Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.

To identify the seasonal pattern of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation of phytoplankton in four different lakes, biweekly experiments were conducted from the end of March to September 2011. Lake water samples were enriched with N, P or both nutrients and incubated under two different light i...

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Main Authors: Sebastian Kolzau, Claudia Wiedner, Jacqueline Rücker, Jan Köhler, Antje Köhler, Andrew M Dolman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24755935/?tool=EBI
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author Sebastian Kolzau
Claudia Wiedner
Jacqueline Rücker
Jan Köhler
Antje Köhler
Andrew M Dolman
author_facet Sebastian Kolzau
Claudia Wiedner
Jacqueline Rücker
Jan Köhler
Antje Köhler
Andrew M Dolman
author_sort Sebastian Kolzau
collection DOAJ
description To identify the seasonal pattern of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation of phytoplankton in four different lakes, biweekly experiments were conducted from the end of March to September 2011. Lake water samples were enriched with N, P or both nutrients and incubated under two different light intensities. Chlorophyll a fluorescence (Chla) was measured and a model selection procedure was used to assign bioassay outcomes to different limitation categories. N and P were both limiting at some point. For the shallow lakes there was a trend from P limitation in spring to N or light limitation later in the year, while the deep lake remained predominantly P limited. To determine the ability of in-lake N:P ratios to predict the relative strength of N vs. P limitation, three separate regression models were fit with the log-transformed ratio of Chla of the P and N treatments (Response ratio = RR) as the response variable and those of ambient total phosphorus:total nitrogen (TN:TP), dissolved inorganic nitrogen:soluble reactive phosphorus (DIN:SRP), TN:SRP and DIN:TP mass ratios as predictors. All four N:P ratios had significant positive relationships with RR, such that high N:P ratios were associated with P limitation and low N:P ratios with N limitation. The TN:TP and DIN:TP ratios performed better than the DIN:SRP and TN:SRP in terms of misclassification rate and the DIN:TP ratio had the highest R₂ value. Nitrogen limitation was predictable, frequent and persistent, suggesting that nitrogen reduction could play a role in water quality management. However, there is still uncertainty about the efficacy of N restriction to control populations of N₂ fixing cyanobacteria.
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spelling doaj.art-819353a731e84c2eb8a02720f7a858702022-12-21T18:44:03ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0194e9606510.1371/journal.pone.0096065Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.Sebastian KolzauClaudia WiednerJacqueline RückerJan KöhlerAntje KöhlerAndrew M DolmanTo identify the seasonal pattern of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation of phytoplankton in four different lakes, biweekly experiments were conducted from the end of March to September 2011. Lake water samples were enriched with N, P or both nutrients and incubated under two different light intensities. Chlorophyll a fluorescence (Chla) was measured and a model selection procedure was used to assign bioassay outcomes to different limitation categories. N and P were both limiting at some point. For the shallow lakes there was a trend from P limitation in spring to N or light limitation later in the year, while the deep lake remained predominantly P limited. To determine the ability of in-lake N:P ratios to predict the relative strength of N vs. P limitation, three separate regression models were fit with the log-transformed ratio of Chla of the P and N treatments (Response ratio = RR) as the response variable and those of ambient total phosphorus:total nitrogen (TN:TP), dissolved inorganic nitrogen:soluble reactive phosphorus (DIN:SRP), TN:SRP and DIN:TP mass ratios as predictors. All four N:P ratios had significant positive relationships with RR, such that high N:P ratios were associated with P limitation and low N:P ratios with N limitation. The TN:TP and DIN:TP ratios performed better than the DIN:SRP and TN:SRP in terms of misclassification rate and the DIN:TP ratio had the highest R₂ value. Nitrogen limitation was predictable, frequent and persistent, suggesting that nitrogen reduction could play a role in water quality management. However, there is still uncertainty about the efficacy of N restriction to control populations of N₂ fixing cyanobacteria.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24755935/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Sebastian Kolzau
Claudia Wiedner
Jacqueline Rücker
Jan Köhler
Antje Köhler
Andrew M Dolman
Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.
PLoS ONE
title Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.
title_full Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.
title_fullStr Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.
title_short Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four German lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations.
title_sort seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in four german lakes and the predictability of limitation status from ambient nutrient concentrations
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24755935/?tool=EBI
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