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Photosynthetic characteristics and physiological plasticity of an Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (Cyanobacteria, Nostocaceae) winter bloom in a deep oligo-mesotrophic lake (Lake Stechlin, Germany)

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Abstract

In winter of 2009/2010, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae bloomed in the ice and snow covered oligo-mesotrophic Lake Stechlin, Germany. The photosynthesis of the natural population was measured at eight temperatures in the range of 2–35°C, at nine different irradiance levels in the range of 0–1,320 μmol m−2 s−1 PAR at each applied temperature. The photoadaptation parameter (I k) and the maximum photosynthetic rate (P max) correlated positively with the temperature between 2 and 30°C, and there was a remarkable drop in both parameters at 35°C. The low I k at low temperatures enabled the active photosynthesis of overwintering populations at low irradiance levels under ice and snow cover. The optimum of the photosynthesis was above 20°C at irradiances above 150 μmol m−2 s−1. At lower irradiance levels (7.5–30 μmol m−2 s−1), the photosynthesis was the most intensive in the temperature range of 2–5°C. The interaction between light and temperature allowed the proliferation of A. flos-aquae in Lake Stechlin resulting in winter water bloom in this oligo-mesotrophic lake. The applied 2°C is the lowest experimental temperature ever in the photosynthesis/growth studies of A. flos-aquae, and the results of the P–I and P–T measurements provide novel information about the tolerance and physiological plasticity of this species.

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Acknowledgments

This research was implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme (European Lakes Under Environmental Stressors, 2CE243P3) and was supported by the Leibniz Gemeinschaft (Klimabetriebene Veränderung der Biodiversität von Mikrobiota—TemBi), and by the Hungarian National Science Foundation (OTKA Nr. 105827). We thank Dr. Lajos Vörös, Dr. Attila W. Kovács (Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Science), Dr. János Somlai and Borbála Máté (University of Pannonia, Institute of Radiochemistry and Radioecology) for their help in the radiocarbon measurements and the technical assistance by the staff of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries for their contributions to the samplings and field measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Limnology, University of Pannonia, Egyetem utca 10, Veszprém, 8200, Hungary

    Viktória Üveges, Kálmán Tapolczai & Judit Padisák

  2. Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Alte Fischerhütte 2, 16775, Stechlin-Neuglobsow, Germany

    Lothar Krienitz

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  1. Viktória Üveges
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  2. Kálmán Tapolczai
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  4. Judit Padisák
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Correspondence to Viktória Üveges.

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Guest editors: N. Salmaso, L. Naselli-Flores, L. Cerasino, G. Flaim, M. Tolotti & J. Padisák / Phytoplankton responses to human impacts at different scales: 16th workshop of the International Association of Phytoplankton Taxonomy and Ecology (IAP)

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Üveges, V., Tapolczai, K., Krienitz, L. et al. Photosynthetic characteristics and physiological plasticity of an Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (Cyanobacteria, Nostocaceae) winter bloom in a deep oligo-mesotrophic lake (Lake Stechlin, Germany). Hydrobiologia 698, 263–272 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1103-3

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