Light-limited algal growth in Lake Loosdrecht: steady state studies in laboratory scale enclosures

Abstract

Phytoplankton growth in the shallow, turbid Lake Loosdrecht (The Netherlands) is importantly influenced by light availability, and thus the concentrations of the various light-attenuating materials. The system is highly eutrophic and supports an algal biomass of ca. 160 mg Chl m⁻³. A model is proposed here which predicts algal growth in the lake as a function of the light received and subsequent attenuation in the water column by phytoplankton, tripton and background colour. The model is based on an energy balance which relates growth rate to the ‘true’ growth yield on light energy and the energy demand for cell maintenance. The coefficients for energy conversion (Y = 0.002 gDW kJ⁻¹) and cell maintenance (µ_e = 0.031 day⁻¹) were determined from steady state growth kinetics of Prochlorothrix hollandica in light-limited laboratory flow systems with the same depth as the lake and receiving summer average conditions of irradiance. Light attenuation by phytoplankton and tripton were quantified using specific attenuation coefficients: 0.011 m² mg⁻¹ Chl for the phytoplankton and 0.23 m² g⁻¹ DW for tripton.

The growth studies demonstrated that Lake Loosdrecht can support a much higher algal biomass in the absence of non-algal particulate matter. The proposed model is used to predict chlorophyll a concentrations in dependence on growth rate and levels of tripton. Since approximately 75% of the sestonic dry weight in Lake Loosdrecht may be attributed to tripton, it is concluded that the algal biomass is markedly lowered by the abundance of tripton in the water column. A knowledge of the sources and fate of tripton in the lake is thus of fundamental importance in modelling phytoplankton dynamics.