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Effects of N and P enrichment on competition between phytoplankton and benthic algae in shallow lakes: a mesocosm study

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Abstract

Competition for resources between coexisting phytoplankton and benthic algae, but with different habitats and roles in functioning of lake ecosystems, profoundly affects dynamics of shallow lakes in the process of eutrophication. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that combined enrichment with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) would be a greater benefit to phytoplankton than benthic algae. The growth of phytoplankton and benthic algae was measured as chlorophyll a (Chl a) in 12 shallow aquatic mesocosms supplemented with N, P, or both. We found that enrichment with N enhanced growth of benthic algae, but not phytoplankton. P enrichment had a negative effect on benthic algal growth, and no effect on the growth of phytoplankton. N+P enrichment had a negative effect on benthic algae, but enhanced the growth of phytoplankton, thus reducing the proportion of benthic algae contributing to the combined biomass of these two groups of primary producers. Thus, combined N+P enrichment is more favorable to phytoplankton in competition with benthic algae than enrichment with either N or P alone. Our study indicates that combined enrichment with N+P promotes the dominance of phytoplankton over benthic algae, with consequences for the trophic dynamics of shallow lake ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Xiao Yu, Min Zhou, Jieni Jiang, and Fangfei Sun for the help in various ways during the experiment. The study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31100339), National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2012CB956100), and the Special Program of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (no. 2012T50494).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Xiufeng Zhang, Xueying Mei & Zhengwen Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Xiufeng Zhang & Zhengwen Liu

  3. College of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China

    Xueying Mei

  4. Department of Aquatic Ecology, The Netherlands Institute of Ecology, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Ramesh D. Gulati

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  1. Xiufeng Zhang
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  2. Xueying Mei
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  3. Ramesh D. Gulati
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  4. Zhengwen Liu
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Correspondence to Xiufeng Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Zhang, X., Mei, X., Gulati, R.D. et al. Effects of N and P enrichment on competition between phytoplankton and benthic algae in shallow lakes: a mesocosm study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 4418–4424 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3680-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3680-3

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