From Greenland to green lakes: Cultural eutrophication and the loss of benthic pathways in lakes

Limnology and Oceanography - Tập 48 Số 4 - Trang 1408-1418 - 2003
Yvonne Vadeboncoeur1, Erik Jeppesen1, M. Jake Vander Zanden2, Hans‐Henrik Schierup3, Kirsten Christoffersen4, David M. Lodge5
1National Environmental Research Institute, Vejlsøvej 25, DKߚ8600, Silkeborg, Denmark
2University of Wisconsin, Madison, Center for Limnology, 680 N. Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
3University of Aarhus, Department of Plant Ecology, Nordlandsvej 68, DK-8240 Risskov, Denmark
4University of Copenhagen, Helsingørsgade 51, DKK‐3400, Hillerød, Denmark
5Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556

Tóm tắt

Benthic community responses to lake eutrophication are poorly understood relative to pelagic responses. We compared phytoplankton and periphyton productivity along a eutrophication gradient in Greenland, U.S., and Danish lakes. Phytoplankton productivity increased along the phosphorus gradient (total phosphorus [TP] = 2–430 mg m−3), but whole‐lake benthic algal productivity decreased, substantially depressing increases in primary productivity at the whole‐lake scale. In shallow, oligotrophic Greenland lakes, periphyton was responsible for 80–98% of primary production, whereas in Danish lakes with TP > 100 mg m−3, phytoplankton were responsible for nearly 100% of primary production. Benthic contributions ranged from 5 to 80% depending on morphometry and littoral habitat composition in lakes with intermediate phosphorus concentrations. Thus, eutrophication was characterized by a switch from benthic to pelagic dominance of primary productivity. Carbon stable isotope analysis showed that the redistribution of primary production entailed a similar shift from periphyton to phytoplankton in the diets of zoobenthos. Benthic and pelagic habitats were energetically linked through food web interactions, but eutrophication eroded the benthic primary production pathway.

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Limnology and Oceanography

Tập 48 Số 4

1408-1418

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