| Title | Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Associations in a Set of Alpine High Altitude Lakes: Geographic Distribution and Ecology |
| Abstract | Species composition and interactions, biomass dominance, geographic distribution and driving variables were investigated for two key elements of the pelagic food web of Alpine lakes, the phytoplankton and the zooplankton, based on a single sampling campaign during summer 2000. Altogether, 70 lakes were surveyed, 49 of which located in three different lake districts of the west and eastern Italian Alps and 21 in the central Austrian Alps (within the uppermost Danube catchment). In addition to the analysis of environmental variables affecting distribution and species structure of the two planktonic compartments, a brief review of the main research lines and hypotheses adopted in the past for the study of phytoplankton and zooplankton in high Alpine lakes is given. The lakes, investigated partly within the European project EMERGE (EVK1-CT-1999- 00032) and partly within a regional project in the eastern Alps, comprise a wide range of morphological, chemical and trophic conditions. The phytoplankton communities were found to be diverse and mostly dominated by flagellates (chrysophytes, cryptophytes and dinoflagellates), and only to a lesser extent by non-motile green algae, desmids and centric diatoms. The zooplankton communities were mainly dominated by Alpine cladocerans and copepod species, while rotifers were abundant within one group of Italian lakes (sampled in early summer). The multivariate statistical analyses (CCA) showed that catchment features (i.e. percentage of vegetation cover and geochemical composition) and nitrate concentration are essential drivers for the phytoplankton, whereas for zooplankton also trophic status of the lakes and phytoplankton structure are important. The combined variance analysis of the lake clusters outlined by the multivariate analyses on phytoplankton and zooplankton data, respectively, allowed the identification of four principal lake types (three located on siliceous and one on carbonaceous bedrock), each one characterised by a certain combination of habitat features, which in their turn influence trophic state, and phytoplankton and zooplankton species composition and functionality. |
| Source | Hydrobiologia (The Hague. Print) 562, pp. 99–122 |
| Keywords | clear high altitudelakesphytoplanktonzooplanktonspecies diversity |
| Journal | Hydrobiologia (The Hague. Print) |
| Editor | Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, Paesi Bassi |
| Year | 2006 |
| Type | Articolo in rivista |
| Authors | Tolotti M.(1), Manca M., Angeli N.(2), Morabito M., Thaler B.(3), Rott E.(4), Stuchlik E.(5) |
| Text | 52922 2006 ISI Web of Science WOS 000236780200006 clear high altitude lakes phytoplankton zooplankton species diversity Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Associations in a Set of Alpine High Altitude Lakes Geographic Distribution and Ecology Tolotti M. 1 , Manca M., Angeli N. 2 , Morabito M., Thaler B. 3 , Rott E. 4 , Stuchlik E. 5 1 Istituto Agrario S. Michele all Adige; 2 Museo Storia Naturale, Trento; 3 APPA, Trento; 4 Istituto di Botanica, Universita di Insbruck; 5 Dipartimento di Idrobiologia, Charles University, Praga Species composition and interactions, biomass dominance, geographic distribution and driving variables were investigated for two key elements of the pelagic food web of Alpine lakes, the phytoplankton and the zooplankton, based on a single sampling campaign during summer 2000. Altogether, 70 lakes were surveyed, 49 of which located in three different lake districts of the west and eastern Italian Alps and 21 in the central Austrian Alps within the uppermost Danube catchment . In addition to the analysis of environmental variables affecting distribution and species structure of the two planktonic compartments, a brief review of the main research lines and hypotheses adopted in the past for the study of phytoplankton and zooplankton in high Alpine lakes is given. The lakes, investigated partly within the European project EMERGE EVK1 CT 1999 00032 and partly within a regional project in the eastern Alps, comprise a wide range of morphological, chemical and trophic conditions. The phytoplankton communities were found to be diverse and mostly dominated by flagellates chrysophytes, cryptophytes and dinoflagellates , and only to a lesser extent by non motile green algae, desmids and centric diatoms. The zooplankton communities were mainly dominated by Alpine cladocerans and copepod species, while rotifers were abundant within one group of Italian lakes sampled in early summer . The multivariate statistical analyses CCA showed that catchment features i.e. percentage of vegetation cover and geochemical composition and nitrate concentration are essential drivers for the phytoplankton, whereas for zooplankton also trophic status of the lakes and phytoplankton structure are important. The combined variance analysis of the lake clusters outlined by the multivariate analyses on phytoplankton and zooplankton data, respectively, allowed the identification of four principal lake types three located on siliceous and one on carbonaceous bedrock , each one characterised by a certain combination of habitat features, which in their turn influence trophic state, and phytoplankton and zooplankton species composition and functionality. 562 Articolo pubblicato Tolotti_et_al_2006_Hydrobiologia_562_99_122.pdf Articolo in rivista Kluwer Academic Publishers 0018 8158 Hydrobiologia The Hague. Print Hydrobiologia The Hague. Print Hydrobiologia The Hague. Print Hydrobiologia. The Hague. Print Hydrobiologia Dordrecht The Hague. Print Hydrobiologia Boston The Hague. Print Hydrobiologia London The Hague. Print giuseppe.morabito MORABITO GIUSEPPE marinamarcella.manca MANCA MARINA MARCELLA TA.P04.016.004 Ecologia teorica e applicata degli ecosistemi acquatici |
