Zooplankton and bacteria contribution to phosphorus and nitrogen internal cycling in a tropical and eutrophic reservoir: Pampulha Lake, Brazil

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AbstractNutrient regeneration and respiration rates of natural zooplankton from a tropical reservoir were experimentally measured. Excretion rates of ammonia (Ea), orthophosphate (Ep) and community respiration rates (R) were estimated considering the variations in the concentrations of ammonia, orthophosphate and dissolved oxygen between control and experimental units. The ranges obtained for these rates from the 2 h assays were Ea = 1.95–4.95 μg N‐NH4 · mg · DW−1 · h−1; Ep = 0.12–0.76 μg P‐PO4 mg DW−1 · h−1. Respiratory rates were quite constant (R = 0.01–0.02 mg O2 · mg DW−1 · h−1). The uptake of nutrients due to bacteria can affect the experimental determination of excretion rates of zooplankton. Orthophosphate release increased from 0.28 to 0.82 μg P‐PO4 · mg DW−1 · h−1 when bacterial activity was depleted by antibiotic addition in experimental vessels (Exp IV). This demonstrates that free living bacteria are able to consume promptly most phosphorus excreted by zooplankton. Ammonia excretion rates were lower in experimental units containing antibiotics. Lower excretion rates were also obtained with longer exposure times and higher biomass levels in the experimental units. Finally, this study also showed that zooplankton excretion can affect significantly turn over rates of total phosphorus in Pampulha Reservoir. In some periods, specially during the dry season when zooplankton biomass was very high, phosphorus release by zooplankton, during one single day, can be as high as 40% of the total phosphorus content in lake water (Turn over time = 2.5 days).