyton biomass and nutrient state at contrasting high nutrient levels in a subtropical shallow lake

  • SHALLOW LAKE ECOSYSTEMS
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Abstract

How substrate affects periphyton biomass and nutrient state at different, but high, nutrient levels was tested in three large enclosures in a hypereutrophic subtropical shallow lake. We compared periphytic characteristics (1) on three hard substrates (stone, bamboo, and wood) incubated for 2 weeks and 1 year, respectively, to investigate the existence of the influences of substrate type at hypereutrophic levels, and (2) on artificial plants with contrasting (parvopotamid-like and myriophyllid-like) soft substrate morphology. In general, periphytic biomass and nutrient state were sensitive to variations in nutrient level, incubation time, hard substrate type (except 2-week incubated) and substrate morphology, but to a varying extent. The periphyton nutrient content increased with increasing nutrient levels on most substrates. Long-time incubated substrates supported more periphytic biomass, had a higher nutrient content and autotrophic proportion, while the effect of nutrient level on nutrient content in the periphyton was independent of incubation time. The effects of hard substrate type on periphyton characteristics were much weaker than those of nutrient level. By contrast, the effects of soft substrate morphology on periphyton biomass and carbon: nutrient ratios surpassed those of nutrient level. Chlorophyll a, dry mass, and ash free dry mass were much higher on parvopotamid than on myriophyllid substrates. Our results show that periphyton biomass and nutrient state are influenced by both substrate and nutrient level even in hypereutrophic lakes, which might have cascading effects on the benthic food web.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Dianchi Work Station of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for providing sampling equipment and laboratory facilities as well as board and lodging, Liu Youping for helpful discussions, Li Wanhua for artificial substrate preparations and samplings/sampling assistance, and Xie Jin’e for chemical analyses. This study was financed by the National Key Project for Basic Research of China (2002CB412300), the National Scientific Foundation Project of China (30570291) and the Wuhan Academic Leader Programme (201051730562). In addition, EJ received support from “CLEAR” (a Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence project) and The Danish Council for Independent Research: Natural Sciences (272-08-0406). Anne Mette Poulsen is greatly acknowledged for editorial assistance, and we thank guest editor Zhengwen Liu as well as the reviewers for valuable comments, which greatly improved the MS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Na Zhang

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution & Ecological Restoration, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Hongjing Li & Wei Li

  3. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, P.O. Box 314, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Erik Jeppesen

  4. Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), Beijing, China

    Erik Jeppesen & Wei Li

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  1. Na Zhang
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  2. Hongjing Li
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  4. Wei Li
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Correspondence to Wei Li.

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Guest editors: Zhengwen Liu, Bo-Ping Han & Ramesh D. Gulati / Conservation, management and restoration of shallow lake ecosystems facing multiple stressors

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Zhang, N., Li, H., Jeppesen, E. et al. Influence of substrate type on periphyton biomass and nutrient state at contrasting high nutrient levels in a subtropical shallow lake. Hydrobiologia 710, 129–141 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1287-6

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