Seasonal variation in the composition and rate of change of the phytoplankton community in a deep subalpine lake (Lake Garda, Northern Italy). An application of nonmetric multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis

Abstract

Seasonal variations and spatial homogeneity of the phytoplankton community were followed, from spring 1991 to spring 1992, in four pelagic stations of a large deep subalpine lake (Lake Garda, Northern Italy). Both cluster analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) applied to Bray & Curtis' dissimilarity matrices computed on density and biovolume data were employed; the Bray & Curtis index, calculated between pairs of chronologically contiguous samples, was also used as a measure of the community change rate over the temporal succession. In the tree diagrams obtained both from density and biovolume data, six groups of different size have been identified, with ordered sequences of samples within them. Superimposition of the results of cluster analysis on the NMDS configurations has allowed interpretations of the trajectories of the samples as a chronological and cyclical succession of compositionally homogeneous groups. A clear relationship between the community change rate and stability of the water column has been assessed. The specific composition of the six groups has been discussed in relation to environmental variables and in terms of adaptive strategies. During winter (winter-spring group) the turbulence of the water and the availability of nutrients favour the development of colonial Bacillariophyceae (Fragilaria crotonensis Kitton, Tabellaria fenestrata (Lyngb.) Kutz., Aulacoseira spp.), Cyanophyceae (Planktothrix agardhii (Gom.) Anagn. et Kom. and Planktolyngbya limnetica (Lemur.) Kom.-Legn. et Cronb.) and Cryptophyceae. In late spring group, with the stabilisation of the water column and silicon depletion, the diatoms give way to small, opportunistic species (Ankyra judayi (G. M. Smith) Fott, Cyclotella spp., Chroomonas acuta Utermhol) and larger species (Ceratium hirundinella (O. F. Mull.) Dujardin). The three summer groups are characterised by a development of Chlorophyceae (chiefly Chlorococcales), Cyanophyceae (mainly Chroococcales), Cyclotella spp. and Dinophyceae. With the autumn destratification the summer community undergoes a rearrangement principally in favour of Cyanophyceae and Cryptophyceae.