Summary
The production of organic matter by phytoplankton in Søllerød Sø, which receives large amounts of purified sewage, has been determined at 1300 g glucose per sq. m and year. A maximum of 9.5 g per sq. m is reached per day. It is shown that the yearly production in a lake of this type presumably cannot be considerably greater as through the consumption of carbon dioxide pH will increase to such a degree that this factor becomes injurious to the plankton algae. The uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere whereby pH is lowered thus is the real limiting factor for the production of organic matter in the lake. During the height of summer between 60 and 100 g CO2 is absorbed from the atmosphere per sq. m surface per month.
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Literature
Steemann Nielsen, E. - 1947 - Photosynthesis of Aquatic Plants with special Reference to the Carbon Sources. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv, Bd. 12, Nr. 8.
Steemann Nielsen, E. - 1951 - The Marine Vegetation of Isefjord - A Study on Ecology and Production. Medd. Komm. for Danmarks Fiskeri og Havundersøgelser. Serie Plankton, Bd. 5, Nr. 4.
Steemann Nielsen, E. - 1954 - On Organic Production in the Oceans. Journal du Conseil Intern. pour l'explorat. de la mer. Vol. XIX, p. 309.
Müller, D. - 1948 - Plantefysiologi. København.
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Steemann Nielsen, E. The production of organic matter by the phytoplankton in a danish lake receiving extraordinarily great amounts of nutrient salts. Hydrobiologia 7, 68–74 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189797
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189797