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Assessing maximum depth distribution, vegetated area, and production of submerged macrophytes in shallow, turbid coastal lagoons of the southern Baltic Sea

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Abstract

Submerged macrophytes improve water quality in shallow coastal lagoons but eutrophication often resulted in a degradation of macrophytes. Management measures that protect and restore macrophyte stands require knowledge on what limits macrophyte distribution. Information on macrophyte production and distribution in the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain (southern Baltic Sea) is lacking since an almost complete loss of submerged vegetation in the 1980s. Nutrient input was reduced in the 1990s and macrophytes seem to recover, although turbidity is high and light conditions are still poor. However, this recovery raised hope that returning macrophytes could stabilize sediments and improve water clarity. In this study, seasonal changes in photosynthesis–irradiance curves of selected macrophyte species were used to calculate potential primary production in different depths and turbidity situations. Bathymetry of the area is then used to assess depth distribution and vegetated area. Since the so-calculated depth limits correspond well with the actual depth distribution in the field, macrophyte depth distribution is concluded to be mostly determined by light conditions. Most macrophytes grow in very shallow areas up to 50 cm depth where also 70% of potential primary production takes place. Present light conditions do not support a further expansion of macrophyte distribution in the DZBC.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Irmgard Blindow, Stefanie Nolte, Hendrik Schubert, and two anonymous reviewers for useful comments on the manuscript. Marion Kruse kindly provided the map of the study site. I am also grateful for funding by the “Forschungsstiftung Ostsee” (04/2014) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 03F0665 A).

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  1. Institute of Biosciences/Aquatic Ecology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3, Rostock, Germany

    Maike Piepho

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Correspondence to Maike Piepho.

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Handling editor: Pierluigi Viaroli

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Piepho, M. Assessing maximum depth distribution, vegetated area, and production of submerged macrophytes in shallow, turbid coastal lagoons of the southern Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia 794, 303–316 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3107-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3107-5

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