The use of zooplankton metrics to determine the trophic status and ecological potential: An approach in a large Mediterranean watershed.

In the European Water Framework Directive, zooplankton was not included as a Biological Quality Element despite its important place in the aquatic trophic web. In the present study on zooplankton abundances and biomasses, we used several metrics to test their ability to detect differences among trophic statuses and ecological potential levels, and collected a large sum of data in more than 60 reservoirs at Ebro watershed, on more than 300 sampling occasions over 10 years. Our results indicate that most zooplankton metrics are correlated to environmental variables that determine reservoirs’ trophic states, especially chlorophyll a and total phosphorus. The metrics with better sensitivity to …

Lake-level changes and fire history at Lagunillo del Tejo (Spain) during the last millennium: Climate or humans?

Hydroclimatic variability is expected to be affected by global warming in the Mediterranean region where climate, fire and human activities are known to be interdependent. The latter is examined here for the past millennium by studying paleoenvironmental indicators from a sedimentary sequence at Lagunillo del Tejo (Cuenca, central Spain). Inferred changes in fire activity and lake levels are based on records of macrocharcoals and plant/algal macrofossils, respectively, and are compared with independent information on climate change and socio-economical transformations from historical and meteorological records. The results show that there is an obvious climatic forcing behind the lake-leve…

Calibration and Validation of Algorithms for the Estimation of Chlorophyll-A in Inland Waters with Sentinel-2

The Ocean Color 2 (OC2), Ocean Color 3 (OC3) and Dall'Olmo three-band (TBDO) algorithms used for the estimation of the chlorophyll-a concentration [Chl-a] have been calibrated and validated for Sentinel-2 spectral bands. Measurements of in situ chlorophyll-a, radiometry and simulations with HydroLight have been used for this purpose within the Ecological Status of AQuatic Systems Satellites (ESAQS) Project to estimate water quality in aquatic systems in Spain. The results show that Sentinel-2 spectral bands are suitable for studying the chlorophyll-a concentration in inland waters. The TBDO algorithm have been applied to Sentinel-2 images and satisfactory results have been obtained in Albuf…

Aurintricarboxylic acid as a nuclease inhibitor in fungal protoplasts

Aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA), a potent nuclease inhibitor, has been shown to prevent foreign DNA degradation in transformation of Penicillium chrysogenum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ATA may be useful not only in vitro but also in vivo.

Summer phytoplankton assemblages across trophic gradients in hard-water reservoirs

Summer phytoplankton assemblages are described and characterised according to their prevalence in a series of hard-water reservoirs of eastern Spain that had been classified in trophic categories on OECD criteria. Distribution patterns of phytoplankton species were ordinated statistically by principal components analysis (PCA). The first component was strongly related to trophic gradient and it particularly discriminated the eutrophic and hypertrophic reservoirs. The second component segregated life-forms, so that (1), on the oligo-mesotrophic side, large dinoflagellates were separated from small centric diatoms, unicellular chrysophytes and filamentous ullotrichales and, on the eu-hypertro…

The main limnological characteristics of the biogenic meromictic Lake La Cruz, a small karstic lake located on a dolomitic substrate, are outlined below. The lake owes its chemical stratification mainly to high concentrations of bicarbonate and calcium in the permanent monimolimnion, located below a depth of 19 m. A massive precipitation of CaCO3 crystals ("whiting"), occurring in the euphotic zone every summer, leads to further sedimentation and redissolution in deep waters with enhanced CO2 concentrations. Other ions, like magnesium, ammonium, reduced iron, silicate, etc. also contribute to the chemically-induced stability of the monimolimnion. The patterns of stratification during two co…

Penicillium auxotrophic mutants can be detected by suing xanthene dyes

Auxotrophic mutants ofPenicillium spp. have been directly isolated after mutagenic treatment from agar plates containing Xanthene dyes. They grow as characteristic small colored colonies. Some strains were tested and they showed a differential response depending on the Xanthene dye used.

Large Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium deviations in the Daphnia longispina of Lake El Tobar

The population structure of Daphnia longispina in Lake El Tobar, Spain was studied by measuring variation at the aldehyde oxidase (AO), phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) and phosphoglucose mutase (PGM) loci in each of 1337 individuals from four collections. In 9 of the 12 comparisons between observed allele frequencies and those expected by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium there was an excess of heterozygotes. We found 27 of the potential number of 54 composite electromorphs (‘clones’) based on the three allozymes. Clone diversities were rather high in all collections. Three clones reached frequencies of over 25% and different clones were dominant in each of the four collections. Strong temporal var…

Ecology of Cryptomonas at the chemocline of a karstic sulfate-rich lake

In a study from October 1989 to January 1992, a dense population ofCryptomonas cf. erosa (maximum density 38 000 cells mL–1) consistently developed at the chemocline of Lake Arcas, central Spain,where sharp physical and chemical gradients occurred during stratification. This population developed following the establishment of vertical water stratification and declined when the lake was near autumnal mixis. Population growth in situ, attributable to photosynthetic adaptation to low light intensities rather than to phagotrophy, causes these algal maxima. The population densities and net growth rates of C. cf. erosa in situ were influenced by the coexisting phototrophic prokaryotes at the che…

MORPHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ONCYCLOTELLA DISTINGUENDAHUSTEDT ANDC. DELICATULAHUSTEDT FROM THE CORE SAMPLE OF A MEROMICTIC KARSTIC LAKE OF SPAIN (LAKE LA CRUZ) WITH ASPECTS OF THEIR ECOLOGY

Two Cyclotella species were found during the electron microscopic investigation of core samples from Lake La Cruz. Cyclotella distinguenda Hustedt was subdominant in the layers 80-110 cms and C. delicatula Hustedt was frequent and abundant in the layers 20-180 cms. SEM studies revealed an interesting variation in their valve structure elements. Analyses of the morphological characteristics of these species on the basis of SEM micrographs (55 photos were taken from C. distinguenda and 95 from C. delicatula) was made it possible to complete their description. In this paper, the similarities and differences between Cyclotella distinguenda, C. delicatula and related taxa (Cyclotella azigzensis …

Photoautotrophic community changes in Lagunillo del Tejo (Spain) in response to lake level fluctuation: Two centuries of sedimentary pigment records

Lagunillo del Tejo is a small doline lake in a karstic region of the Iberian Ranges (central-eastern Spain) that undergoes significant lake level fluctuation in response to changing aquifer influxes. In order to assess changes in the primary producer community in the lake over the last two centuries and to elucidate whether these were conditioned by climatic variability, photosynthetic pigments and their derivatives were extracted from the sediments and the data analysed using multivariate statistical techniques. Quantitative variations in total pigment concentrations through the sedimentary sequence are considered a result of changes in sedimentation rate, largely due to lake level fluctua…

Residence Time Analysis in the Albufera of Valencia, a Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon, Spain

The Albufera of Valencia is a coastal lagoon located in the western area of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 23.1 km2 and an average depth of only 1 m, with a maximum depth of 1.6 m. This lagoon is the remnants of an original and more extensive wetland of about 220 km2 which is now mostly dedicated to rice cultivation. Surface water is supplied through several main and many secondary canals for a total of 64 water entry points and three exit points to the sea. It is difficult to evaluate the residence time due to the lack of reliable measurements of the inflow or outflow, as well as continuous measurements. Between 1988 and 2018, several procedures were use…

Anaerobic ciliates from a sulphide-rich solution lake in Spain

We have examined and quantified the anaerobic ciliates living in the hypolimnion of a 14 m deep sulphide-rich (up to 0.73 mM) solution lake in Spain. At least seven ciliate species were found, numbering up to 50 ml-1 in total and reaching maximum abundance close to the sediment. Caenomorpha medusula, Lacrymaria elegans, L. sapropelica and Lagynus sp. were the most abundant species. Their vertical distributions were not related to the sulphide profile. Most ciliates were dependent on the sedimentation of cryptomonads, photosynthetic bacteria (especially Chromatium and Oscillatoria) and other bacteria from their sites of production in closely-juxtaposed mid-water plates. All anaerobic ciliate…

Meromixis origin and recent trophic evolution in the Spanish mountain lake La Cruz

A sediment core from a Mediterranean karstic lake was studied through its pollen, diatom, chydorid, ostracod, charcoal and authigenic mineral composition. Information about environmental history recorded in the sediment sequence since the Middle Ages is presented. The main fluctuations of water volume and trophic status of the lake occurred during periods of great change in land management and during climatic cold phases. The synergetic effect of these two factors led to a high water level phase and triggered a rising of the trophic level which produced meromixis. The onset of meromictic conditions at about 1700 AD coincides with the Maunder minimum in the Little Ice Age as well as with a p…

Carbon photoassimilation by sharply stratified phototrophic communities at the chemocline of Lake Arcas (Spain)

Three populations of phototrophic microorganisms were found closely stratified in the chemocline of the holomictic Lake Arcas. Cryptomonas spp. reached a maximum population density in microaerobic waters above dense plates of Oscillatoria cf. ornata and Chromatium weissei, whose maxima were found in the deeper sulfide-rich waters. High photoassimilation rates were found during the stratification period at the chemocline (up to 197.63 mg C m−3 h−1), especially at depths at which maximal densities of prokaryotic phototrophs were located, whereas much lower values were observed in the mixed zone of the lake. Despite these high rates, the contribution of carbon photoassimilation at the chemocli…

North Atlantic Oscillation recorded in carbonate δ18O signature from Lagunillo del Tejo (Spain)

Abstract Oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope compositions of authigenic carbonates measured in Lagunillo del Tejo sediment document precipitation variability during the last millennium in the Iberian Range. Modern water samples show that Lagunillo δ18O and δD plot below the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL). Sediment samples show a covariant trend between carbonate δ18O and δ13C, indicating that the precipitation/evaporation ratio has largely controlled the isotopic composition of this lake. This covariant trend is used to extract information about past lake level changes. Humid periods occurred around AD 1300–1450, AD 1620–1775 and AD 1950–1980, while the driest periods were concentrat…

Vertical distribution and rotifer concentrations in the chemocline of meromictic lakes

The vertical distribution of planktonic rotifers has been analysed in relation to season in several meromictic lakes; a coastal lagoon with sea-water intrusion and three dissolution lakes from two karstic systems. Two species, Filinia hofmanni and a form of Anuraeopsis fissa have been found to be more or less restricted to the chemocline or adjacent strata any time they occurred. Many species common in the upper water layers developed large populations near or in the chemocline and more strikingly in summer. Some species had two vertical maxima (one in the surface or the thermocline and another near the chemocline), while others successively shifted their maxima between the upper layers and…

Assessment of Sentinel-2-MSI Atmospheric Correction Processors and In Situ Spectrometry Waters Quality Algorithms

The validation of algorithms developed from in situ reflectance to estimate water quality variables has the challenge of atmospheric correction (AC) when applied to satellite images. Estimating water quality variables from satellite images requires an accurate estimation of remote sensing reflectances (Rrs) which vary according to the AC applied. Validation processes for both Rrs and water quality algorithms were carried out, relating the in situ Rrs (convoluted to Sentinel-2-MSI spectral response function) with the satellite Rrs coming from different ACs (C2RCC, C2X, C2XC, and Polymer), and also relating the in situ water quality variable data with estimated water quality variable values, …

Protoplasts fromPodospora anserina: Isolation, purification, and transformation

Protoplasts fromPodospora anserina mycelium were produced using the commercially available enzyme Novozym 234. Different parameters involved in protoplast isolation were analyzed in order to establish optimal conditions, and protoplast production was notably increased. For the purification of protoplasts, several techniques based on both centrifugation and filtration were assayed, with filtration yielding the best results. Regeneration of protoplasts was studied on different media and osmostic stabilizers, and about 80% regeneration was obtained. The good physiological condition of the protoplasts produced with this method is demonstrated by the lack of cell wall and high regeneration rate …

Planktonic rotifer feeding in hypertrophic conditions

We studied the role of rotifers as grazers in hypertrophic waters, dominated by poorly edible filamentous and colonial cyanobacteria. Population growth of Anuraeopsis fissa and Brachionus angularis, from hypertrophic lake Albufera in Valencia, was followed for 15 days in three treatments of different food size fractions: (a) 0–15 µm (lake water filtered through 15 µm nytal sieve), (b) 0–3 µm (15 µm lake water filtrate filtered through 3 µm nuclepore filter), and (c) 3–15 µm (re-suspension, in absolute filtered lake water, of the seston collected on the 3 µm filter, after passing lake water previously filtered through 15 µm). None of the species grew when fed the food size fraction of 3–15 µ…

The complex life-cycle of a polymorphic prokaryote epibiont of the photosynthetic bacterium Chromatium weissei

In natural populations of the anaerobic phototrophic bacterium Chromatium weissei, many cells support a prokaryotic epibiont. This epibiont appears in several forms, all from the life cycle of a single species. A typical epibiont consists of one to five flattened coccoid cells stacked one above the other, perpendicular to the C. weissei surface. The cells at the proximal and distal ends of the stack are 0.6 μm in diameter and 0.8 μm in length; mid-stack cells are slightly shorter. A typical three or four cell stack is 2 μm in length. Small mesosome-like inclusions in the distal cell are involved in the development of ‘droplet’ shaped cells which are released from the end of each stack. Thes…

Ceratium furcoides (Levander) Langhans in reservoirs at the Ebro watershed, Spain and Sao Paulo state, Brazil

This study compares the morphological characteristics of the dinoflagellate Ceratium furcoides from three Ebro basin reser¬voirs (Spain) and from six reservoirs at São Paulo state (Brazil) with the aim to identify the distinct morphotypes of Ceratium furcoides in Spain and Brazil. We studied the physical and chemical variables to determine the trophic state of each reservoir. Unlike Ceratium hirundinella, Ceratium furcoides is not a frequent species within the plankton community at Ebro Basin reservoirs, however, this species has been responsible of one monospecific bloom at El Val reservoir. Nevertheless, both Ce-ratium species are considered invasive in South America. Ceratium furcoides h…

Effect of a cyanobacterial diet on the competition between rotifers: a case study in Lake Albufera of Valencia, Spain

espanolBrachionus havanaensis se distribuye predominantemente en las regiones Neartica y Neotropical. Ahora se encuentra incluso en las regiones Paleartica y Oriental. Durante el verano de 2015, encontramos altas densidades (> 500 ind./l) de esta especie y bajas abundancias de Brachionus angularis en la laguna de la Albufera, donde la cianobacteria (Microcystis aeruginosa) fue dominante en la comunidad de fitoplancton. Nuestra hipotesis fue que la cianobacteria era toxica para B. angularis pero no para B. havanaensis, por lo que este ultimo superaria al primero en presencia de dicha cianobacteria. Para probar la hipotesis, realizamos experimentos de competencia entre estas dos especies de r…

Vertical distribution of planktonic rotifers in a karstic meromictic lake

Vertical distribution of planktonic rotifers is described in relation to temperature and oxygen in Lake La Cruz, a single-doline, closed karstic lake (121 m diameter and 25 m maximum depth) which shows iron meromixis. Samples were taken by peristaltic pumping at 10 cm depth intervals in the oxycline zone from June 1987 to September 1988. A model of rotifer vertical structure in stratified lakes is proposed. Rotifers concentrate their populations at the depths with intense gradients. As stratification develops some rotifer populations show a downward migration following the thermocline and some others show an upward migration following the oxycline. The production-respiration balance in the …

Remote sensing of cyanobacterial blooms in a hypertrophic lagoon (Albufera of València, Eastern Iberian Peninsula) using multitemporal Sentinel-2 images

Eutrophy in Albufera of Valencia (Eastern Iberian Peninsula) is a quite old problem since after the intense eutrophication processes throughout the 1960s. The system shifted to a turbid stable state consolidated by the virtual disappearance of macrophytes by the early 1970s. The lagoon has been studied extensively since the 1980s, but efforts to revert the system to a clear state have not yielded the expected results because cultural eutrophication due to the growth of population in its area of influence and the effects of climate change, decreasing rainfall and increasing evaporation. This has driven to an increase in water retention times in the lagoon in recent years, resulting in a phyt…

Turbidez y profundidad de disco de Secchi con Sentinel-2 en embalses con diferente estado trófico en la Comunidad Valenciana

[ES] En los estudios de calidad de aguas por teledetección, uno de los principales indicadores es la transparencia o turbidez del agua. La transparencia puede ser medida in situ mediante la profundidad del disco de Secchi (SD), y la turbidez con un turbidímetro. En las últimas décadas se han utilizado diferentes relaciones entre bandas de diferentes sensores obtenidas por teledetección para la estimación de estos parámetros. En este trabajo, a partir de datos de campo obtenidos a lo largo de 2017 y 2018 en embalses de la cuenca del Júcar con gran variedad de estados tróficos, se han calibrado diferentes índices y bandas para poder estimar la transparencia a partir de imágenes Sentinel-2 (S2…

Lake La Cruz, an Iron-Rich Karstic Meromictic Lake in Central Spain

Laguna de la Cruz (Lake La Cruz ) is a small karstic meromictic lake located in Central-Eastern Spain. Its biogenic meromixis (originated ca.1660) is favoured by the high relative depth and the steep doline walls. Calcium and magnesium bicarbonate are the main salts. The monimolimnion permanently spans from 18 m to the lake bottom (ca.21 m), whereas thermal stratification occurs above from April to October. Steep chemical gradients appear both at the bottom of the metalimnion (seasonally) and, permanently, at the permanent chemocline (16–18 m). Nutrients in surface waters decay as stratification advances, but deeper they are abundant. Linked to physical and chemical gradients, sharply strat…

Spatio-temporal distribution and growth dynamics of phototrophic sulfur bacteria populations in the sulfide-rich Lake Arcas

Lake Arcas exhibits a thermal stratification from April to October. A sulfide-rich anoxic hypolimnion is then formed between the deeper part of the thermocline and the lake bottom, and high population densities of phototrophic microorganisms are found at the oxic-anoxic interface. Chromatium weissei, a large rod, 8 × 4 μm in size, was the dominant phototrophic bacterium, reaching densities of up to 1.84 × 106 cells ml-1. Other phototrophic sulfur bacteria, such as Amoebobacter cf. purpureus, Thiocapsa sp., and Pelodictyon clathratiforme were also present in the anoxic hypolimnion, but their cell size and population densities were much lower. Net growth rates (0.125 to —0.123 d-1) and freque…

Distribution of Brachionus species in Spanish mediterranean wetlands

In this study 200 zooplankton samples were Burjassotcollected (1979–1980), from 57 different wetlands in coastal Mediterranean Spain (CMS) and examined for the occurrence of Brachionus species. Data on 17 separate physical and chemical features of these water bodies were obtained from samples collected at the same time. Ten different Brachionus species were found in these wetlands, but only six occurred frequently enough to allow further examination of their distributional patterns using multivariate discriminant analysis. To separate these species, three analyses were performed using the 17 physical and chemical parameters, or their ratios. Three discriminant functions accounted for 80% or…

Mid-Holocene and historical palaeoecology of the Albufera de València coastal lagoon

espanolLa laguna costera de la Albufera de Valencia es uno de los mayores lagos oligohalinos de la Peninsula Iberica. Fuertemente contaminada y amenazada por planeamientos de desarrollo urbanistico, fue finalmente protegida como Parque Natural en 1986, con el fin de preservar la cubeta y sus ambientes aledanos, los cuales consisten fundamentalmente en arrozales y un bosque sobre la barra arenosa costera. Los planes de restauracion se centran en recuperar la calidad del agua y la cobertura de macrofitos sumergidos que ocupaban la mayor parte de la laguna en los anos 50. Hasta la publicacion de algunos trabajos recientes, se conocia bien poco de la historia paleoambiental esta zona humeda. Co…

Factors controlling hydrochemical and trophic state variables in 86 shallow lakes in Europe

In order to disentangle the causes of variations in water chemistry among European shallow lakes, we performed standardised sampling programs in 86 lakes along a latitudinal gradient from southern Spain to northern Sweden. Lakes with an area of 0.1 to 27 000 ha and mean depth of 0.4–5.6 m located in low to high altitudes were investigated within the EC project ECOFRAME 1–4 times during June–October 2000–2001. Several variables like conductivity, alkalinity, abundance of submerged plants, concentrations of suspended solids, total nitrogen and phosphorus were latitude-dependent decreasing from south to north. Secchi depth, concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, suspended solids, …

Influence of chlorophyllaquantification methods in ecological quality indices

Chlorophyll a concentration in aquatic ecosystems is strongly related to the phytoplankton community biomass, the growth of which depends on nutrient availability. Thus, chlorophyll a concentration...

Nutrient dynamics in water and sediment of Mediterranean ponds across a wide hydroperiod gradient

Abstract In Mediterranean ponds, summer drought enhances seasonality whose intensity varies along topographic and climatic gradients. The alternation of wet and dry periods in rain dependent ponds affects their biogeochemistry and differentiates them from ponds fed by more stable water sources, such as groundwater springs. Superimposed onto this, land use is also a very strong factor of variability. In this study we compared nutrients and organic matter concentrations, in water and in sediment, among different types of Mediterranean ponds based on the source of water, hydroperiod and land use. Forty-three ponds were sampled in Eastern Spain corresponding to five pond types: (1) permanent sp…

Seasonal and spatial heterogeneity in the water chemistry of two sewage-affected saline shallow lakes from central Spain

The seasonal features of the water chemistry in the saline shallow lakes Laguna de Manjavacas and Laguna del Pueblo (Castilla – La Mancha, Central Spain) were studied during 1990–1991 and in 1997. These lakes were both affected by sewage inputs driving them to a high trophic status. However, whereas sewage inputs entered Laguna del Pueblo directly, wastewater reached Laguna de Manjavacas after running for 8 km through a small riverbed, where natural processes caused partial mineralisation of organic matter. Moreover, water quality was further improved before entering the main water body of Laguna de Manjavacas, since water crossed through a wetland and high amounts of organic matter and ino…

Mesocosm experiments on nutrient and fish effects on shallow lake food webs in a Mediterranean climate

Summary 1. Nutrient and fish manipulations in mesocosms were carried out on food-web interactions in a Mediterranean shallow lake in south-east Spain. Nutrients controlled biomass of phytoplankton and periphyton, while zooplankton, regulated by planktivorous fish, influenced the relative percentages of the dominant phytoplankton species. 2. Phytoplankton species diversity decreased with increasing nutrient concentration and planktivorous fish density. Cyanobacteria grew well in both turbid and clear-water states. 3. Planktivorous fish increased concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP). Larger zooplankters (mostly Ceriodaphnia and copepods) were significantly reduced when fish wer…

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…

Determination of aerobic-anaerobic metabolism-related compounds in aChaoborus flavicans population by infusion ion trap mass spectrometry of extracts of individual larvae

In a daily migration, the aquatic larvae of Chaoborus flavicans (a phantom midge) alternate oxygen-saturated and anoxic lake strata. To investigate this cycle, larvae were collected at a natural environment, and acetate, propionate, pyruvate, lactate, glycerol, phosphate, maleate, succinate, glucose and citrate were determined. Each larva was homogenized with 200 microL water and deproteinized with a spin-filter; 50 microL aliquots were mixed with 50 microL of a buffer containing 80 mM propylamine, 20 mM HCl and 0.06 mM 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (internal standard) in methanol. The extracts were infused in an electrospray ionization ion-trap mass spectrometer. The limits of detection for th…

Effects of nutrient addition, recovery thereafter and the role of macrophytes in nutrient dynamics of a Mediterranean shallow lake: a mesocosm experiment

Eutrophication in coastal wetlands has increased greatly because of human impact, reducing water quality and affecting aquatic plants. The aim of the present study was to investigate the eutrophication of Mediterranean wetlands and their possible recovery. An in situ mesocosm nutrient enrichment experiment was performed in a coastal shallow lake from eastern Spain, holding dense Chara meadows. In this lake, 36 mesocosms were installed and fertilised weekly with four levels of N and P addition over an 8-week period from June to August. Mesocosms fertilised with the two higher levels (N:P ≥5:0.5mgL–1) shifted to turbid status with macrophyte loss before Week 4. Saturation concentrations were…

Methanotrophy under Versatile Conditions in the Water Column of the Ferruginous Meromictic Lake La Cruz (Spain)

Lakes represent a considerable natural source of methane to the atmosphere compared to their small global surface area. Methanotrophs in sediments and in the water column largely control methane fluxes from these systems, yet the diversity, electron accepting capacity, and nutrient requirements of these microorganisms have only been partially identified. Here, we investigated the role of electron acceptors alternative to oxygen and sulfate in microbial methane oxidation at the oxycline and in anoxic waters of the ferruginous meromictic Lake La Cruz, Spain. Active methane turnover in a zone extending well below the oxycline was evidenced by stable carbon isotope-based rate measurements. We o…

Study of the Residence Time of the Albufera of Valencia, a Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon

The Albufera of Valencia is a coastal lagoon located in the western area of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 23.1 km2 and an average depth of only 1 m, with a maximum depth of 1.6 m. This lagoon is the rest of an original and more extensive wetland of about 220 km2, mostly dedicated to rice cultivation nowadays. Surface water is supplied through several main and many secondary canals for a total of 64 water entry points and three exit points to the sea. It is difficult to evaluate the renewal rate due to the lack of reliable measurements of the inflow or outflow, as well as continuous measurements. Between 1988 and 2018 several procedures have been used, sy…

Mar Menor lagoon (SE Spain) chlorophyll-a and turbidity estimation with Sentinel-2

Mar Menor is a Mediterranean Coastal lagoon with high environmental and social value, but has suffered important episodes of contamination in recent years due to heavy rains, sediment dragging and polluting substances mainly from agriculture as well as the entry of mining waste, causing an increase in eutrophication. Water quality variables such as chlorophyll-a concentration [Chl-a] and turbidity, can be studied through its optical properties by remote sensing techniques. In this work, a methodology is proposed for monitoring [Chl-a] and the turbidity of the Mar Menor using Sentinel-2 images. For this purpose, an extensive database of both variables was used consisting of data taken on dif…

Paleolimnological evidence of environmental changes in seven subtropical reservoirs based on metals, nutrients, and sedimentation rates

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:40:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-11-01 Paleolimnological research can shed light on a broad range of environmental concerns; however, such studies are scarce in reservoirs. To address this lack of knowledge, a paleolimnological investigation was conducted to determine historical changes in sedimentation rates (SR), using 210Pb geochronology, and concentrations of nutrients and metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Al, Mn, Fe) in seven subtropical reservoirs (São Paulo, Brazil). Sediment cores were collected in the dam areas. Increasing SR was observed in all reservoirs and was mainly attributed to eutrophication and changes in land…

Response of a shallow Mediterranean lake to nutrient diversion: does it follow similar patterns as in northern shallow lakes?

Summary 1. In view of the paucity of data on the response of warm shallow lakes to reductions in nutrient loading, this paper presents a long-term limnological data set to document changes in the food-web of a shallow Mediterranean lake (Lake Albufera, Valencia, Spain) that has experienced reductions in phosphorus (P) (77%) and nitrogen (N) (24%) loading following sewage diversion. 2. Nine years after sewage diversion, P concentration in the lake was reduced by 30% but remained high (TP = 0.34 mg L−1), although the mean water retention time in the lake was only 0.1 years. Nitrate concentrations did not significantly change, probably because the lake continued to receive untreated effluents …

Phytoplankton Reservoir Trophic Index (PRTI): a new tool for ecological quality studies

The Phytoplankton Reservoir Trophic Index (PRTI), based on the relative abundance of phytoplankton in reservoirs, was applied to 62 reservoirs, all in the territorial division of the Ebro River Basin, Spain. We compared the results of the PRTI to the Carlson Trophic State Index (TSI), based on the concentration of chlorophyll a in an integrated water sample through the photic depth. The PRTI allows assessment of the trophic status of different reservoirs based on phytoplankton densities from an aliquot of a vertically integrated sample. The occurrence of each phytoplankton species in relation to eutrophication was derived from a canonical correspondence analysis between the phytoplankton sp…