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How length of light exposure shapes the development of riverine algal biomass in temperate rivers?

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Abstract

The impact of cumulative daily solar radiation (CDSR) on the biomass of river phytoplankton (Chl-a) in the growing season was studied using a large dataset of rivers in the Carpathian Basin. The amount of solar radiation was cumulated over the range of 1–60 days. The CDSR–Chl-a relationship could be described by linear regression and appeared to be significant for almost all watercourses with the exception of rivers with short water residence time. To determine the most relevant time period of CDSR impacting phytoplankton biomass, the slopes of regressions were plotted against the accumulating number of days of light exposure (1–60). Two characteristic shapes were obtained: unimodal for rhithral rivers with hard substrate and steady increase for lowland potamal rivers with fine substrate. In both cases, there is an increasing tendency in the slope values with water residence time (WRT). It was demonstrated that CDSR has a pronounced impact on river phytoplankton biomass even in cases when WRT was shorter than the cumulated solar radiation period. These results indicate that development of phytoplankton within the river channel is a complex process in which meroplankton dynamics may have significant impacts. Our results have two implications: First, CDSR cannot be neglected in predictive modelling of riverine phytoplankton biomass. Second, climate models forecast increased drought with subsequently increased CDSR in several regions globally, which may trigger a rise in phytoplankton biomass in light-limited rivers with high nutrient concentrations.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are financially supported by the GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00019 Project and by the MTA Postdoctoral Research Program (PD-019/2016). Partial support was provided by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH K-120595).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Tisza River Research, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Danube Research Institute, Bem tér 18/C, Debrecen, 4026, Hungary

    G. Várbíró, A. Abonyi & G. Borics

  2. GINOP Sustainable Ecosystems Group, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Klebensberg Kuno u. 3, Tihany, 8237, Hungary

    G. Várbíró, V. B-Béres & G. Borics

  3. Department of Limnology, University of Pannonia, Egyetem Str. 10, Veszprém, 8200, Hungary

    J. Padisák & Z. Nagy-László

  4. MTA-PE Limnoecology Research Group, Egyetem Str. 10, Veszprém, 8200, Hungary

    J. Padisák

  5. Hrvatske vode, Central Water Management Laboratory, Ulica grada Vukovara 220, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    I. Stanković

  6. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    M. Gligora Udovič

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  1. G. Várbíró
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  7. V. B-Béres
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  8. G. Borics
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Correspondence to G. Várbíró.

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Várbíró, G., Padisák, J., Nagy-László, Z. et al. How length of light exposure shapes the development of riverine algal biomass in temperate rivers?. Hydrobiologia 809, 53–63 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3447-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3447-1

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