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Substratum As A Driver Of Variation In Periphyton Chlorophyll And Productivity In Lakes, Yvonne Vadeboncoeur

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Quantifying periphyton (attached algal) contributions to autotrophic production in lakes is confounded by properties of substratum that affect community biomass (as chlorophyll content) and productivity. We compared chlorophyll content and productivity of natural algal communities (phytoplankton, epipelon, epilithon, epixylon, and epiphyton) experiencing high (>10%) incident radiation in lakes in the US, Greenland, and Quebec, Canada. Chlorophyll content and productivity differed significantly among regions, but they also differed consistently among communities independent of region. Chlorophyll content of periphyton on hard substrata (rocks and wood) was positively related to water-column total P (TP), whereas chlorophyll content of algae on sediment (epipelon) …