Urs Uehlinger

Can results from limnocorral experiments be transferred to in situ conditions

In 1982–1984 eight limnocorral (LC) experiments, each lasting for two weeks, were performed in mesotrophic Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, to study the effects of biomanipulation (removal of crustaceans by 95 µm filter nets) on zooplankton — phytoplankton relationships and epilimnetic carbon and phosphorus fluxes. Seston concentrations and to a lesser extent primary production rates were reduced in control LCs through zooplankton grazing, and settling flux increased through fecal pellet production. But C and P regeneration were not significantly affected.We found several indications that the LCs, despite of their large size (∼ 70 m3, 3 m in diameter and 11 m long) were artificial systems when compared to the surrounding lake: The eddy diffusion was diminished by about one order of magnitude, nutrients depleted (but phosphorus was supplied to the LCs), the phyto- and zooplankton showed lower standing crops in the control LCs than in the lake, the phytoplankton showed a shift from nannoplankton to netplankton, the crustacean zooplankton was mostly limited in their vertical migration, and the POC and PP sedimentation rates were increased. Moreover, in our set of experiments we always found outliers, which may have been caused by the different in situ conditions at the beginning of the experiments, and further enhanced by the complexity of the enclosed system.The problems of the LC-technique, such as replicability, scaling (size and time) and data extrapolation are discussed. The impact of crustacean zooplankton on particulate matter, i.e. seston reduction and sedimentation enhancement, can be extrapolated on a qualitative rather than on a quantitative basis for the Lake Lucerne ecosystem.

Bacteria and phosphorus regeneration in lakes. An experimental study

The aerobic decomposition of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardii by a mixed population of lake bacteria was studied in batch and chemostat cultures. Bacterial chemostats were supplied with continuously heatkilled algae. The dead algae rapidly released most of their phosphorus as SRP. In the batch experiments bacteria acted as consumers of the released algal phosphorus. This phosphorus uptake was dependent on the C:P ratio of the algae. During the death phase of the bacteria most of the bacterial phosphorus itself was released. The continuous supply of energy in form of dead algae in the chemostat experiments prevented the death phase of the bacteria and thus any net regeneration of phosphorus. The influence of the C:P stoichiometry of algae and bacteria on the regeneration of algal phosphorus is discussed.

The effect of herbivorous crustacean zooplankton on epilimnetic carbon and phosphorus cycling

Plastic limnocorrals (LCs; volume 70 m3) in oligo-mesotrophic Lake Lucerne, Switzerland were used to manipulate planktonic communities by (1) removing large zooplankton at the start of the experiment, and (2) adding phosphate during experiments of two weeks duration.Primary production (14C-assimilation), chlorophyll, standing crops and sedimentation of particulate organic carbon (POC) and of particulate phosphorus, as well as plankton composition were assessed simultaneously in two to four differently treated LCs. Carbon and phosphorus mass balances were calculated from assimilation, temporal change in standing crop of particulate matter, and sedimentation.A quick elimination of crustaceans by screening hardly increased primary production, but decreased sedimentation and mineralisation of particulate organic carbon, and thus significantly enhanced the standing crop of POC, but decreased POC turnover. The exclusion of crustaceans increased the mean residence time of total phosphorus by a reduced P loss by sedimentation.Increased grazing pressure during the experiment showed little grazing induced effect on plankton composition and primary production except at the very end.We conclude that in an oligo-mesotrophic lake, buffering mechanisms attenuate the impact of changing grazing pressures on primary production.