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Temporal changes in biomass specific photosynthesis during the summer: regulation by environmental factors and the importance of phytoplankton succession

  • Phytoplankton Dynamics and Community Structure
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Abstract

Measurements of phytoplankton photosynthesis vs. irradiance relationships have been made at 3–7 day intervals in Lake Erken (central Sweden) for three years during summer stratification. Both the rate of light-limited (αB) and light-saturated (Pmax B) photosynthesis per unit chlorophyll a showed distinct and similar temporal trends in each year. Seasonal trends were especially evident for Pmax B, which increased in value for several weeks following the onset of thermal stratification, and then declined in the presence of the large colonial blue-green alga, Gloeotrichia echinulata. By late summer, when the biomass of G. echinulata had decreased, Pmax B again rose to its early summer value. The covariation of biomass-specific photosynthesis with the blooming of G. echinulata was the one clear seasonal (week-month) pattern which emerged in each of 3 years. Over short (day-week) time scales, changes in αB were related to changes in irradiance exposure on the day of sampling. However, the relationship between these two parameters was variable in time, since it was superimposed upon longer term trends controlled by changes in phytoplankton species composition. Increases in G. echinulata biomass corresponded with a deepening of the thermocline, which both increased internal phosphorus loading and the transport of resting G. echinulata colonies into the epilimnion. The timing and magnitude of the yearly G. echinulata bloom was as a result related to the seasonal development of thermal stratification. These results illustrate the importance of seasonal changes in the phytoplankton community as a factor regulating rates of biomass specific photosynthesis, particularly when the successional changes involve species with very different life strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Limnology, Uppsala University, Box 557, S-751 22, Uppsala, Sweden

    Donald C. Pierson & Kurt Pettersson

  2. Balaton Limnological Research Institute, H-8237, Tihany, Hungary

    Vera Istvanovics

Authors
  1. Donald C. Pierson
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  2. Kurt Pettersson
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  3. Vera Istvanovics
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Pierson, D.C., Pettersson, K. & Istvanovics, V. Temporal changes in biomass specific photosynthesis during the summer: regulation by environmental factors and the importance of phytoplankton succession. Hydrobiologia 243, 119–135 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007027

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