Effect of abrupt post‐fire ash inputs on water quality and the phytoplankton community in lentic freshwaters

Abstract

Abstract One of the major threats to biodiversity is changing fire regimes, particularly increasingly frequent fires, especially during the dry season. However, studies on the direct and indirect effects of fire on biotic responses in aquatic ecosystems are still scarce. In this study, we investigated how water quality and phytoplankton community structure were affected by different ash concentrations from burning vegetation of a tropical savanna. We used a microcosm experiment to simulate the aquatic ecosystem with different ash concentration scenarios and evaluated the water quality and the composition, richness and density of phytoplankton over time. We found increased total phosphorus and ammoniacal nitrogen concentrations after ash addition, in addition to changes in electrical conductivity. We identified 242 phytoplankton taxa throughout the experiment and identified changes in species composition among treatments. We identified changes in the taxonomic richness of total phytoplankton, green algae and desmids over time. The density of total phytoplankton, diatoms, green algae, desmids and cyanobacteria also changed over time. Our results suggest that ash from terrestrial fires affects water quality and phytoplankton communities depending on the proportion of ash input. Our results serve as a basis for further investigations of the effects of fire on abiotic conditions in aquatic ecosystems and their communities over long periods of time. Finally, longer‐term experiments are needed to evaluate delayed responses by the phytoplankton community.