Ref ID : 4334
R.W. Bienert, Jr., J.R. Beaver, and T.L. Crisman; The Contribution of Ciliated Protozoa to Zooplankton Biomass in an Acidic, Subtropical Lake. J.Protozool. 38(4):352-354, 1991
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Ciliated protozoa accounted for up to 50% of the mean daily zooplankton biomass in McCloud Lake, a small (5 ha), oligotrophic, acidic (pH 4.7) lake in north-central Florida. Food resources (algae and bacterioplankton) were limiting for crustacean and rotifer zooplankton during much of the year. Myxotrophic ciliates were a dominant component of the planktonic food web. Stentor niger, an uncommon species in the plankton of lakes, dominated the ciliate assemblage and usually comprised > 90% of total ciliate biomass. Stentor niger always contained high densities of photosynthetic zoochlorellae and contributed and estimated 30% to the total autotrophic biomass.