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Planktonic nutrient regeneration and cycling efficiency in temperate lakes

Nature volume 400, pages 659–661 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Planktonic nutrient regeneration is a fundamental process that maintains most of the primary productivity in marine and freshwater environments. However, there is no robust predictive model to describe the pattern and efficiency of nutrient cycling across aquatic systems. Based on rather weak evidence, the efficiency of nutrient regeneration is believed to decline along a gradient of productivity, so that nutrient-poor environments are assumed to be more efficient at cycling their nutrients than are nutrient-rich environments1,2,3,4,5. Here we measure phosphorus regeneration directly and show that cycling efficiency does not vary with phosphorus concentration. In addition, we confirm that the phosphorus supply for lake plankton comes primarily from within the plankton community, rather than from external loading or from larger organisms such as fish.

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Figure 1: Planktonic regeneration of dissolved P (ng P l−1 h−1) as a function of totalP(µg l−1).
Figure 2: Cycling efficiency or turnover rate (per day) of particulate phosphorus (circles) as a function of total phosphorus (µg l−1)..

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. Paul, J. Almond, S. Leung, T. MacDonald, L. Lawton, B. Rolseth and B.Parker for field and laboratory assistance; D. McQueen and the Dorset Research Centre for logistical support at Mouse and Ranger Lakes; D. Watters, D. Donald, C. Paszkowski, B. Gingras, P. Mitchell and D.Zell for help with lake selection; and M. Pace, J. Murie and G. M. Taylor for helpful criticisms of the manuscript. This work was supported by a scholarship (NSERC, Canada) and a Killam postdoctoral fellowship (University of Alberta) to J.J.H., and NSERC operating grants to W.D.T. and D.W.S.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, Canada

    Jeff J. Hudson & David W. Schindler

  2. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

    William D. Taylor

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  1. Jeff J. Hudson
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  3. David W. Schindler
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Correspondence to Jeff J. Hudson.

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Hudson, J., Taylor, W. & Schindler, D. Planktonic nutrient regeneration and cycling efficiency in temperate lakes. Nature 400, 659–661 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/23240

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