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Changes in the phytoplankton structure in a Pampean shallow lake in the transition from a clear to a turbid regime

  • ARGENTINE PAMPEAN SHALLOW LAKES
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Abstract

We analysed the changes in phytoplankton and in the main limnological features in a shallow lake during its transition from a clear-vegetated regime to a turbid one from 2005 to 2013. As samplings were discontinuous, data were analysed considering three different sampling periods. At the beginning of the first period, the lake was in a clear-vegetated regime, showing low values of chlorophyll a, KdPAR, total suspended solids and nutrients, and high Secchi depth. Phytoplankton was dominated by nano-phytoplanktonic species. During the second period, some evidences of the shift to a turbid regime were observed (mainly in KdPAR and total suspended solids). Towards the end of our study, submerged macrophytes sharply declined; in this period KdPAR and total suspended solids noticeably increased, whereas a significant reduction in Secchi depth occurred. Concomitantly, phytoplankton abundance augmented in two orders of magnitude, changing to a community with a higher proportion of micro-phytoplankton. Although the causes of the regimen shift could not be unequivocally assessed, the drastic reduction in the hydrometric level of the lake probably provoked a declination in macrophytes, with the consequent increase of nutrients in the water column and the increment in phytoplankton densities, carrying the system towards a turbid regime.

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Acknowledgments

We thank to Roberto Escaray, José Bustingorry and to the other members of Laboratorio de Ecología y Fotobiología Acuática (IIB-INTECH) and Laboratorio de Limnología (FCEyN-UBA) for their field and laboratory assistance. This study was supported by a grant from the University of Buenos Aires (UBACyT X838) and for the PAMPA2 project (Redes- CONICET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Limnología, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA - CONICET/UBA), Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Laura Sánchez, Luz Allende & Irina Izaguirre

  2. Laboratorio de Ecología y Fotobiología Acuática, Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas- Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), Chascomús, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leonardo Lagomarsino

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  1. María Laura Sánchez
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  2. Leonardo Lagomarsino
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  3. Luz Allende
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  4. Irina Izaguirre
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Correspondence to María Laura Sánchez.

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Guest editors: I. Izaguirre, L. A. Miranda, G. M. E. Perillo, M. C. Piccolo & H. E. Zagarese / Shallow Lakes from the Central Plains of Argentina

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Sánchez, M.L., Lagomarsino, L., Allende, L. et al. Changes in the phytoplankton structure in a Pampean shallow lake in the transition from a clear to a turbid regime. Hydrobiologia 752, 65–76 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2010-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2010-6

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