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Submerged macrophytes in Danish lakes: impact of morphological and chemical factors on abundance and species richness

  • ECOLOGY OF SHALLOW LAKES
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Abstract

We analysed long-term monitoring data on submerged macrophytes and water chemistry from 666 Danish lakes > 1 hectare and mean depth < 3 m, encompassing a total of 1447 lake years. Our aim was to describe how plant cover (COV), plant volume inhabited (PVI) and species richness related to physical and chemical and environmental variables. Boosted regression tree (BRT) analyses revealed that chlorophyll a, Secchi depth and depth were the strongest predictors of COV and PVI. Chlorophyll had a strong negative effect up to 50 µg/l, whereas the changes related to Secchi depth and depth were more gradual and covered more of the gradient. Macrophyte species richness was best predicted by lake area and alkalinity, with chlorophyll a, nutrients and colour having significant but less marked effects. For chlorophyll a, 78% of the observed variance could be explained by the BRT model, with the most powerful predictors being both phosphorus and nitrogen, but with significant additional effects of plant cover and alkalinity. Our analyses revealed limited direct effect of nutrients on macrophyte abundance, but an indirect hierarchical effect of nutrients mediated through chlorophyll a with additional interactive effects by plant cover itself, alkalinity, mean depth and colour.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The former Danish counties and The Danish Environmental Protection Agency are acknowledged for many years of careful sampling of Danish lakes in relation to the NOVANA monitoring program. We are grateful to Anne Mette Poulsen and Tinna Christensen for editorial and layout assistance. The project was supported by the AU Centre for Water Technology (watec.au.dk). Part of this study was finalised with funds from the Poul Due Jensen Foundation. Erik Jeppesen was supported by the TÜBITAK project BIDEB2232 (project 118C250), and Thomas Davidson was also supported by Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond Natur og Univers project GREENLAKES (No. 9040-00195B) and PONDERFUL—POND Ecosystems for Resilient FUture Landscapes in a changing climate (Grant agreement ID: 869296) H2020 LC-CLA-2018-2019-2020).

Funding

The project was supported by the AU Centre for Water Technology (watec.au.dk). A part of this study was finalised with funds from the Poul Due Jensen Foundation. Erik Jeppesen was supported by the TÜBITAK project BIDEB2232 (project 118C250), and Thomas Davidson was also supported by Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond Natur og Univers project GREENLAKES (No. 9040-00195B) and PONDERFUL—POND Ecosystems for Resilient FUture Landscapes in a changing climate (Grant agreement ID: 869296)H2020 LC-CLA-2018–2019-2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Martin Søndergaard, Thomas A. Davidson, Torben L. Lauridsen, Liselotte S. Johansson & Erik Jeppesen

  2. Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research, Beijing, China

    Martin Søndergaard, Torben L. Lauridsen & Erik Jeppesen

  3. Limnology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences and Centre for Ecosystem Research and Implementation, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

    Erik Jeppesen

  4. Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Erdemli-Mersin, Turkey

    Erik Jeppesen

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  1. Martin Søndergaard
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  4. Liselotte S. Johansson
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Material preparation and data analysis were performed by MS, TD and LSJ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MS and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Martin Søndergaard.

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Søndergaard, M., Davidson, T.A., Lauridsen, T.L. et al. Submerged macrophytes in Danish lakes: impact of morphological and chemical factors on abundance and species richness. Hydrobiologia 849, 3789–3800 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04759-8

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