Impact of atmospheric deposition on algal growth in Lake Tahoe, CA
Abstract
Lake Tahoe’s clarity has been declining over the past decades and it is important to understand the causes and consequences of this decline. Lake Tahoe’s clarity is determined by fine sediment particles and by nutrients. Nutrients affect lake clarity by promoting algae growth. Indeed primary productivity, the rate at which algae produce biomass through photosynthesis, has been increasing since 1959. Offshore, algae make the water greenish and less clear. The two nutrients that most affect algal growth in this system are nitrogen and phosphorus. Atmospheric deposition is an important source of nutrients to the lake contributing 55% of the nitrogen load and 15% of the phosphate load (State of the Lake Report - http://terc.ucdavis.edu/stateofthelake/StateOfTheLake2009.pdf). To evaluate if and how atmospheric deposition impacts phytoplankton growth and abundance we have preformed bioassay experiments with inorganic nutrient and aerosol additions during the summer of 2010. Our results indicate that, as expected for this season, nitrogen or combined nitrogen and phosphate induce growth. Our aerosol additions also induced growth and suggest that nutrients originating from aerosols are bio-available and can stimulate phytoplankton production. Atmospheric deposition can therefore affect lake clarity and should be monitored to ensure that the state of the lake does not deteriorate further.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.B33B0405P
- Keywords:
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- 0305 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Aerosols and particles;
- 0458 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Limnology;
- 0470 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Nutrients and nutrient cycling