Abstract
Algal carbon 14 fixation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), temperature and nutrients were measured from March 1976 to January 1977 and from November 1983 to February 1984 in a small freshwater lake. As a consequence of the minute meltwater input, the PAR extinction coefficient was very low ranging between 0.04 and 0.12m−1 throughout the year. Low extinction combined with the transparent and mostly snowless ice cover resulted in high noon PAR intensities of 640–2340 μEm−2s−1 in the lake from November to January. As a result of the small annual total phosphorus loading (0.01 mmol m−3 of lake), phosphate concentration in the main water mass did not exceed 0.03 mmol m−3 during most of the growing season. Phytoplankton assimilation rates were very low with a minimum of 0.03 mgC (mgChl a)−1 h−1 in December. The annual net primary production was 0.58 gCm−2, the lowest value on record. These low levels were due to photoinhibition and phosphorus limitation.
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Kaup, E. Annual primary production of phytoplankton in Lake Verkhneye, Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica. Polar Biol 14, 433–439 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239045
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239045