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MICROBIOLOGY OF DETRITUS OF LAKES
Author(s) -
Rochna A. G.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1963.8.4.0388
Subject(s) - detritus , decomposer , plankton , bacteria , biology , environmental chemistry , botany , ecology , phytoplankton , microorganism , cellulose , chemistry , ecosystem , nutrient , biochemistry , genetics
Detritus in seven lakes in the vicinity of Lake Ladoga was investigated by microscopic study by both daylight and by ultraviolet light. The total numbers of microbes and the presence of various physiological groups were determined. The significance of detritus as food for Cladocera has been established experimentally. Luminescent microscopy has shown that detritus of these lakes is heterogenous—composed chiefly of dying plankton. The detritus consists of a great variety of microscopic biotopes for bacteria, which differ from one another in their structure and chemical characteristics. The study has shown the distribution of bacteria on particles, where the formation of colonies is characteristic. Accumulations of bacteria are components of the detritus. The numbers of microbes in detritus, billions per g, vary widely, depending on the predominance of various components and the stage of their decay. The processes of decay of protoplasm of animal and vegetable tissues and the processes of oxidation and reduction are caused by different physiological groups of bacteria: putrefactive, fat and carbohydrate decomposers, amylolytic, pectinous, cellulose decomposers, denitrifying, nitrogen fixers, phosphate liberators, sulfur bacteria, and yeasts.