The dynamics and role of limnetic zooplankton in Loosdrecht lakes (The Netherlands)

Abstract

The paper summarizes the results of a ten-year (1981–1991) zooplankton research on the Lake Loosdrecht, a highly eutrophic lake. The main cause of the lake’s eutrophication and deteriorating water quality was supply up to mid 1984 of water from the River Vecht. This supply was replaced by dephosphorized water from the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in 1984. The effects of this and other restoration measures on the lake’s ecosystem were studied. Despite a reduction in the external P-load from ca. 1.0 g P m⁻² y^-1 to ca 0.35 g m⁻² y^-1 now, the filamentous prokaryotes, including cyanobacteria and Prochlorothrix, continue to dominate the phytoplankton.

Among the crustacean plankton Bosmina spp, Chydorus sp. and three species of cyclopoid copepods and their nauplii are quite common. Though there was no major change in the composition of abundant species, Daphnia cucullata, which is the only daphnid in these lakes, became virtually extinct since 1989. Among about 20 genera and 40 species of rotifers the important ones are: Anuraeopsis fissa, Keratella cochlearis, Filinia longiseta and Polyarthra. The rotifers usually peak in mid-summer following the crustacean peak in spring. The mean annual densities of crustaceans decreased during 1988–1991. Whereas seston (<150 μm) mean mass in the lake increased since 1983 by 20–60%, zooplankton (> 150 μm) mass decreased by 15–35%.

The grazing by crustacean community, which was attributable mainly to Bosmina, had mean rates between 10 and 25% d⁻¹. Between 42 and 47% of the food ingested was assimilated. In spring and early summer when both rotifers and crustaceans have their maximal densities the clearance rates of the rotifers were much higher. Based on C/P ratios, the zooplankton (> 150 μm) mass contained 2.5 times more phosphorus than seston (< 150 μm) mass so that the zooplankton comprised 12.5% of the total-P in total particulate matter in the open water, compared with only 4.5% of the total particulate C. The mean excretion rates of P by zooplankton varied narrowly between 1.5 and 1.8 μg P l⁻¹ d⁻¹, which equalled between 14 and 28% d⁻¹ of the P needed for phytoplankton production.

The lack of response to restoration measures cannot be ascribed to one single factor. Apparently, the external P-loading is still not low enough and internal P-loading, though low, may be still high enough to sustain high seston levels. Intensive predation by bream is perhaps more important than food quality (high concentrations of filamentous cyanobacteria) in depressing the development of large-bodied zooplankton grazers, e.g. Daphnia. This may also contribute to resistance of the lake’s ecosystem to respond to rehabilitation measures.