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The antagonistic relationship between chlorophyll a concentrations and the growth areas of Trapa during summer in a shallow eutrophic lake

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Abstract

The relationship between concentrations of chlorophyll a in an open water area and growing areas of the macrophytes Trapa spp. and Nelumbo nucifera was investigated to clarify the role of macrophytes in phytoplankton growth in summer in a eutrophic shallow sand lake, Lake Honsagata, Japan. The chlorophyll a concentrations formed peaks in June 2007 and July 2008 in summer with cyanobacterial blooms composed of mainly Microcystis, Anabaena, Phormidium, and Oscillatoria, which decreased toward August and were maintained at different annual levels. The decline of blooms in August was caused by the rapid growth of macrophytes. The composition of phytoplankton and the level of bloom development in summertime differed characteristically from year to year. Also the total vegetation area of N. nucifera and Trapa spp. showed annually marked changes. A significant negative correlation between the concentrations of chlorophyll a and the growth areas of Trapa spp. in August was detected, indicating that the floating-leaved plants, Trapa spp., produced irregular, clear and turbid water states in this shallow eutrophicated lake. These antagonistic relations are explained based on a likely scenario of allelopathic effects on the development of cyanobacteria by Trapa spp. vegetation and the nutrient absorption competition among them. Our study demonstrated the potential of Trapa spp. to control cyanobacterial blooms producing harmful toxins.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the members of the Waterfowl and Wetland Center in Sakata for providing the facilities for the surveys, and to the Environmental Policy Division, Niigata City, for permitting surveys of the lake and the citation of data in relevant reports, especially in the Water Quality Data Report of Public Water Area in Niigata City. We are also indebted to Mr. Toru Yanagisawa of the Niigata Green Sigma Co., Ltd., for his helpful instructions on a method to measure vegetation areas from aerial photographs and to Dr. Tatsuyoshi Morita of the Faculty of Education of Niigata University for his extensive advice in connection with this study. Our thanks also go to Mrs. Ayao Kawakami and Takashi Shimogaito for generously providing the phytoplankton samples collected in 1997. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (nos. 17510193 and 20510214) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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  1. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Fumiko Nemoto

  2. Faculty of Education, Niigata University, 2-8050 Ikarashi, Niigata, 950-2181, Japan

    Haruo Fukuhara

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  1. Fumiko Nemoto
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  2. Haruo Fukuhara
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Correspondence to Fumiko Nemoto.

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Nemoto, F., Fukuhara, H. The antagonistic relationship between chlorophyll a concentrations and the growth areas of Trapa during summer in a shallow eutrophic lake. Limnology 13, 289–299 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-012-0376-6

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