Abstract
In Lake Kinneret, the majority of photosyntetically produced organic carbon (OC) is cycled through the microbial loop. Taken together, bacterial production (BP) and bacterial respiration (BR), i.e., bacterial carbon demand (BCD), accounted for about 65 % of gross primary production (GPP), measured biweekly and averaging 2.3 g C m–2 day–1 during the last decade (2001–2011). Community respiration (CR) was 2.1 g C m–2 day–1. The major contributors to total CR were bacterial and phytoplankton respiration (~80%) while zooplankton respiration accounted for the reminder. Most (~ 83 %) of the OC input were eventually respired, ~3 % lost to outflows, while ~15 % of the total OC input were transferred annually to the sediments. Here oxic mineralization is gradually replaced by anoxic processes as a function of the availability of suitable electron acceptors. After the depletion of oxygen in the hypolimnion, sulfate (500 μM) becomes the dominant oxidant. Depending on the settling flux of OC sedimentary sulfate reduction (SR) rates were measured from 0.01 to 1.67 µmol cm–3 day–1 in December and July, respectively. SR is the dominant anaerobic terminal decomposition process in Lake Kinneret and is responsible for the accumulation of sulfide in the hypolimnion to concentrations up to 400 μM. Methanogenesis is restricted to those sediment layers that are depleted of sulfate (below 3–5 cm). Seasonal profiles and 13C signatures of dissolved methane in the sediment pore water of Lake Kinneret have indicated anaerobic methane oxidation in the deeper sediments (below 20 cm), with Fe(III) as electron acceptor. Lake Kinneret resembles the first aquatic ecosystem where the existence of this process could be verified. Changes in the watershed and lake environment are suggested as possible causes for the apparently significant declines in bacterial numbers, BP, and BCD that have taken place over the last decade in Lake Kinneret.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adler M, Eckert W, Sivan O (2011) Quantifying rates of methanogenesis and methanotrophy in Lake Kinneret sediments (Israel) using pore-water profiles. Limnol Oceanogr 56:1525–1535
Aristegui J, Montero MF, Ballesteros S, Basterretxea G, van Lenning K (1996) Planktonic primary production and microbial respiration measured by 14C assimilation and dissolved oxygen changes in coastal waters of the Antarctic Peninsula during austral summer: implications for carbon flux studies. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 132:191–201
Bastviken D, Cole JJ, Pace ML, Van de Bogert MC (2008) Fates of methane from different lake habitats: connecting whole-lake budgets and CH4 emissions. J Geophys Res 113:G02024
Berman T, Gerber C (1980) Differential filtration studies of carbon flux from living algae to microheterotrophs, microplankton size distribution and respiration in Lake Kinneret. Microb Ecol 6:189–198
Berman T, Kaplan B (1984a) Diffusion chamber studies of carbon flux from living algae to heterotrophic bacteria. Hydrobiologia 108:127–135
Berman T, Kaplan B (1984b) Respiration of Lake Kinneret microplankton measured by carbon loss in the dark. Arch Hydrobiol Beih Ergeb Limnol 19:157–162
Berman T, Pollingher U (1974) Annual and seasonal variations of phytoplankton, chlorophyll and photosynthesis in Lake Kinneret. Limnol Oceanogr 19:31–54
Berman T, Stone L (1994) Musings on the microbial loop: twenty years after. Microbial Ecol 28:251–253
Berman T, Wynne D (2005) Assessing phytoplankton lysis in Lake Kinneret. Limnol Oceanogr 50:526–537
Berman T, Hadas O, Marchaim U (1979) Heterotrophic glucose uptake and respiration in Lake Kinneret. Hydrobiologia 62:275–282
Berman T, Kaplan B, Chava S, Parparova R, Nishri A (1993) Effects of iron and chelation on Lake Kinneret bacteria. Microb Ecol 26:1–8
Berman T, Stone L, Yacobi YZ, Kaplan B, Schlichter M, Nishri A, Pollingher U (1995) Primary production and phytoplankton in Lake Kinneret: a long-term record (1972–1993). Limnol Oceanogr 40:1064–1076
Berman T, Kaplan B, Chava S, Viner Y, Sherr BF, Sherr E (2001) Metabolically active bacteria in Lake Kinneret. Aquatic Microb Ecol 23:213–224
Berman T, Parparov A, Yacobi YZ (2004) Planktonic community production and respiration and the impact of bacteria on carbon cycling in the photic zone of Lake Kinneret. Aquat Microb Ecol 34:43–55
Berman T, Yacobi YZ, Parparov A, Gal G (2010) Estimation of long-term bacterial respiration and growth efficiency in Lake Kinneret. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 71:351–363
Canfield DE (1989) Sulfate reduction and oxic respiration in marine sediments: implications for organic carbon preservation in euxenic environments. Deep Sea Sci 36:121–138
Canfield DE, Des Marais DJ (1991) Aerobic sulfate reduction in microbial mats. Science 251:1471–1473
Capone DG, Kiene RP (1988) Comparison of microbial dynamics in marine and freshwater sediments: contrasts in anaerobic carbon catabolism. Limnol Oceanogr 33:725–749
Choi JW, Sherr EB, Sherr BS (1999) Dead or alive? A large fraction of ETS-inactive marine bacterioplankton cells, as assessed by reduction of CTC, can become ETS-active with incubation and substrate addition. Aquat Microb Ecol 18:105–115
Cole JJ, Findlay SEG, Pace ML (1988) Bacterial production in fresh and saltwater ecosystems: a cross-system overview. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 43:1–10
Conrad R (2009) The global methane cycle: recent advances in understanding the microbial processes involved. Environ Microbiol Rep 1(5):285–292
Cypionka H (2000) Oxygen respiration in Desulfovibrio species. Ann Rev Microbiol 54:827–848
del Giorgio P, Williams P (2005a) Respiration in aquatic ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 324 pp
del Giorgio P, Williams P (2005b) The global significance of respiration in aquatic ecosystems: from single cells to the biosphere. In: del Giorgio P, Williams P (eds) Respiration in aquatic ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 267–303
Eckert W, Conrad R (2007) Sulfide and methane evolution in the hypolimnion of a subtropical lake: a three-year study. Biogeochemistry 82:67–76
Eckert W, Imberger J, Saggio A (2002) Biogeochemical evolution in response to physical forcing in the water column of a warm monomictic lake. Biogeochemistry 61:291–307
Fenchel T, Finlay BJ (1995) Ecology and evolution in anoxic worlds. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Frund C, Cohen Y (1992) Diurnal cycles of sulfate reduction under oxic conditions in cyanobacterial mats. Appl Environ Ecol 58:70–77
Gazeau FJ, Middelburg JM, Loijens JP et al (2007) Planktonic primary production in estuaries: a comparison of the 14C, O2 and 18O methods. Aquat Microb Ecol 46:95–106
Geider RJ (1997) Photosynthesis or planktonic respiration? Nature 388:132
Gophen M (1978) Zooplankton. In: Serruya C (ed) Lake Kinneret. W Junk, The Hague
Gophen M (1981) Metabolic activity of herbivorous zooplankton in Lake Kinneret (Israel) during 1972–1977. J Plankton Res 3(1):15–24
Hadas O, Pinkas R (1992) Sulfate reduction process in sediments of Lake Kinneret, Israel. Hydrobiologia 235:295–301
Hadas O, Pinkas R (1995a) Sulfate reduction in the hypolimnion and sediments of Lake Kinneret, Israel. Freshw Biol 33:63–72
Hadas O, Pinkas R (1995b) Sulfate reduction processes in sediments at different sites in Lake Kinneret, Israel. Microb Ecol 30:55–66
Hadas O, Pinkas R (1997) Arylsulfatase and alkaline phosphatase (Apase) activity in sediments of Lake Kinneret, Israel. Water Air Soil Pollut 99:671–679
Hambright KD, Zohary T, Gude H (2007) Microzooplankton dominate carbon flow and nutrient cycling in a warm subtropical freshwater lake. Limnol Oceanogr 52:1018–1025
Hart DR, Berman T, Stone L (2000) Seasonal dynamics of the Lake Kinneret food web: the importance of the microbial loop. Limnol Oceanogr 45:350–361
Hepher B, Langer J (1969) Summary of the final research on the primary production in Lake Kinneret. Alon Techni (Mekorot) 4(2):32–35 (in Hebrew)
Houser JN, Bade DL, Cole JJ, Pace ML (2003) The dual influences of dissolved organic carbon on hypolimnetic metabolism: organic substrate and photosynthetic reduction. Biogeochemistry 64:247–269
Ingvorsen K, Jorgensen B (1984) Kinetics of sulfate uptake by freshwater and marine species of Desulfovibrio. Arch Microbiol 139:61–66
Jorgensen BB (1978) A comparison of methods for the quantification of bacterial sulfate-reduction in coastal marine sediments. Geomicrobiol J 1:11–27
Jumars PA, Penry DA, Baross JA, Perry MJ, Frost W (1989) Closing the microbial loop: dissolved carbon pathway to heterotrophic bacteria from incomplete ingestion, digestion and absorption in animals. Deep-Sea Res 36:483–495
King GM, Klug MJ (1982) Comparative aspects of sulfur mineralization in sediments of eutrophic lake basin. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:1406–1412
Kirchman DL, Knees E, Hodson RE (1985). Leucine incorporation and its potential as a measure of protein synthesis by bacteria in natural aquatic systems. App Environ Microbiol 49:599–607
Kuivila KM, Murray JW, Devol AH (1989) Methane production, sulfate reduction and competition for substrates in the sediments of Lake Washington. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:409–416
Landers DH, Mitchell MJ (1988) Incorporation of 35SO4 into sediments of three New-York lakes. Hydrobiologia 160:85–95
Liu R, Hofmann A, Gulacer FO, Favarger PY, Dominik J (1996) Methane concentration profiles in a lake with permanently anoxic hypolimnion (Lake Lugano, Switzerland-Italy). Chem Geol 133:201–209
Lovley DR, Klug MJ (1983) Sulfate reducers can outcompete methanogens at freshwater sulfate levels. Appl Environ Microbiol 45:187–192
Lovley DR, Klug MJ (1986) Model for the distribution of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis in freshwater sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 50:11–18
Luz B, Barkan E, Sagi Y, Yacobi YZ (2002) Evaluation of community respiratory mechanisms with oxygen isotopes: a case study in Lake Kinneret. Limnol Oceanogr 47(1):33–42
Nishri A, Zohary T, Gophen M, Wynne D (1998) Lake Kinneret dissolved oxygen regime reflects long term changes in ecosystem functioning. Biogeochemistry 42:253–283
Nüsslein B, Chin KJ, Eckert W, Conrad R (2001) Evidence for anaerobic synthrophic acetate oxidation during methane production in the profundal sediment of subtropical Lake Kinneret (Israel). Environ Microbiol 3:460–470
Nüsslein B, Eckert W, Conrad R (2003) Stable isotope biogeochemistry of methane formation in profundal sediments of Lake Kinneret (Israel). Limnol Oceanogr 48(4):1439–1446
Oremland RS, Polcin S (1982) Methanogenesis and sulfate reduction: competitive and noncompetitive substrates in estuarine sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 44:1270–1276
Ostrovsky I (2003) Methane bubbles in Lake Kinneret: quantification, temporal, and spatial heterogeneity. Limnol Oceanogr 48:1030–1036
Ostrovsky I, McGinnis DF, Lapidus L, Eckert W (2008) Quantifying gas ebullition with echo sounder: the role of methane transport with bubbles in a medium-sized lake. Limnol Oceanogr Method 6:105–118
Ostrovsky I, Tegowski J (2010) Hydroacoustic analysis of spatial and temporal variability of bottom sediment characteristics in Lake Kinneret in relation to water level fluctuations. Geo-Mar Lett 30:261–269
Ostrovsky I, Yacobi YZ (2010) Sedimentation flux in a large subtropical lake: spatiotemporal variations and relation to primary productivity. Limnol Oceanogr 55(5):1918–1931
Pace ML, Prairie YT (2005) Respiration in lakes. In: del Giorgio P, Williams P (eds) Respiration in aquatic ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 103–121, (324 pp)
Pinhassi J, Berman T (2003) Differential growth ersponse of colony-forming α- and γ-proteobacteria in dilution culture and nutrient addition experiments in Lake Kinneret, eastern Mediterranean and Gulf of Eilat. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:199–211
Plugge CM, Zhang W, Sholten JCM, Stams AJM (2011) Metabolic flexibility of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Front Microbiol. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2011.00081
Postgate JR (1984) The sulphate reducing bacteria, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Pringault O, Tassas V, Rochelle-Newall E (2007) Consequences of light respiration on the determination of production in pelagic systems. Biogeosciences 4:105–114
Pringault O, Tesson S, Rochelle-Newall E (2009) Respiration in the light and bacterio-phytoplankton coupling in a coastal environment. Microb Ecol 57:321–334
Riemann B, Fuhrman J, Azam F (1982) Bacterial secondary production in freshwater measured by 3 H-thymidine incorporation method. Microb Ecol 8:101–114
Robinson C (2008) Heterotrophic bacterial respiration. In: Kirchman DL (ed) Microbial ecology of the oceans, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 299–334
Rudd JWM, Taylor CD (1980) Methane cycling in aquatic environments. Adv Aquat Microbiol 2:77–150
Scavia D, Lang GA, Kitchel JF (1988) Dynamics of Lake Michigan plankton: a model evaluation of nutrient loading, competition, and predation. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45(1):165–177
Schmidt U, Conrad R (1993) Hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane dynamics in lake constance. Limnol Oceanogr 38:1214–1226
Schwarz JIK, Eckert W, Conrad R (2007a) Community structure of Archaea and Bacteria in a profundal lake sediment, Lake Kinneret (Israel). Syst Appl Microbiol 30(3):239–254
Schwarz JIK, Lueders T, Eckert W, Conrad R (2007b) Identification of acetate-utilizing Bacteria and Archaea in methanogenic profundal sediments of Lake Kinneret (Israel) by stable-isotope probing of rRNA. Environ Microbiol 9:223–237
Schwarz JIK, Eckert W, Conrad R (2008) Response of the methanogenic microbial community of a profundal lake sediment (Lake Kinneret, Israel) to algal deposition. Limnol Oceanogr 53:113–121
Serruya C (1978) Water chemistry. In: Serruya C (ed) Lake Kinneret. W Junk, The Hague
Serruya C, Edelstein M, Pollingher U, Serruya S (1974) Lake Kinneret sediments: nutrient composition of the pore water and mud water exchanges. Limnol Oceanogr 19:489–508
Serruya C, Gophen M, Pollingher U (1980) Lake Kinneret: carbon flow patterns and ecosystem management. Arch Hydrobiol 88(3):265–302
Sherr BF, Sherr EB, Berman T (1982) Decomposition of organic detritus: a selective role for microflagellate protozoa. Limnol Oceanogr 27:765–769
Sinke AJC, Cornelese AA, Cappenberg TC, Zehnder AJB (1992) Seasonal variation in sulfate reduction and methanogenesis in peaty sediments of eutrophic Lake Loosdrecht, The Netherlands. Biogeochemistry 16:43–61
Sivan O, Adler M, Pearson A, Gelman F, Bar-Or I, John SG, Eckert W (2011) Geochemical evidence for iron-mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane. Limnol Oceanogr 56:1536–1544
Skyring GW (1988) Acetate as the main energy substrate for the sulfate reducing bacteria in Lake Eliza (South Australia) hypersaline sediments. FEMS Microbiol Lett 53:87–94
Smith RL, Klug MJ (1981) Electron donors utilized by sulfate reducing bacteria in eutrophic lake sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 42:116–121
Smith RL, Oremland RS (1987) Big Soda Lake (Nevada) 2. Pelagic sulfate reduction. Limnol Oceanogr 32:794–803
Stiller M, Magaritz M (1974) Carbon-13 enriched carbonate in interstitial waters of Lake Kinneret. Limnol Oceanogr 19:849–853
Stone L, Berman T, Bonner R, Barry S, Weeks SW (1993) Lake Kinneret: a seasonal model for carbon flux through the planktonic biota. Limnol Oceanogr 38:1680–1695
Strayer D (1988) On the limits to secondary production. Limnol Oceanogr 33(5):1217–1220
Suttle CA (2007) Marine viruses—major players in the global ecosystem. Nat Rev Microbiol 5:801–812
Tessenow U, Frevert W, Hofgastner W, Moser A (1997) Ein simultanschliesender serienwasserschopfer fur sedimentkontaktwasser mit fotoelektrischer selbstauslosung und fakultativem sedimentstecher. Arch Hydrobiol Suppl 48:438–452
Thebrath B, Rothfuss F, Whiticar MJ, Conrad R (1993) Methane production in littoral sediment of Lake Constance. FEMS Microbiol Lett 102:279–289
Trotsenko YA, Murrell JC (2008) Methabolic aspects of aerobic obligate methanotrophy. Adv Appl Microbiol 63:183–229
Valentine DL, Reeburgh WS (2000) New perspectives on anaerobic methane oxidation. Environ Microbiol 2(5):477–484
Westrich JT, Berner RA (1988) The effect of temperature on rates of sulfate reduction in marine sediments. Geomicrobiol J 6:99–117
Whitman WB, Bowen TL, Boone DR (1992) The methanogenic bacteria. In: Balowes A, Truper HG, Dwarkin M, Harder W, Schliefer KH (eds.) The Prokaryotes, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, pp 719–767
Williamson CE, Saros JE, Vincent WF, Smold JP (2009) Lakes and reservoirs as sentinels, integrators, and regulators of climate change. Limnol Oceanogr 54:2273–2282
Winberg GG (1960) Primary production of water bodies. The Academy of Sciences of BSSR, Minsk, 328 pp (in Russian)
Yacobi YZ (2006) Temporal and vertical variation of chlorophyll a concentration, phytoplankton photosynthetic activity and light attenuation in Lake Kinneret: possibilities and limitations for simulations by remote sensing. J Plankton Res 28:725–736
Zohary T, Hadas O, Pollingher U, Kaplan B, Pinkas R, Güde H (2000) The effect of nutrients (N, P) on the decomposition of Peridinium gatunense cells and thecae. Limnol Oceanogr 45:123–130
Zohary T, Ostrovsky I (2011) Ecological impacts of excessive water level fluctuations in stratified freshwater lake. Inland Waters 1:47–59
Zohary T, Nishri A, Sukenik A (2012) Present-absent: a chronicle of the dinoflagellate Peridinium gatunense from Lake Kinneret. Hydrobiologia 698:161–174
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Berman, T. et al. (2014). The Fate of Organic Carbon. In: Zohary, T., Sukenik, A., Berman, T., Nishri, A. (eds) Lake Kinneret. Aquatic Ecology Series, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8944-8_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8944-8_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8943-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8944-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)