INVESTIGADORES
DIEGUEZ maria Del carmen
artículos
Título:
Phytoplankton limitation in Patagonian and Pampean shallow lakes: effect of phosphorus and light
Autor/es:
TORREMORELL, ANA; DIÉGUEZ, MARÍA DEL CARMEN; QUEIMALIÑOS, CLAUDIA; IZAGUIRRE, IRINA; ZAGARESE, HORACIO E.
Revista:
HYDROBIOLOGIA
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2017
ISSN:
0018-8158
Resumen:
In order to evaluate patterns of phytoplankton community structure and primary production limitation, we analyzed the phytoplankton communities (chlorophyll a, biovolume, species richness, and primary production) of a set of 20 shallow lakesencompassing a wide range of phosphorus and light levels. The degree of limitation or co-limitation by phosphorus and/or light was estimated using a combinedindex. We found a direct relationship between irradiance in the water column (Imean) and the light saturation parameter (Ik) and, a negative relationshipbetween Imean and total phosphorus (TP)concentration. Lakes at the lowest and highest ends of TP tended to display the simplest phytoplanktoncommunities (i.e., only one or two algal classes accounted for the total phytoplankton biovolume). In contrast, lakes with intermediate TP exhibited a more complex phytoplankton composition. Low values of phytoplankton abundance proxies (chlorophyll a and biovolume), species richness, and primary productioncould be observed at any combination of phosphorus and light availability. However, the highest values of the previous variables were observed only when the relative availability of both resources was similar. The combined index developed provides a single metric for describing light versus nutrient limitation. The importance of its use is that can be applied to the analysis of clear lakes lacking vegetation and inorganic turbid lakes, besides organic turbid and clear lakes with vegetation.