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Effects of pollen leaching and microbial degradation on organic carbon and nutrient availability in lake water

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Abstract

Nutrient fluxes across terrestrial-aquatic boundaries and their subsequent integration into lake nutrient cycles are currently a major topic of aquatic research. Although pollen represents a good substrate for microorganisms, it has been neglected as a terrestrial source of organic matter in lakes. In laboratory experiments, we incubated pollen grains of Pinus sylvestris in water of lakes with different trophy and pH to estimate effects of pollen input and its subsequent microbial degradation on nutrient dynamics. In this ex situ experiment, we measured concentrations of organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen in the surrounding water as well as microbial dynamics (bacteria and fungal sporangia) at well-controlled conditions. Besides leaching, chemical and microbial decomposition of pollen was strongest within the first week of incubation. This led to a marked increase of soluble reactive phosphorus and total dissolved nitrogen (up to 0.04 and 1.5 mg L−1, respectively, after 5 days of incubation) in the ambient water. In parallel, pollen grains were rapidly colonized by heterotrophic bacteria and aquatic fungi. Leaching and microbial degradation of pollen accounted for ≥80, ≥40, ≥50% for organic C, N and P, respectively, and did not significantly differ among water samples from the studied lakes. Thus, pollen introduces high amounts of bio-available terrestrial organic matter and nutrients into surface waters within a short time. A rough calculation on P input into oligotrophic Lake Stechlin indicates that pollen plays an important ecological role in nutrient cycling of temperate lakes. This requires further attention in aquatic ecology.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Elke Mach and Uta Mallock for technical assistance. Thomas Mehner and the participants of the workshop “Scientific Writing” at IGB provided helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Chemical and limnological monitoring data were provided by IGB, Dept. Limnology of Stratified Lakes in Neuglobsow. This study has been financially supported by a grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG, GR 1540/12-1).

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  1. Department of Limnology of Stratified Lakes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Alte Fischerhütte 2, 16775, Stechlin, Germany

    Stefan Rösel, Anna Rychła, Christian Wurzbacher & Hans-Peter Grossart

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  1. Stefan Rösel
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  2. Anna Rychła
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  3. Christian Wurzbacher
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Correspondence to Hans-Peter Grossart.

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Rösel, S., Rychła, A., Wurzbacher, C. et al. Effects of pollen leaching and microbial degradation on organic carbon and nutrient availability in lake water. Aquat Sci 74, 87–99 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-011-0198-3

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