Abstract
Submerged macrophytes are key components of shallow lake biological communities, and their presence has been associated with a predominantly clear-water state. Conversely, lakes lacking macrophytes are often turbid with elevated phytoplankton abundance. One main mechanism that influences the presence or absence of submerged macrophytes is turbidity that reduces the light available to macrophytes. Increases in turbidity can be caused by increased phytoplankton abundance and by increased concentrations of suspended inorganic sediment and understanding the relative contributions of these two factors can inform efforts to manage the effects of increased turbidity on macrophyte occurrence. Here, a continental scale data set is analyzed to quantify the effects of macrophytes on turbidity that originates from phytoplankton and from non-phytoplankton sources (e.g., inorganic sediment). Effects of phytoplankton assemblage composition on turbidity are also estimated. Based on this model, illustrative examples of chlorophyll concentrations needed to maintain or restore macrophytes to shallow lakes are calculated, and the difference in the magnitude of these concentrations illustrates the stabilizing effect of macrophytes on lake condition.
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All data used in this manuscript are presently available on the National Lakes Assessment website.
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Only publicly available software (R and Stan) were used for the analysis.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks the many field crews of the NLA who collected the data used in this analysis. Comments from J. Alers-Garcia and J. Oliver greatly improved the manuscript. Views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect official policy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Yuan, L.L. Continental-scale effects of phytoplankton and non-phytoplankton turbidity on macrophyte occurrence in shallow lakes. Aquat Sci 83, 14 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-020-00769-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-020-00769-1