Population dynamics using temporal series analysis in a industrial two-stage activated sludge pilot plant
A time series analysis using an autocorrelation function (ACF) was used to assess the relative importance of density (DD) and non density-dependent - (NDD) factors on microfauna abundance of a two-stage activated sludge pilot plant treating industrial effluents. Although some previous work has detected a carrying capacity for the total microfauna abundance in both reactors, ACF showed a general pattern of non-density dependent abundance regulation. Stationarity due to density-dependent factors was observed for the two major species in the first reactor, the sessile Opercularia asymmetrica and the crawling Chilodonatella minuta. There was no evidence of bacterial competition and only weak ev…
Response of zooplankton to nutrient enrichment and fish in shallow lakes: a pan-European mesocosm experiment
1. Responses of zooplankton to nutrient enrichment and fish predation were studied in 1998 and 1999 by carrying out parallel mesocosm experiments in six lakes across Europe. 2. Zooplankton community structure, biomass and responses to nutrient and fish manipulation showed geographical and year-to-year differences. Fish had a greater influence than nutrients in regulating zooplankton biomass and especially the relative abundances of different functional groups of zooplankton. When fish reduced the biomass of large crustaceans, there was a complementary increase in the biomasses of smaller crustacean species and rotifers. 3. High abundance of submerged macrophytes provided refuge for zooplank…
A new tool for the assessment of severe anthropogenic eutrophication in small shallow water bodies
Abstract Unlike in deep stratified lakes, the assessment of eutrophication in shallow aquatic systems (i.e., wetlands, marshes, ponds) should be based on the interaction between water and sediment. The availability of P to primary producers is naturally higher in shallow systems, because the sediment plays an active part via adsorption, precipitation and release processes. Thus, many wetlands in protected areas are naturally eutrophic and have a high trophic status due to intrinsic features and thus, display a high concentration of total-P in the water without necessarily implying pollution or poor quality. We have provided a diagnostic tool based on the chemical equilibrium of dissolved re…
Responses of phytoplankton to fish predation and nutrient loading in shallow lakes: a pan-European mesocosm experiment
1. The impacts of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) and planktivorous fish on phytoplankton composition and biomass were studied in six shallow, macrophyte-dominated lakes across Europe using mesocosm experiments. 2. Phytoplankton biomass was more influenced by nutrients than by densities of planktivorous fish. Nutrient addition resulted in increased algal biomass at all locations. In some experiments, a decrease was noted at the highest nutrient loadings, corresponding to added concentrations of 1 mg L1 P and 10 mg L1 N. 3. Chlorophyll a was a more precise parameter to quantify phytoplankton biomass than algal biovolume, with lower within-treatment variability. 4. Higher densities of pla…