Despite the high importance of shallow thaw ponds (thermokarst lakes) of Western Siberia in both surface coverage and carbon dioxide and methane emission to the atmosphere, their planktonic component remains poorly characterized. This work reports the first results of phytoplankton analysis of thaw lakes and ponds sampled during spring flood, open water season and ice formation. The lakes, located within the discontinuous/sporadic permafrost (66xN), are shallow (0.5-1.5 m depth), acidic (4.0 j pH j 6.1) and highly organic (10-40 mg.L x1 of DOC) with low concentrations of total dissolved solid (10-30 mg.L x1). In the plankton community of 20 lakes of variable size (from 700 m 2 to 1.8 km 2), we identified 134 taxa of algae with the dominance of green algae (33-60% of total), cyanobacteria (11-14%) and dinoflagellates (7-14%). The total cell number (N) ranged from 20 to 83 million cell.L x1 and the biomass (B) ranged from 0.1 to 37 mg wet .L x1 with the dominance of green algae, Dinophyta and Charophyta Ulothrix spp., Bambusina brebissonii. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed two possible factors responsible for phytoplankton variation: dissolved inorganic carbon, positively acting on cell number and the biomass of cyanobacteria, and DOC, Si and Fe, controlling the number of diatoms and green algae. In August, there was a general increase of both N and B as pH increased. Colony-forming cyanobacteria and green algae with thick capsules were highly abundant during all seasons. The specific acidic and organic-rich context of the shallow thermokarst waters subjected to full freezing in winter is one of the major factors limiting both the biodiversity and the biomass of the phytoplankton in these water objects.
AbstractLong-term changes in hydrochemistry and community structure of phytoplankton and macrophytes were analyzed in the Sestroretskiy Razliv reservoir (northwestern Russia). The average content of total phosphorus (TP) in May–October increased from 73 μg P l−1 in 1980 to 163 μg P l−1 in 2000. A significant increase in average chlorophyll a content from 16.6 μg l−1 in 1980 to 84.7 μg l−1 in 2000 and a shift in phytoplankton composition to the dominance of cyanobacteria over diatoms indicated a change in the trophic status of the reservoir from meso-eutrophic to hypertrophic. In 2016 and 2018, average TP was 96 and 101 μg P l−1, respectively. The average content of chlorophyll a was 43.6 μg l−1 in 2016 and 66.6 μg l−1 in warmer 2018, indicating persistent eutrophic conditions. Diatoms dominated both in 2016 and 2018, especially in 2016 characterized by unfavorable weather conditions. Cyanobacteria were more abundant in 2018 with higher summer temperatures. The decline of the total area covered by aquatic vegetation from 157 ha in 1980 to 76 ha in 2016 likely resulted from an increase in phytoplankton biomass and water turbidity. Based on the results of our observations, in addition to further reduction in nutrient loading, biomanipulation by introducing predatory fish as a restoration measure was proposed to improve the ecological status of the reservoir.
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