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A Comparative Study of the Primary Productivity of Higher Aquatic Plants, Periphyton, and Phytoplankton in a Large, Shallow Lake C o n t e n t s I n t r o d u c t i o nI n present day limnological and oceanographic studies on primary productivity emphasis is largely on the photosynthetic bacteria and phytoplankton. The contribution of the littoral zone to the total energy fixation of a body of water is commonly assumed to be insignificant. I n marine areas and moderate to large, deep lakes such an assumption is generally valid. It can be erroneous to neglect the sessile littoral producers, however, in.rivers, marshes, ponds, and large, shallow lakes.The importance of the littoral and benthic regions of fresh waters to higher trophic levels is often underestimated. These shallow areas are commonly a source of initial individuals of lentic plankton populations. This habitat provides environmental conditions requisite for numerous organisms, including a vast assemblage of nektonic forms. Perhaps the greatest significance of the littoral zone, however, lies in its contribution to primary productivity for utilization by other trophiclevelsin this portion of the ecosystem. The present studies were designed to elucidate the relative significance of primary productivity of macrophytes and benthic algae to total photosynthetic carbon fixation in a shallow lake. A technique of assaying the growth rate of macrophytes was developed employing carbon-14 as a tracer. Priortoinsitu 1 Intcrnationale Revue 2 ROBERT G. WETZEL application, this method was compared in laboratory cultures to those techniques commonly in use.Modern aquatic synecological concepts have evolved rather slowly from a conflicting and argumentative development of theories and definitions. Fresh waters offer a distinct advantage in the integration of community interrelationships, in that they provide a relatively simplified ecosystem when considered as an individual unit. External factors influencing the relationships are minimized, even though very complex. Perhaps the first consideration of a lake as a n entity per se was the concept of a lake as a microcosm ('FORBES 1887).Early community studies considered the organisms within their environment only from a static species-distributional aspect. Evidence soon accumulated that a more realistic view resulted from investigation of the distribution of species communities from a changing or dynamic viewpoint (i. e. successional, cf. LINDEMAN 1942). Recognition that both the plant and animal constituents of the community are deeply and specifically interrelated, although often indirectly, resulted in several excellent studies of food chain concepts. Aquatic examples include an abbreviated monocyclic freshwater food web of SHELFORD (1913), food cycle interrelationships by NAUMANN (1925) and THIENEMANN (1926), and bicyclic circulation by PERFILIEV (1929) and MACFADYEN (1948).Abolition of the artificial separation of the living community from the environment was initiated among others by THIENEMANN (1918) and deve...
A Comparative Study of the Primary Productivity of Higher Aquatic Plants, Periphyton, and Phytoplankton in a Large, Shallow Lake C o n t e n t s I n t r o d u c t i o nI n present day limnological and oceanographic studies on primary productivity emphasis is largely on the photosynthetic bacteria and phytoplankton. The contribution of the littoral zone to the total energy fixation of a body of water is commonly assumed to be insignificant. I n marine areas and moderate to large, deep lakes such an assumption is generally valid. It can be erroneous to neglect the sessile littoral producers, however, in.rivers, marshes, ponds, and large, shallow lakes.The importance of the littoral and benthic regions of fresh waters to higher trophic levels is often underestimated. These shallow areas are commonly a source of initial individuals of lentic plankton populations. This habitat provides environmental conditions requisite for numerous organisms, including a vast assemblage of nektonic forms. Perhaps the greatest significance of the littoral zone, however, lies in its contribution to primary productivity for utilization by other trophiclevelsin this portion of the ecosystem. The present studies were designed to elucidate the relative significance of primary productivity of macrophytes and benthic algae to total photosynthetic carbon fixation in a shallow lake. A technique of assaying the growth rate of macrophytes was developed employing carbon-14 as a tracer. Priortoinsitu 1 Intcrnationale Revue 2 ROBERT G. WETZEL application, this method was compared in laboratory cultures to those techniques commonly in use.Modern aquatic synecological concepts have evolved rather slowly from a conflicting and argumentative development of theories and definitions. Fresh waters offer a distinct advantage in the integration of community interrelationships, in that they provide a relatively simplified ecosystem when considered as an individual unit. External factors influencing the relationships are minimized, even though very complex. Perhaps the first consideration of a lake as a n entity per se was the concept of a lake as a microcosm ('FORBES 1887).Early community studies considered the organisms within their environment only from a static species-distributional aspect. Evidence soon accumulated that a more realistic view resulted from investigation of the distribution of species communities from a changing or dynamic viewpoint (i. e. successional, cf. LINDEMAN 1942). Recognition that both the plant and animal constituents of the community are deeply and specifically interrelated, although often indirectly, resulted in several excellent studies of food chain concepts. Aquatic examples include an abbreviated monocyclic freshwater food web of SHELFORD (1913), food cycle interrelationships by NAUMANN (1925) and THIENEMANN (1926), and bicyclic circulation by PERFILIEV (1929) and MACFADYEN (1948).Abolition of the artificial separation of the living community from the environment was initiated among others by THIENEMANN (1918) and deve...
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