Phytoplankton and periphyton primary production in clear and turbid shallow lakes: influence of the light environment on the interactions between these communities

SÁNCHEZ, M.L.; P. RODRÍGUEZ; A. TORREMORELL; I. IZAGUIRRE; H. PIZARRO

WETLANDS

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016 vol. 37 p. 67 - 77

0277-5212

Shallow lakes are widely distributed and their ecological relevance has been largely documented. The Pampean plain (Argentina) holds one of the main wetland of South America, constituted by thousands of shallow lakes which provide valuable ecosystem services, and can be found in any of three regimes: clear-vegetated, inorganic-turbid or phytoplankton-turbid. These lakes may play an important role in the global carbon balance, thus metabolism studies encompassing phytoplankton and periphyton under different regimes become relevant. We analyzed phytoplankton and periphyton primary production (PP) in three Pampean shallow lakes that represent the main types mentioned. We found that relative contribution of each algal community to the joint PP was different in each lake and related to their regime. Particularly, the contribution of periphyton was higher in the clear-vegetated lake than in the turbid lakes. Phytoplankton-turbid lake exhibited the highest PP, for both communities. Inorganic-turbid lake presented the highest light limitation; nonetheless the efficiency of periphyton in this lake showed an increasing trend with depth suggesting light acclimation. Although phytoplankton dominated the PP in the three lakes, periphyton contribution was also important, particularly in the clear-vegetated lake. Our results emphasize that attached production should be considered in the estimation of whole lake PP.