Studying the response of Lake Ladoga ecosystem to a decrease in phosphorus load

• Published in: Water resources Vol. 38; no. 6; pp. 806 - 817
• Main Authors: Rukhovets, L. A., Petrova, N. A., Menshutkin, V. V., Astrakhantsev, G. P., Minina, T. R., Poloskov, V. N., Petrova, T. N., Susareva, O. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01-11-2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic fungi; Aquatic Pollution; Detritus; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Eutrophication; Freshwater; Hydrogeology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Lakes; Organic matter; Phosphorus; Phosphorus content; Phytoplankton; Plankton; Waste Water Technology; Water bodies; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water Quality and Protection: Environmental Aspects; phosphorus turnover; anthropogenic eutrophication; assimilation potential; bacterioplankton; Lake Ladoga ecosystem; aquatic fungi; anthropogenic load
• ISSN: 0097-8078; 1608-344X
• DOI: 10.1134/S0097807811060145

A study of the transformation of Lake Ladoga ecosystem in 1996–2005 shows that a decrease in the phosphorus load after 1995 has not cause a decrease in lake ecosystem productivity. Mathematical modeling provided an explanation of the observed phenomenon, thus justifying limnologists’ hypothesis that phosphorus turnover within a water body accelerates with increasing abundance of bacterioplankton and aquatic fungi. Computational experiments have shown that the additional amount of phosphorus that is required for maintaining phytoplankton productivity is additionally released by destructors (bacterioplankton and aquatic fungi) from detritus and organic matter dissolved in water.