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Phytoplankton co-limitation by nitrogen and phosphorus in a shallow reservoir: progressing from the phosphorus limitation paradigm

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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) limitation has been regarded as the rule in freshwater systems and the basis for phytoplankton growth management. We hypothesised that P would be the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth in Grahamstown Dam, a shallow, mesotrophic reservoir, across different seasons and on different experimental time scales. Seven fully factorial microcosm assays with additions of nitrogen (N) and P were conducted in situ during different seasons. The influence of longer experimental duration was examined in two 18-day mesocosm assays. Additions of N and P in combination evoked significantly higher phytoplankton biomass and biovolumes of individual algal genera compared with controls and other treatments in both types of experiment. There were some significant responses to P additions in the microcosm assays in winter. Some genera first responded to combined P and N addition and then to P only addition during the mesocoms assays. Our results show that P was not the limiting nutrient across all seasons but that phytoplankton was mostly co-limited by N and P. A longer experimental time scale did not change this outcome at the biomass level. This implies that input of N as well as of P should be considered in the management of phytoplankton growth.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Hunter Water for funding this project under the Grahamstown Dam Adaptive Management Strategy, in particular Bruce Cole for management of the project and Ian Graham, Stuart Bailey, Jim Carter, Greg Mason and Paul for their help with boat operations and sampling. Further, we are grateful for the assistance of James Hitchcock and Martin Pfeil in the field and we owe Dr Darren Baldwin thanks for useful comments on this study.

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  1. Centre for Environmental Sustainability (CENS), School of the Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Stefanie Müller & Simon M. Mitrovic

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  1. Stefanie Müller
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  2. Simon M. Mitrovic
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Correspondence to Stefanie Müller.

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Handling editor: David Philip Hamilton

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Müller, S., Mitrovic, S.M. Phytoplankton co-limitation by nitrogen and phosphorus in a shallow reservoir: progressing from the phosphorus limitation paradigm. Hydrobiologia 744, 255–269 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2082-3

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