Interactive effects of nutrient availability and light levels on the periphyton composition of a large oligotrophic lake

J. C. Marks, R. L. Lowe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Periphyton biovolume and cell densities increased significantly with both nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment but were not affected by shading. Phosphorus enrichment increased periphyton accumulation only when N levels were high, indicating a significant interactive effect between N and P. Differences in species composition among treatments were mostly due to changes in the diatoms Nitzschia palea and Rhopalodia gibba. Ambient and phosphorus-enriched substrates were dominated by R. gibba, which contains a nitrogen-fixed endosymbiont, and blue-green aglae. Nitrogen enrichment and N and P in combination resulted in an assemblage dominated by N. palea. Unshaded and highly shaded substrates were dominated by N. palea and Achnanthes minutissima, but the medium-shade substrates were dominated by R. gibba. -from Authors

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1270-1278
Number of pages9
JournalCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Volume50
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1993

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Aquatic Science

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