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Effects of nutrients and irradiance on PSII variable fluorescence of lake phytoplankton assemblages

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Abstract

Phytoplankton from Lake Ontario and six small Canadian lakes (Dorset Lakes) were supplemented with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to determine how nutrients affect Photosystem II (PSII) variable fluorescence and photoinhibition in natural freshwater communities. Susceptibility of PSII to photoinhibition by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and ultraviolet radiation (UVR), as well as recovery potential, was quantified using changes in variable fluorescence and compared between N- and P-supplemented (Nu+) and non-supplemented (Nu−) Lake Ontario phytoplankton. Nu+ communities exhibited slightly higher variable fluorescence than Nu− when dark-adapted (Fv:Fm) or under constant illumination (Fq′:Fm′). Rates of relative electron transport (rETR) were greater for Nu+ than Nu− phytoplankton, with higher non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) by Nu− samples. The initial slope of the rETR-irradiance curve (α) did not differ significantly between nutrient treatments, but the saturation irradiance (EK) was significantly higher for Nu+ samples than for Nu− samples. Nutrient supplementation increased rates of PAR- and UVR-dependent damage but also recovery, so that net PSII photoinhibition was equally severe as in the absence of added N and P. Additions of N, P, and N + P did not significantly alter Fv:Fm of Dorset Lakes phytoplankton. Compared to the range of variable fluorescence observable over the diel cycle of photoinhibition and recovery in Lake Ontario, the effects of supplemental nutrients observed in this study were minor.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Farrah Chan, Adam Houben, Grace Martin, Tedy Ozersky, and Lee Pinnell for field and laboratory assistance. Laboratory facilities for the 2009 work were generously provided by the Dorset Environmental Science Centre. Funding was provided by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant to Ralph Smith and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to Joel Harrison.

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  1. Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Ltd, 121 Charles St. W. Unit C406, Kitchener, ON, N2G 1H6, Canada

    Joel W. Harrison

  2. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Ralph E. H. Smith

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  1. Joel W. Harrison
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  2. Ralph E. H. Smith
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Correspondence to Joel W. Harrison.

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Harrison, J.W., Smith, R.E.H. Effects of nutrients and irradiance on PSII variable fluorescence of lake phytoplankton assemblages. Aquat Sci 75, 399–411 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-012-0285-0

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