0 citations0 references

Effects of Lake Size on Nutrient Availability in the Mixed Layer during Summer Stratification

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences1994Vol. 51(12), pp. 2756–2768

Citations Over TimeTop 17% of 1994 papers

Everett Fee, Robert E. Hecky, G. W. Regehr, L. L. Hendzel, Philip M. Wilkinson

Abstract

Fluxes to the summer mixed layer of N, Si, and P were estimated in a size series of northwestern Ontario Canadian Shield lakes. Increasing turbulence caused upward fluxes through the thermocline to increase with lake size for nutrients that increased in concentration below the thermocline (soluble reactive Si, total inorganic N, and NO 3 − ; but not total N or any form of P). Precipitation and terrestrial runoff were equally important sources of N and P in all but very small lakes (< 100 ha), where precipitation supplied much more than runoff. Runoff was the only important source of Si, except in very large lakes (> 100 000 ha) where mixing through the thermocline was important. N 2 -fixation was unimportant except in intermediate-sized fakes (700–2000 ha). Si fluxes nearly equaled phytoplankton requirements, but N and P were below requirements, and recycling within the mixed layer must be the most important source of these nutrients. N and P deficits increased progressively with lake size, implying that the efficiency of nutrient recycling increased with lake size; mixed layers in large lakes are more turbulent and thicker than in small lakes and these processes increase the probability of nutrient regeneration within the mixed layer.

Citations Over TimeTop 17% of 1994 papers

Abstract

Related Papers