Nearshore benthic blooms of filamentous green algae in Lake Baikal

• Published in: Journal of Great Lakes research Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 441 - 448
• Main Authors: Kravtsova, Lyubov S., Izhboldina, Lyudmila A., Khanaev, Igor V., Pomazkina, Galina V., Rodionova, Elena V., Domysheva, Valentina M., Sakirko, Mariya V., Tomberg, Irina V., Kostornova, Tatyana Ya, Kravchenko, Olga S., Kupchinsky, Aleksander B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-06-2014
• Subjects: Didymosphenia geminata; Eutrophication; Filamentous green algae; Fragilaria; Fragilaria capucina; Lake Baikal; Nearshore; Nutrients; Spirogyra; Tetraspora cylindrica; Ulothrix tenerrima; Ulothrix tenuissima; Ulothrix zonata; UNESCO heritage site; Russia, Siberia, Baykal L; Nutrients; Lake Baikal; UNESCO heritage site; Filamentous green algae; Nearshore; Eutrophication
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jglr.2014.02.019
• ISSN: 0380-1330

For the first time, species of the genus Spirogyra, non-typical of the open nearshore waters of Lake Baikal, formed algal mats with Ulothrix zonata, Ulothrix tenerrima, and Ulothrix tenuissima near the village of Listvyanka, Russia. Normally widely distributed in the 0- to 1.5-m depth range, the growth of U. zonata was now evident and dominant (63% of the biomass) in the 2- to 5-m depth range. The overgrowth of the lake bottom by filamentous green algae, changes in distributional boundaries, the emergence and mass development of species of the genus Spirogyra, the presence of the eutrophic diatom indicator Fragilaria capucina var. vaucheriae, elevated abundances of coliform bacteria, and elevated levels of nutrients suggest an early stage of cultural eutrophication in the nearshore of Lake Baikal near Listvyanka, a popular tourist destination. The unusual abundance of Fragilaria associated with the filamentous green algae consisted of long-ribbon colonies of F. capucina var. vaucheriae, a eutrophic species, wound around the filamentous green algae, enhancing the dense algae mats. Historically dominant species, such as Didymosphenia geminata, Tetraspora cylindrica var. bullosa, and Draparnaldioides baicalensis typically observed at deeper depths of Lake Baikal, are now subdominants or minor species in the nearshore along the shoreline near Listvyanka.
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•Disturbance of near shore green algae vertical zoning of Lake Baikal was revealed.•For the first time Ulothrix and Spirogyra mats were found at depths up to 10m.•Overgrowing the bottom is due to increased recreational load.