The structure of winter phytoplankton in Lake Nero, Russia, a hypertrophic lake dominated by Planktothrix-like Cyanobacteria

Olga Babanazarova, Sergey Sidelev, Svetlana Schischeleva

The permanent dominance of Planktothrix-like сyanobacteria has been often reported for shallow eutrophic\hypertrophic lakes in central Europe in summer\autumn. However studies on phytoplankton growth under ice cover in nutrient-rich lakes are very scarce. Lake Nero provides a good example of the contrasting seasonal extremes in environmental conditions. Moreover, the ecosystem underwent a catastrophic transition from eutrophic to hypertrophic 2003-05, with dominance of filamentous cyanobacteria in summer\autumn. Towards the end of the period of ice cover, there is an almost complete lack of light and oxygen but abundance in nutrients, especially ammonium nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus in lake Nero. The aim of the present study was to describe species composition and abundance of the phytoplankton, in relation to the abiotic properties of the habitat to the end of winters 1999-2010. We were interested if Planktothrix-like сyanobacteria kept their dominant role under the ice conditions or only survived, and how did the under-ice phytoplankton community differ from year to year.