Mass flux calculations show strong allochthonous support of freshwater zooplankton production is unlikely.

ABSTRACT: Many studies have concluded terrestrial carbon inputs contribute 20-70% of the carbon supporting zooplankton and fish production in lakes. Conversely, it is also known that terrestrial carbon inputs are of very low nutritional quality and phytoplankton are strongly preferentially utilized by zooplankton. Because of its low quality, substantial terrestrial support of zooplankton production in lakes is only conceivable when terrigenous organic matter inputs are much larger than algal production. We conducted a quantitative analysis of terrestrial carbon mass influx and algal primary production estimates for oligo/mesotrophic lakes (i.e., TP ≤ 20 µg L(-1)). In keeping with the principle of mass conservation, only the flux of terrestrial carbon retained within lakes can be utilized by zooplank

SUBMITTER: Brett MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3383696 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature