Abstract
A dramatic decline in biomass and areal coverage of the submersed macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum in Lake Wingra, Wisconsin, USA during the mid-1970's is documented using aerial photography, vegetation surveys, and quadrat biomass sampling. Over the same period, light penetration as measured by Secchi disc transparency and extinction coefficient decreased substantially. During this period, extinction coefficient was closely correlated with chlorophyll a levels implicating phytoplankton as the major source of decreased light penetration. A growth model for M. spicatum predicts a substantial decline in macrophyte biomass when extinction coefficient is increased to the levels reported since 1977. Available data do not show whether the phytoplankton increase preceeded or followed the macrophyte decline. Nonetheless it is clear that phytoplankton growth can account for a substantial portion of the decline and that macrophyte recovery will be difficult given the phytoplankton-induced decrease in water clarity.
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Jones, R.C., Walti, K. & Adams, M.S. Phytoplankton as a factor in the decline of the submersed macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum L. in Lake Wingra, Wisconsin, U.S.A.. Hydrobiologia 107, 213–219 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036690
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036690