Changes in the phytoplankton community of a coastal, hyposaline lake in western Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

The phytoplankton composition of coastal, hyposaline (≅12 g l−1) Lake Bafa in western Turkey, was investigated after the alteration of salinity levels in past decades. Lake Bafa, formerly a bay of the Aegean Sea, was separated from the sea as a result of alluvium deposits of the Meander River. After the construction of a sett for flood control in 1985, freshwater inflow was reduced and salinity increased, which caused some ecological changes. Phytoplankton samples were taken in August and November 2000, and February and May 2001, from the surface and at 5-m intervals in the water column at three stations. The phytoplankton community contained a mixture of freshwater and marine origin species. A total of 45 species from Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Chrysophyceae, and Dinophyceae were identified. Marineoriginated species such as Chaetoceros spp. (November and May), Thalassionema nitzschioides and Prorocentrum micans (August and November), and P. minimum (May) were dominant on the basis of numerical abundance. The occurrence of salinity-tolerant species such as T. nitzschioides, P. micans, and P. minimum has not been recorded in previous studies.