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Effects of fish grazing on nutrient release and succession of primary producers 1
Author(s) -
Hansson LarsAnders,
Johansson Lars,
Persson Lennart
Publication year - 1987
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.1987.32.3.0723
Subject(s) - macrophyte , periphyton , eutrophication , grazing , biomass (ecology) , nutrient , ecological succession , algae , phosphorus , water column , aquatic plant , ecology , environmental science , biology , chemistry , organic chemistry
Macrophytes ( Anacharis canaden sis ) growing in aquaria were eliminated by the grazing activity of the omnivorous rudd ( Scardinius erythrophthalmus ). The phosphorus content in both the water column and periphyton was greater in those aquaria that contained fish. Grazing activity of rudd caused 33 PO 4 3− that was injected into the sediment and taken up by A. canadensis through their roots to be released into the water phase. In a pond experiment, grazing rudd reduced the biomass of A. canadensis, which in turn caused the biomass of epiphytic algae to increase. We suggest that nutrients, which are taken up by macrophytes from the sediments, are released by grazing fish. This nutrient pathway may thus promote a succession from submersed macrophytes to other primary producers and accelerate the eutrophication process.