Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Transition zones in small lakes
T2 - the importance of dilution and biological uptake on lake-wide heterogeneity
AU - Mackay, Eleanor
AU - Jones, Ian
AU - Folkard, Andrew
AU - Thackeray, Stephen
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Stream inflows are frequently the dominant route for nutrients from catchments to lakes. Studies on large, deep reservoirs and lakes have shown the importance of the fate of inflow plumes for nutrient accessibility to phytoplankton. However, few studies have considered shallow water transition zones between streams and lakes, often a feature of small lakes. This study examined the spatial and temporal dynamics of phosphorus in a shallow stream-lake transition in a small lake to improve our understanding of how phosphorus reaches the pelagic zone. Despite the high discharge levels, and the importance of dilution in explaining observed spatial gradients in soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll a, we found evidence for significant biological uptake of SRP in the inflow embayment during the growing season. This may represent an additional mechanism for the dispersal of phosphorus from the embayment into the lake. The length scale for the transition zone was short (~150 m) which indicated that the direct influence of the inflow on the wider lake was small. However, SRP measurements taken only from the pelagic site underestimated mean lake-wide concentrations when including transition zones by up to 18% during the growing season.
AB - Stream inflows are frequently the dominant route for nutrients from catchments to lakes. Studies on large, deep reservoirs and lakes have shown the importance of the fate of inflow plumes for nutrient accessibility to phytoplankton. However, few studies have considered shallow water transition zones between streams and lakes, often a feature of small lakes. This study examined the spatial and temporal dynamics of phosphorus in a shallow stream-lake transition in a small lake to improve our understanding of how phosphorus reaches the pelagic zone. Despite the high discharge levels, and the importance of dilution in explaining observed spatial gradients in soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll a, we found evidence for significant biological uptake of SRP in the inflow embayment during the growing season. This may represent an additional mechanism for the dispersal of phosphorus from the embayment into the lake. The length scale for the transition zone was short (~150 m) which indicated that the direct influence of the inflow on the wider lake was small. However, SRP measurements taken only from the pelagic site underestimated mean lake-wide concentrations when including transition zones by up to 18% during the growing season.
KW - Inflows
KW - Transition zone
KW - SRP
KW - Chlorophyll a
KW - Nutrient delivery
KW - Esthwaite Water
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=81055140396&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10750-011-0825-y
DO - 10.1007/s10750-011-0825-y
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:81055140396
VL - 678
SP - 85
EP - 97
JO - Hydrobiologia
JF - Hydrobiologia
SN - 0018-8158
IS - 1
ER -