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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 1784

Thomas H. Chrzanowski and James G. Hubbard; Primary and bacterial secondary production in a southwestern reservoir. Appl.Environ.Microbiol. 54(3):661-669, 1988

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Rates of primary and bacterial secondary production in Lake Arlington, Texas, were determined. The lake is a warm (annual temperature range, 7 to 32 degrees C), shallow, monomictic reservoir with limited macrophyte development in the littoral zone. Samples were collected from six depths within the photic zone from a site located over the deepest portion of the lake. Primary production and bacterial production were calculated from Na[H14]CO3 and [methyl-3H]thymidine incorporation, respectively. Peak instantaneous production ranged between 14.8 and 220.5 µg of C liter-1 hr-1. There were two distinct periods of high rates of production. From May through July, production near the metalimnion exceeded 100 µg of C liter-1 hr-1. During holomixis, production throughout the water column was in excess of 100 µg of C liter-1 hr-1 and above 150 µg of C liter-1 hr-1 near the surface. Annual areal primary production was 588 g of C m-2. Bacterial production was markedly seasonal. Growth rates during late fall through spring were typically around 0.002 hr-1, and production rates were typically 5 µg of C liter-1 hr-1. Growth rates were higher during warmer parts of the year and reached 0.03 hr-1 by August. The maximum instantaneous rate of bacterial production was approximately 45 µg of C liter-1 hr-1. Annual areal bacterial production was 125 g of C m-2. Temporal and spatial distributions of bacterial numbers and activities coincided with temporal and spatial distributions of primary production. A real primary and bacterial secondary production were highly correlated (r=0.77, n=15, P<0.002).