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Primary production of phytoplankton and periphyton in two humic lakes of a South American wetland

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Abstract

Seasonal primary productivities of periphyton and phytoplankton were compared in Grande Lake (GL) and a relict oxbow lake (ROL) in winter 2006 and summer 2007. GL was free of floating plants on the sampling dates and covered over 80 and 100% of the ROL surface in winter and summer, respectively. The 14C assimilation technique was used to obtain the P–E curves of phytoplankton and periphyton on artificial substrata. The periphytic maximum photosynthetic rate (P max) was higher in the ROL in winter and summer, being better adapted to low irradiances than those in the GL. Phytoplankton and periphytic algae were light-limited in the ROL in summer due to complete coverage by floating macrophytes. In summer, P max and α values for periphyton in the ROL were higher than those for phytoplankton, and were even higher than in GL. In turn, P max and α values for phytoplankton in Grande Lake were higher than those for periphyton due to improved light conditions and the presence of algae that were adapted to movement through the water column. These results suggest that the complete coverage by floating macrophytes restricted phytoplankton productivity and allowed the development of a periphytic community that was better adapted to low-light conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues at the Laboratory of Limnology (Universidad de Buenos Aires) for field assistance, and the personnel of the Otamendi Natural Reserve (Administración de Parques Nacionales) for their technical support. Thanks also to the two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve the manuscript. This work was supported by Universidad de Buenos Aires (grant UBACyT-X815) and ANPCyT (grant PICT 536 and 12332). The samplings carried out in this study comply with the current laws in Argentina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Limnología, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EHA, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Patricia Rodríguez, M. Solange Vera & Haydée Pizarro

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Patricia Rodríguez, M. Solange Vera & Haydée Pizarro

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  1. Patricia Rodríguez
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  2. M. Solange Vera
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  3. Haydée Pizarro
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Correspondence to Patricia Rodríguez.

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Handling Editor: Hideaki Miyashita.

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Rodríguez, P., Vera, M.S. & Pizarro, H. Primary production of phytoplankton and periphyton in two humic lakes of a South American wetland. Limnology 13, 281–287 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-012-0373-9

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