Open AccessThe relation between bacterial carbon and dissolved humic compounds in oligotrophic lakes
Author(s) -
Hessen Dag O.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1985.tb01152.x
Subject(s) - biomass (ecology) , plankton , zooplankton , environmental chemistry , bacterioplankton , environmental science , bacteria , algae , chemistry , biology , zoology , ecology , phytoplankton , nutrient , genetics
The mean annual biomass of planktonic bacteria showed large variations both within and between lakes. The lowest bacterial biomass was found in acidified lakes (7.8–12.1 μg C · 1 −1 ), and tended to increase with increasing water colour (up to 44.1 μg C · 1 −1 ). The highest recorded bacterial biomass was 138 μg C · 1 −1 . The mean annual bacterial biomass equalled 23–45% of the algal biomass. Zooplankton biomass was high, compared to algal biomass (40–50%). Multiple regression analysis of 10 variables showed a strong positive correlation between bacterial biomass and humic content ( r = 0.74, P < 0.001), while other parameters, except pH, showed no correlation. The observation thus strongly supports the role of humic compounds in aquatic secondary production.