Lake Shira, a Siberian salt lake: ecosystem structure and function. 1. Major physico-chemical and biological features

The specific composition, vertical distribution and daily migration of plankton in a meromictic salt lake, Lake Shira, have been investigated. The main structural components of the ecosystem are bacteria, algae and crustaceans. Since the late 1970s, blue-green algae are reported as dominant. Nowadays the phytoplankton is dominated by Lyngbya contorta, Microcystis ichtyoblabe (Cyanophyta), Cyclotella tuberculata (Bacillariophyta) and Dictyosphaerium tetrachotomum (Chlorophyta). The zooplankton of Lake Shira comprises Arctodiaptomus salinus (Copepoda), Brachionus plicatilis and Hexarthra oxiuris (Rotatoria). Investigation revealed a stratified vertical distribution of all dominant species except Cyclotella with a maximum at a depth of 12--15 m during the summer growth period. Zooplanktons differ in the pattern of distribution and daily migration, but most zooplankton tend to concentrate near the surface. The possible reasons for the vertical distribution of the plankton are discussed.     

Sedimentary records of reduction in resting egg production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia galeata</Emphasis> in Lake Biwa during the 20th century: a possible effect of winter warming

To clarify long-term variations in the resting egg production of Daphnia galeata in Lake Biwa during the 20th century, we examined an abundance of plankton remains and ephippia in a 26-cm sediment core with a time resolution of approximately 2–6 years. Historical changes shown by these plankton remains indicated that the Daphnia population has not produced resting eggs since the 1980s, but it has remained the most abundant zooplankton species in the lake. Plankton monitoring data collected from 1966 to 2000 revealed that the overwintering individuals (January–March) of D. galeata plankters showed a significant increasing trend in recent years, such increase being negatively correlated with ephippial abundance in the sediment samples. Further analyses showed that the dominant phytoplankton in winter has changed from large inedible diatoms to edible flagellated algae, probably due to changes in vertical mixing regimes resulting from winter warming. These changes that occurred in the last several decades suggest that global warming has improved winter food conditions and thus enabled the Daphnia plankton to maintain its population without producing resting eggs in Lake Biwa.     

Lake Shira, a Siberian salt lake: ecosystem structure and function. 2. Brachionus plicatilis (Rotatoria) growth and development

The growth and development of Brachionus plicatilis (Müller), a rotifer and one of the most abundant zooplankton species in Lake Shira, a saline lake at low temperature in the Republic of Khakassia, was studied in cultures at different trophic conditions. Growth indices were evaluated at natural (lake) concentrations of bacteria, Chlorella vulgaris, a microalga, and Candida utilis, a yeast. The negative effect on rotifer reproduction in the algal-bacterial community by blue-green algae was demonstrated. The ratio of ontogenetic periods was shown to be in accord with species and food concentration. Base values required to calculate B. plicatilis population simulation model parameters were defined.     

华侨城湿地浮游生物调查

2014年7月,对华侨城湿地浮游生物进行调查。共鉴定浮游植物4门17种,浮游动物3门12种。叶绿素a含量值较大,以及耐污浮游生物成为优势种群,表明华侨城湿地正受较严重污染。同时,淡水藻类成为水体优势藻种,表明华侨城湿地水体正逐步淡化。     

Biological and ecological features of inland saline waters in North Hebei, China

During May and June 1991, the biological and ecological features of sixteen aquatic localities in Zhanjiakou region, Hebei, northern China, were investigated. Their salinity ranged from 0.98 to 175.2 g L⁻¹. Fish and benthic macroinvertebrates were depauperate. 116 samples were collected. 91 species (or genera) of phytoplankton and 94 species of zooplankton were recorded. In most of the saline lakes, Cl⁻ and Na⁺ were dominant, and alkalinity and pH values were higher. For phytoplankton, major species wereChroococcus minutus, Oscillatoria tenuis [blue-green algae];Chlamydomonas spp.,Chlorococcus spp.,Chlorella vulgaris, Crucigenia quadrata, Dunaliella salina, Kirchneriella contorta, Oocystis lacustris, Scenedesmus acuminatus [green algae]; andCyclotella meneghiniana, Navicula spp.,Nitzschia spp. [diatoms]. Other phytoplankton taxa present included:Cryptomonas erosa, Chroomonas acuta, Chromulina pascheri, Euglena viridis. For zooplankton, major species included:Vorticella campanula, Epistylis breviramosa, Euplotes terricola [protozoa];Brachionus plicatilis, Hexarthra fennica, Keratella quadrata, Notholca acuminata quadrata [Rotifera];Daphnia magna, D.longispina [‘Cladocera’];Artemia spp. [Anostraca];Arctodiaptomus rectispinosus andCyclops vicinus [Copepoda]. The species composition, distribution, salinity tolerance of planktonic forms in inland saline waters are discussed and their relationship with certain environmental factors.     

Zooplankton distribution and abundance in saline lakes of Alberta and Saskatchewan,Canada

Zooplankton collections were made during 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989 from 17 lakes in Saskatchewan and 3 in Alberta. Salinity ranged from 2.8 to 269 g L⁻¹ (total filtrable residue). A total of 35 species was present in four taxa: Anostraca (3 species), Cladocera (11), Copepoda (7) and Rotifera (14). Species richness was greatest at salinities <7 g L⁻¹ (15–16 species). Lakes with salinities between 7 and 100 g L⁻¹ generally had 6–8 zooplankton species, while the most saline lakes (>100 g L⁻¹) had 2–5 species. The largest concentrations of zooplankton occurred at <30 g L⁻¹, but some species (Brachionus plicatilis, Hexarthra polyodonta, Artemia franciscana, Diaptomus connexus) were abundant at salinities >50 g L⁻¹. Eurysaline species included the rotifersAsplanchna girodi (3–111 g L⁻¹),Brachionus plicatilis (13–146) andKeratella quadrata (2.8–103).Artemia franciscana (33–269—but absent from Big Quill Lake, 49–82),Daphnia similis (3–104).D. connexus (9–82),Diacyclops thomasi (3–72), andCletocamptus albuquerquensis (17 to 126—but never abundant in the plankton). About half the species were restricted to hyposaline waters (3–20 g L⁻¹), but some (Hexarthra fennica, Moina hutchinsoni, Hexarthra polyodonta) occurred only at intermediate salinities. The latter two species were also only present at high pH values (>9.2). There was a trend of decreasing species richness with increasing salinity. TWINSPAN classification of 94 lake samples (six parameters) based on zooplankton species abundances yielded a dendrogram with 14 ‘indicator’ species characteristic of seven lake groups related partly to a salinity gradient, but with other environmental factors such as water column depth, pH, Secchi disk transparency, water temperature and month sampled also influenced lake separation. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A02GG004 00002     

Aquatic macrophyte distribution in Lake Manzala,Egypt

The macrophyte distribution of Lake Manzala is described in relation to water depth, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, Cl^–, NO ₃ ^– and PO ₄ ^3– . Changes in species composition of macrophytes are visualised by means of multivariate analysis. The TWINSPAN classification and CANOCO ordination programs (DCA & CCA) were used to analyse the data set. The classification of 100 stands revealed 8 vegetation groups which indicated eleven dominant communities. These arePhragmites australis, Typha domingensis, Scirpus maritimus, Echinochloa stagnina and Ludwigia stolonifera as emergent hydrophytes;Eichhornia crassipes andAzolla filiculoides as floating hydrophytes. The dominant submerged hydrophytes arePotamogeton pectinatus, Najas armata, Ceratophyllum demersum andRuppia maritima. The northern part of the lake with low depth and relatively high salinity has low species diversity (mainly emergent species). Species diversity increases with decreasing salinity and increasing eutrophication near the mouths of the drains in the western and southern parts of the lake. The recent changes in species distribution can be attributed to the effects of salinity, water depth and drainage water. A checklist of macrophytes in the lake is appended.     

The misrepresentation of the planktonic diatom assemblage in traps and sediments: southern Lake Malaŵi,Africa

Sediment trap collections near Cape Maclear, Lake Malai, were compared to phytoplankton and surface sediment diatoms to assess taphonomic variations. The sedimenting diatom community became progressively different from the diatom plankton with increasing depth: long Nitzschia species were strongly under-represented in the traps (annually, 53% among planktonic diatoms vs. 14% in the offshore 29 m trap; p0.005 by Kruskal-Wallis test), while Melosira was greatly over-represented in traps (32% vs. 57%; p<0.005). The abundances of the minor taxa (Rhopalodia, Fragilaria, Cymbella, and Surirella) were greatly enhanced in traps relative to the plankton, but they were still relatively uncommon (<3% of all diatoms each). Differences in grazing, dissolution, and sinking rates alone are insufficient to account for these distortions; a combination of these, plus perhaps unknown factors, strongly influence the deposited assemblage.These misrepresentations were also present at the sediment surface. The greatest discrepancy was noted for Melosira (32% of plankton vs. 53% of sediment surface diatoms; p<0.005) and for elongate Nitzschia species (53% of plankton vs. 0.8% in sediments; p<0.005). In Lake Malai, at least, paleolimnologists must not assume a straightforward correlation of modern and fossil assemblages.     

An annual fossil record of production,planktivory and piscivory during whole-lake manipulations

Annual and subannual paleolimnological records of pigments and zooplankton were used to analyze three whole-lake manipulations. The relative abundance of cladoceran remains in recent seasonal laminae was significantly correlated with the relative abundance of species in the plankton (r ²=0.59,P<0.001). Comparison of food-web structure after piscivore introduction showed that there are multiple outcomes of predation and that final food-web structure depended on the strength of interaction between piscivorous and planktivorous fish. Intense predation on cyprinids (Phoxinus eos, P. neogaeus, Umbra limi) by largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) allowed large herbivores (Daphnia pulex) and invertebrate predators (Chaoborus punctipennis) to dominate. Analysis of fossil invertebrate morphology suggested that small grazers (Bosmina longirostris, Diaphanosoma birgei) were eliminated by invertebrate predators. Under moderate predation by rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), cyprinids remained, only intermediate-size herbivores (D. rosea) increased in abundance, andBosmina persisted. In contrast to food-web manipulations, increased algal abundance resulting from watershed disturbance (road construction) did not alter the species composition or size-structure of fossil Cladocera.     

Lake Issyk-kul,Kirgizia

The main limnological features of Lake Issyk-kul are described. The lake is a large (6,236 km²), deep (z_m, 668 m), closed lake in eastern Kirgizia. It lies at ∼1,607 m above sea level, but water-levels have been dropping since the last century. It is slightly saline (salinity, ∼6g L⁻¹), with Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl⁻ and SO ₄ ²⁻ the dominant ions. Nutrient levels are low and the lake is considered ultra-oligotrophic. Characeae dominate the macrophytes. About 300 and 117 taxa of, respectively, phytoplankton and zooplankton have been identified, withArctodiaptomus salinus the most numerous in the zooplankton. Chironomids dominate the benthos. Several endemic taxa of fish occur, of whichLeuciscus bergi was dominant until the 1970s. The fish fauna has been supplemented by many introduced species. Three mysids were introduced in 1965–8 and are now a significant part of the ecosystem. The present annual fish catch permitted is 320 t. The most important value of the lake is as a recreational resource. To promote and sustain this value requires careful, ongoing management. The most significant threats to the lake are local pollution, visitor pressure, and declining water-levels.     

Temporal variations of fossil Cladocera in the sediments of Lake Orta (N. Italy) over the last 400 years

We use Cladocera remains in the sediments to reconstruct the longterm history of Lake Orta, a lake which experienced severe pollution from copper and ammonium sulphate, and started to recover during the last 15 years. Both human and natural impacts were detected over almost 400 years. Pollution was manifested by a dramatic decrease in the number of remains, in the planktonic/littoral (P/L) ratio, and in chydorid species diversity. Most species, even those most tolerant to stress, disappeared. The recolonization of biota was initially sustained by one species of chydorid,Chydorus sphaericus, which had a three-fold increase at the beginning of the 1980s, when studies on plankton recorded the development of a pelagic population. This fact, and the appearance in the sediments ofAlona quadrangularis, attest to the development of filamentous algae which was reported in studies on the plankton. The colonization of the lake by pelagic species came only in the last twelve years and was manifested also as a stabilization of the P/L ratio. Two other periods of disturbance were detected in the sediments: the first, at the end of the 19th century, was related to the introduction of exotic fish species; the second occurred during the second half of the 17th century. This event probably cannot be ascribed to human impact, but may be related to a decrease in temperature in that period (the Maunder Minimum).     

Chemical composition of waters and the phytoplankton of the lakes within the delta of the Selenga river

Field observations showed that the characteristics of chemical composition of waters and the development of plankton algae in the lakes within the delta of the Selenga river are determined by their flowage. The most open Lake Nekipelovskoe communicates with the Selenga outlets throughout a year, and Lake Zavernyaikha only at the period of an open channel. Lake Semenovskoe and Lake Khlystov Zaton are located in the islands and are isolated from the outlets. According to composition of main ions, the lakes under investigation refer to the hydrocarbonate class, the calcium group. The sum of ions in the water of Lake Nekipelovskoe approaches the one in the Selenga (86?221 mg/dm³), and the highest sums of ions were recorded in the wintertime in the lakes isolated from the outlets (446?743 mg/dm³). The lakes of the delta are characterized by a high trophicity. The maximum concentrations of total phosphorus in Lake Nekipelovskoe and Lake Zavernyaikha were 68 and 122 μg mg/dm³, and in Lake Semenovskoe and Lake Khlystov Zaton ?0.8 and ?0.63 μg mg/dm³, respectively. The most intense development of algae is observed in Lake Zavernyaikha, which is due to the high population of Baikal endemics. Lake Zavernyaikha showed a close negative correlation between the concentration of NO ₃ ^? , mineral phosphorus and phytoplankton biomass; the correlation coefficient was ?0.8 and ?0.63, respectively. The lakes exhibited increased contents readily hydrolysable organic matter, and a decrease in dissolved oxygen concentration in winter; hydrogen sulfide was repeatedly recorded in Lake Khlystov Zaton. The water quality in the lakes during the springtime varies from “quite clean” to “weakly polluted”; at low-water periods, especially in winters, it can drop to the category of “exceedingly dirty”. The water quality of the Selenga can be influenced by the lakes during spring floods when material accumulated during the wintertime is transported to the river outlets and further to Lake Baikal.     

A postglacial pollen and nonsiliceous algae record from Gegoka Lake, Lake County, Minnesota

As part of a multidisciplinary investigation of the Misiano archaeological site, pollen and nonsiliceous algae were recovered from a 262 cm core from Gegoka Lake, Lake County, Minnesota. The palynomorph assemblage from Gegoka Lake records changes in local and regional vegetational and lake productivity over the past 10 000 years. Pollen spectra indicate that vegetation progressed from a shrub parkland/open conifer forest, to a spruce-pine forest, to a mixed conifer-hardwood forest. Pinus banksiana/resinosa is replaced by Pinus strobus about 7000 years ago. A small rise in Gramineae in the upper 17.5 cm of the core is attributed to the expansion of wild rice (Zizania aquatica) in Gegoka Lake. Four cycles of nutrient enrichment are indicated by the Pediastrum and Scenedesmus maxima in the nonsiliceous algae record. Oscillations in the nonsiliceous algae abundance probably result from changing environmental and/or limnologic conditions. The decline in nonsiliceous algae in the upper 57.5 cm of the core suggests that there has been an apparent shift to more nutrient poor conditions in Gegoka Lake in the recent past.This is the 17th in a series of papers published in this special AMQUA issue. These papers were presented at the 1994 meeting of the American Quaternary Association held 19–22 June, 1994, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Dr Linda C. K. Shane served as guest editor for these papers.     

The relationship between zooplankton,conductivity and lake-water ionic composition in 111 lakes from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia,Canada

Zooplankton collected from vertical net tows were related to the environmental variables from 98 lakes from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that both salinity and ionic composition (pH and Mg) of the lake-water made major and significant contributions to the first two ordination axes (=0.42 and 0.11 respectively,P<0.05). BothArtemia franciscana andMoina hutchinsoni had their highest relative abundance in meso-hypersaline waters. However,Artemia franciscana preferred waters that were higher in Mg and Ca, whileMoina hutchinsoni was found in waters that were lower in Mg and Ca. Similarly, at intermediate salinities,Daphnia pulex and the calanoid copepods preferred waters slightly lower in Mg and Ca, whereasCeriodaphnia laticaudata andSimocephalus spp. were relatively more common in waters higher in Mg and Ca. Because the freshest lakes studied varied much less in ionic composition, the zooplankton in these lakes did not show a preference to ionic composition. As expected, multi-generic groups, such as the calanoid copepods, cyclopoid copepods and nauplii, had wider tolerances to conductivity than groups identified to lower taxonomic levels. Significant weighted-averaging regression and calibration models of conductivity were developed based on zooplankton species composition from the study lakes (r ²=0.56,P<0.05). Samples composed largely of multi-generic taxa yielded the worst estimates of salinity in the reconstruction model. This study suggests that zooplankton community composition may be developed into a useful proxy for paleosalinity reconstruction.     

Reconstructing long-term changes in Daphnia's body size from subfossil remains in sediments of a small lake in the Himalayas

A combined analysis of modern zooplankton and fossil Cladocera assemblages from a Himalayan lake, Lake 40, revealed that the endemic Daphnia tibetana disappeared in the late-1980s, after persisting as the only Daphnia species for almost 3000 years. Daphnia head shields, which are rarely recovered from the sediments, were the most abundant Daphnia remains in the lake. The remains were of the Ctenodaphnia type; the smaller ones had a large central hole. Head shields of the same type were also found in zooplankton water samples, rich in exuviae as well as of intact specimens of D. tibetana, from a nearby lake. Small individuals had a distinct nuchal organ in the dorsal region of the head. We therefore postulated that the head shields with the hole were from young (newborn or individuals in the two first moults). Up to now, the nuchal organ has been described in laboratory populations of D. (Ctenodaphnia) magna, where it disappears quite early in life. It probably functions as an osmoregulatory organ, essential for the survivorship of late embryos and early juveniles. On the other hand, as far as we know, head shields with a hole have never been recorded in plankton or in sediments. In view of the fact that head shields were representative of Daphnia abundance, we used them to reconstruct changes in density and body size during ca. 3000 years. In fishless mountain lakes, mean Daphnia body size tends to increase toward the end of the productive season. The number of moults and maximum body size depend mainly on the duration of the ice-free period, and on summer temperatures. In cold years, when the productive season is short, the number of moults will be low, and the range of Daphnia body size will be narrow. We used Daphnia body size and abundance estimates, in addition to an analysis of changes in the Cladocera assemblage, to reconstruct past environmental conditions.     

Changes in the mullet fishery of Lake Manzala,Egypt

Growth rates of the main mullet species (Liza ramada andMugil cephalus) in Lake Manzala are low compared to those in other Egyptian lakes. But average growth rates during the period 1989–1993 were relatively faster than in the 1960's. Spawning and migration seasons have been determined for every species, and their distribution in the lake, in terms of certain ecological parameters (salinity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen) have been investigated. Changes in the mullet fishery in the lake during the past 70 years have been studied. Due to an increase in nutrient loading and a decrease in salinity, mullet declined from 65 per cent of the total catch during the 1920's to only 2.2 per cent during the early 1980's. As a result of fisheries management and development programmes from 1989 to 1993, mullet production increased to 9.2 per cent of the total catch.     

Paleolimnological analysis of Ullswater using testate amoebae

Tests of testate amoebae extracted from samples of bottom sediments from 33 tarns in the English Lake District reveal a relationship between their distribution and physical-chemical parameters of the tarn waters.Nebela and several species ofDifflugia appear to prefer more acidic conditions, i.e., pH less than 6.2, while others such asCentropyxis, Lesquereusia and some species ofCyclopyxis andDifflugia are more common in lakes with pH's above that value.Using these data, and inferring rates of sedimentation from the densities of tests found in a 6-m core, a paleolimnological history for the past 11 000 years is presented for Ullswater (English Lake District). The record of testate amoebae, beginning shortly after deglaciation, depicts an uneven increase in acidity and a history of episodes of rapid and slow deposition that correlate reasonably well with paleoclimatological changes and anthropogenic alterations in the catchment.     

Benthos of a perennially-astatic, saline, soda lake in Mexico

The effects of multiple stressors on the benthic macroinvertebrate community were monitored in Tecuitlapa Norte, a shallow, perennially-astatic, warm, mesosaline, sodaalkaline lake in Mexico. Physico-chemical and biological variables were determined monthly for one year. Tecuitlapa Norte displayed a clear seasonal environmental pattern (dry and rainy seasons). The benthic macroinvertebrate community consisted of five species:Culicoides occidentalis sonorensis Jorgensen,Ephydra hians Say,Stratiomys sp.,Eristalis sp., andLimnophora sp. of which the first two were dominant and the rest scarce.C. occidentalis was the most important species numerically (76 percent of the total), whileE. hians dominated the biomass (73 percent of the total). Primarily salinity and secondarily pH appear to be the most important environmental factors controlling dominance of benthic organisms in Tecuitlapa Norte. Seasonal abundance dynamics of the dominant organisms was associated with phases in their reproductive cycles: environmentally-triggered (i.e., temperature rise, water-level descent) pupation and emergence periods. We concluded that whereas physical and chemical factors (i.e., salinity, pH) exerted the primary control on benthic macroinvertebrate community composition in Tecuitlapa Norte, another assembly of variables (e.g., water-level, temperature) influenced species distribution and abundance.     

Was there ice along the shore of the Sea of Galilee during the last 12,000?—Reply to a comment by Prange et al. (2007) and a comment by Friedman (2007)

Prange et al. (2007) question our reconstruction of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) paleoclimate and argue that a “careful” analysis of the paleoclimatic analysis leads to much smaller cooling events than we have considered. By and large, their “careful” analysis is based on correlating the paleotemperatures of the Lake with those of the northern Red-Sea that (geographically) is much closer to the Lake than the two Mediterranean cores that we used. Ironically, their argument contradicts Friedman’s (2007) statements (the second comment on our original paper), which are based on still-closer cores and support our larger cooling choices. This issue alone would be enough to dismiss the uniqueness of PAL argument but there is another issue with their work that we wish to comment on. In support of their own small cooling argument, PAL present winter correlation maps that indeed show a stronger correlation of the northern Red-Sea SST to the lake SST than the correlation of Mediterranean SST with the lake SST. This seemingly correct correlation argument of PAL is totally false (for both daily and millennial time scales) because it has no climatological basis. On the daily time scale, all the storms that reach the Lake originate in the Mediterranean Sea (to the west of the lake), not the Red-Sea (which lies 700 km south of the lake). Also, although the lake and the Red-Sea are only 700 kilometers apart, their climates are very different because they are subject to two totally different air masses. While the climate of the Red-Sea region is desert-like, the climate of the region surrounding the lake is a typical wet Mediterranean climate. Seasonal correlation maps (and even monthly maps) such as those presented by the authors filter out the storms that control the winter climate in the lake region because these storms occur on a daily scale. With this filtering, all that one is left with is the low frequency first baroclinic mode, which merely reflects the Rossby radius scale (measured from the lake). On the millennial time scale, cold events in the lake regions (from an earlier period) have been attributed to Bond cycles and Heinrich events both of which are global and not local processes. As such, they are probably forced by variability in the solar radiation rather than a local process implied by PAL. Overall, all that the PAL correlation shows for both daily and millennial time scales is that changes in the temperature in the Red-Sea occur at the same time as they do in the Lake. But this does not say anything about the dynamics in question and does not imply that it is better to use records from the Red-Sea (which does not lie within the path of the zonal winds reaching the Lake). Neglecting this issue (as proposed by PAL) distorts the physics and reminds us of the classical statistical example for the limitations involved in the interpretation of correlation—the incidence of lung cancer is strongly correlated with the incidence of carrying matches in ones pocket even though the matches do not cause the cancer and the cancer does not force one to carry matches.     

Limnological studies of Amarga Lagoon,Chile: A saline lake in Patagonian South America

Amarga Lagoon, lat. 50°29 S and long. 73°45 S, it is located at the Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. The physical, chemical, and biological features of the lake were studied. According to salinity, the lake is mesosaline. Sodium and chloride were the dominant ions. Nitrogen was potentially limiting for phytoplankton growth. One Cyanophyceae species andArtemia were the predominant species in the plankton.Artemia provided abundant food for flamingoes.