The seasonal effects on the encrustation of charophytes in two hard‐water lakes

• Published in: Journal of Phycology
• Main Authors: Herbst, Anne, von Tümpling, Wolf, Schubert, Hendrik
• Other Authors: Graham, L., Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2018
• Subjects: Chara contraria; Nitella flexilis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpy.12772; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjpy.12772; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jpy.12772

Encrustation and element content of six charophyte species from two hard‐water lakes were investigated monthly for a period of 1 year. Seasonal patterns were analyzed for the interaction of water chemistry. Encrustation followed a seasonal pattern for Chara contraria , Chara subspinosa, and Nitellopsis obtusa in Lake Krüselin and for Chara globularis and Chara tomentosa in Lake Lützlow. However, no seasonality in the precipitated Ca CO 3 was observed for C. subspinosa in Lake Lützlow and for C. tomentosa in Lake Krüselin, indicating a lake‐specific dependency. Species‐specific encrustation was found. Chara contraria and N. obtusa encrusted the most in June and August, whereas C. subspinosa and Nitella flexilis/opaca exhibited lowest encrustation in March and April. The precipitated Ca CO 3 of charophytes correlated negatively to the concentration of total inorganic carbon in both lakes. Element content of plant dry weight was species‐specific for Ca and K, and lake‐specific for Mg. No specific pattern was found for the TP and Fe contents. The results showed seasonal, species, and lake‐specific influences on the encrustation of charophytes.