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The response of Vallisneria spinulosa (Hydrocharitaceae) and plankton to pulse addition of inorganic nitrogen with different loading patterns

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Abstract

The global climate change may lead to more extreme climate events such as severe flooding creating excessive pulse-loading of nutrients, including nitrogen (N), to freshwaters. We conducted a 3-month mesocosm study to investigate the responses of phytoplankton, zooplankton and Vallisneria spinulosa to different N loading patterns using weekly and monthly additions of in total 14 g N m−2 month−1 during the first 2 months. The monthly additions led to higher phytoplankton chlorophyll a and total phytoplankton biomass than at ambient conditions as well as lower leaf biomass and a smaller ramet number of V. spinulosa. Moreover, the biomass of cyanobacteria was higher during summer (August) in the monthly treatments than those with weekly or no additions. However, the biomass of plankton and macrophytes did not differ among the N treatments at the end of the experiment, 1 month after the termination of N addition. We conclude that by stimulating the growth of phytoplankton (cyanobacteria) and reducing the growth of submerged macrophytes, short-term extreme N loading may have significant effects on shallow nutrient-rich lakes and that the lakes may show fast recovery if they are not close to the threshold of a regime shift from a clear to a turbid state.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170340), CRES (Danish Strategic Research Council), CLEAR (a Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence project) and the MARS project (Managing Aquatic ecosystems and water Resources under multiple Stress) funded under the 7th EU Framework Programme, Theme 6 (Environment including Climate Change), Contract No.: 603378 (http://www.mars-project.eu). Mrs. Xie is greatly acknowledged for water sample analyses and Anne Mette Poulsen for valuable editing of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Zhao Zhang, Yu Cao & Wei Li

  2. Xi’an Botanical Garden of Shaanxi Province, Institute of Botany of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China

    Zhao Zhang

  3. Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution & Ecological Restoration, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Yu Cao & Wei Li

  4. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, P.O. Box 314, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Erik Jeppesen

  5. Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), Beijing, China

    Erik Jeppesen & Wei Li

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  1. Zhao Zhang
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  2. Yu Cao
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  3. Erik Jeppesen
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  4. Wei Li
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Correspondence to Yu Cao.

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Handling editor: Sidinei M. Thomaz

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Zhang, Z., Cao, Y., Jeppesen, E. et al. The response of Vallisneria spinulosa (Hydrocharitaceae) and plankton to pulse addition of inorganic nitrogen with different loading patterns. Hydrobiologia 767, 175–184 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2494-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2494-8

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