ARPHA Conference Abstracts :
Conference Abstract
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Corresponding author: Kateřina Čapková (caapkova@gmail.com)
Received: 16 Jun 2023 | Published: 13 Oct 2023
© 2023 Kateřina Čapková, Klára Řeháková, Tomáš Bešta, Petr Čapek, Jan Mareš, Eliška Konopáčová
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Čapková K, Řeháková K, Bešta T, Čapek P, Mareš J, Konopáčová E (2023) Seasonal variation of gross ecosystem productivity of periphyton in three post-mining lakes in the Czech Republic, Europe. ARPHA Conference Abstracts 6: e108115. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.6.e108115
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We investigated the seasonal variation of gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) of periphyton biomass in three post-mining lakes in the Czech Republic. These lakes were established as part of recultivation efforts after coal mining activities and resulted in a unique series of anthropogenic oligotrophic lakes of gradual successional age. Periphyton is ubiquitous in aquatic habitats and performs numerous environmental functions such as nutrient cycling and self-purifying of aquatic ecosystems. Well-developed periphyton mat can be formed within a few weeks, so it can quickly become the dominant of littoral zone of newly established lakes. In studied post-mining lakes, the highly developed periphytic community covers the littoral zone of each lake to the depth of 2m (
We aimed to shed some new light on the processes controlling the dynamics of primary productivity in oligotrophic lakes. The accurate estimation of primary productivity is crucial for understanding the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, as primary productivity serves as the primary source of autochthonous carbon in these systems. In addition to phytoplankton, periphyton can significantly contribute to primary productivity in littoral zones, known for their high productivity and biodiversity. Conducting in situ measurements provides the most accurate means of inferring the metabolic activity of primary producers in littoral zones.
We conducted detailed seasonal in-situ periphyton gross primary production (GPP) measurements in three post-mining lakes with different successional ages (
This setup enabled us to monitor online oxygen flux, therefore, insights into metabolic activities. The primary productivity was measured in real-time, allowing us to capture the quantitative effect of various environmental drivers on periphyton productivity, i.e. phosphorus concentration and light intensity, as they are known to play significant roles in primary productivity.
We showed that the primary production of periphyton mats exhibited seasonal variations, with higher productivity observed in spring compared to other seasons. This observation could be attributed to the occurrence of winter/spring upwelling events and vertical mixing, which resupply nutrients from the deeper strata. Furthermore, the physiological activity of periphyton was strongly influenced by the seasonal changes in light intensity, temperature, and nutrient concentration.
We provided the first insight into the seasonal variation of primary productivity of the periphyton assemblage dominating the littoral zone of newly established post-mining lakes. We stress the importance of periphyton in aquatic ecosystems, particularly in anthropogenic oligotrophic lakes.
Kateřina Čapková
as oral presentation in Part 4: Emerging Tools & Areas of Scientific Inquiry