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Biomass of pelagic fungi in Baltic rivers

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Abstract

Concentrations of pelagic fungal biomass, determined as the content of ergosterol in particulate matter, were measured in 49 Baltic rivers during summer 1999. The ergosterol concentration varied 12-fold, from 12.6 to 152.5 ng l−1 (average of 56.4 ng l−1) and correlated positively with concentrations of dissolved organic matter and inorganic nutrients as well as with spectral DOM properties indicative of terrestrial sources. The fungal biomass was 12- to 100-fold lower than the biomass of pelagic bacteria, suggesting that fungi in the water column of the rivers probably were of minor importance in the riverine ecosystems at the sampling time.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by MISTRA and the Oscar and Lili Lamms Minne Fundation for R. Stepanauskas. We wish to thank R. E. Jensen for skillful assistance with analysis of ergosterol, and Drs. M. Sole, K. R. Sridhar and M.O. Gessner for valuable help and advice during preparation of the manuscript. We also acknowledge the constrictive criticism of the manuscript by three reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture and Ecology, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Niels O. G. Jørgensen

  2. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 475, West Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 04575-0475, USA

    Ramunas Stepanauskas

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  1. Niels O. G. Jørgensen
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  2. Ramunas Stepanauskas
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Correspondence to Niels O. G. Jørgensen.

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Handling editor: J. Padisak

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Jørgensen, N.O.G., Stepanauskas, R. Biomass of pelagic fungi in Baltic rivers. Hydrobiologia 623, 105–112 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9651-2

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