Reduction of nutrient loading, planktivore removal and piscivore stocking as tools in water quality management: The feldberger haussee biomanipulation project

The Feldberger Haussee, a highly eutrophic stratified hard-water lake located in the eastern part of Germany's Baltic lake district, was selected for a restoration programme combining external nutrient loading reduction and long-term biomanipulation. In 1980 the external phosphorus loading (1.8 g TP m⁻² a⁻¹) decreased by 90%, but water quality did not improve significantly within the following 6 years. In 1985 biomanipulation was initiated, with manual removal of cyprinid fish coupled with piscivore introductions as the principal measures. The expected changes in the pelagic community and improvements of water quality occurred after a delay of several years. Despite intensive manual removal of cyprinids and stocking of piscivores, standing stocks of cyprinid fish remained relatively high (130-260 kg ww ha⁻¹) after some years of decline. Compared to the pre-biomanipulation period, mean seasonal (May-September) Daphnia spp. biomass roughly doubled (0.037 g C m⁻³vs. 0.084 g C m⁻³). However, the predominance of small (<1 mm) D. cucullata throughout the whole investigation period indicated that planktivory was still substantial. Paired observations between edible phytoplankton biomass and Daphnia spp. indicated that a significant decline in algal stocks would only occur if herbivorous biomass was above a certain threshold (0.2 g C m⁻³). Reduced external and internal loading in concert with pelagic calcite precipitation were most likely responsible for the decline in lake phosphorus concentrations, thereby substantially improving the water quality of Feldberger Haussee. Although this is not supported by quantitative evidence, we hypothesize that resource-related water quality improvements were caused by changes in the structure of the pelagic community leading to increased calcite precipitation. In agreement with the results of other investigations, we conclude that because stabilising mechanisms such as macrophyte growth were lacking in Feldberger Haussee, biomanipulation in stratified lakes may not be as successful as has been observed in shallow lakes. However, in hard-water lakes, calcite precipitation may act as another stabilising resource-related mechanism. Phosphorus associated with sedimenting calcite particles is insensitive to redox-conditions and may therefore not be re-mobilised from lake sediments even if hypolimnetic oxygen is depleted.