Abstract
Climate change is changing the duration and intensity of dry and rainy periods, influencing the dynamics of algal communities in freshwater ecosystems. We evaluated the phytoplankton, metaphyton, epipelon, and epiphyton chlorophyll-a in a shallow marginal lake during a prolonged drought with a loss of river–lake connectivity in an artificial wetland system. We relate algal chlorophyll-a changes in different habitats to environmental conditions during the gradual lake volume reduction. Water and algal community samplings were performed monthly in pelagic, sublittoral, and eulittoral zones during a severe drought due to low rainfall in the summer. We used the chlorophyll-a concentration as a proxy for algal biomass. Differences in nutrient concentrations, water transparency, and depth were determined for two limnological phases. TP and light were significant predictors of algal chlorophyll-a. Lake volume continuously decreased and lost connectivity with the river. The drought increased the trophy, evidencing the tenuous threshold between mesotrophy and eutrophy in a subtropical lake. On a temporal scale, we observed the loss of chlorophyll-a in phytoplankton and epiphyton. The chlorophyll-a concentration fluctuated in the epipelon and increased in phytoplankton-metaphyton, especially in the eulittoral. The results showed a close connection between the pelagic and littoral zones. The phenomena that affect the morphometric variables, such as changes in the precipitation regime, can change trophic state lakes and algal community dynamics in marginal lakes. Our findings suggest that mesotrophic marginal lakes can become eutrophic due to the loss of river–lake connectivity, favoring high phytoplankton-metaphyton growth in wetland systems.
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Data availability
The datasets generated and analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Leonardo Rodrigues Tivo, Hamilton Antonio Rodrigues, and Joaquim Nunes da Costa for their help in field activities.
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The authors would like to acknowledge the FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) for financial support (Grant No. 2009/52253-4) and for a Ph.D. scholarship to MRC and TRS (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-CAPES, FAPESP Grant No 2013/03130-2, respectively).
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CF, TRS and RH conceptualization and experimental sampling; CF and RH writing and editing the original draft; TRS generated the results of algal chlorophyll-a; all authors generated the abiotic results. All authors revised and approved the final manuscript.
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Ferragut, C., Casartelli, M.R., dos Santos, T.R. et al. Changes in algal communities in different habitats and environmental variables during an atypical drought period in a marginal lake to a river. Wetlands Ecol Manage 31, 213–227 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-023-09912-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-023-09912-9