Phytoplankton, periphyton, and zooplankton patterns in the pelagic and littoral regions of a large subtropical shallow lake

Abstract

This study aimed at understanding the patterns among size structure of the phytoplankton, periphyton, and zooplankton considering the spatial variability (pelagic and littoral zones) in a subtropical large shallow polymictic lake (Lake Mangueira, southern Brazil). Water samples were gathered at intervals of 3, 5, and 15 days, for 60 days during summer 2012, for physical, chemical, and biological analyses (abundance and maximum linear dimension of subsurface zooplankton, phytoplankton, and glass slide-colonized periphyton) in both lake zones. A summer storm on the 20th day disturbed the periphyton succession in the littoral and pelagic zones. Phytoplankton size classes varied similarly to the smaller size of zooplankton in the pelagic zone, whereas most of periphyton size classes coincided with the larger zooplankton in the littoral zone, evidencing that zooplankton in Lake Mangueira may exploit both communities and both compartments (littoral and pelagic zones). The study demonstrated that the patterns of those communities are dynamic and closely related to the environmental variability in Lake Mangueira.