Abstract:

Wetlands can experience drying and flooding cycles which influence the dynamics of the phytoplankton assemblages. The aim of our study was to evaluate changes in the phytoplankton structure during a drought/flood period in a warm-temperate wetland. We hypothesized that fluctuations in water level and development of macrophytes favour the development of fast-growing algae with adaptations to low light conditions. We studied algal and cyanobacterial colonization and succession in the nascent planktonic habitat in a wetland in the Southern Hemisphere (Argentina). We assessed changes in phytoplankton biovolume, chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a), richness, diversity, and evenness throughout a drought/flood period. Phytoplankton species were classified into ecological functional groups (FG). Multivariate analysis (RDA) showed that water level, conductivity and percentage macrophyte cover of the site surface (PCSS) explained the variability in the phytoplankton assemblage structure in terms of classes and FG. Particularly, FGs T and LM responded to the changes during the drought/flood cycle, probably due to light constraints and stability of the water column induced by the development of emergent and free-floating macrophytes. Our study expands the knowledge of phytoplankton species composition and ecological FG succession under free-floating macrophyte cover in a re-flooding episode. We conclude that water depth and development of macrophytes are the key factors in shaping phytoplankton species structure in a temporary wetland. Luz Allende, Universidad de Buenos Aires Dr. Supporting Agencies University of Buenos Aires (UBACyT X838) Avigliano, Luciana, Alicia Vinocour, Griselda Chaparro, Guillermo Tell, and Luz Allende. 2014. “Influence of Re-Flooding on Phytoplankton Assemblages in a Temperate Wetland Following Prolonged Drought”. Journal of Limnology 73 (2). https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2014.838. More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Downloads Download data is not yet available. Citations Similar Articles Najat Elkhiati, Mohamed Ramdani, José L. Espinar, Khalid Fahd, Laura Serrano, Ecological similarities between two Mediterranean wetlands: Sidi Boughaba (North-West Morocco) and the Doñana National Park (South-West Spain) , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 2 (2013) Zacarias Fresno Lopez, Tommaso Cancellario, Diego Fontaneto, Lyudmila Kamburska, Karimullah Karimullah, Robert L. Wallace, Elizabeth J. Walsh, Radoslav Smolak, A georeferenced dataset for occurrence records of the phylum Rotifera in Africa , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 82 No. s1 (2023): Georeferenced freshwater biodiversity data Monica Pinardi, Gary Free, Beatrice Lotto, Nicola Ghirardi, Marco Bartoli, Mariano Bresciani, Exploiting high frequency monitoring and satellite imagery for assessing chlorophyll-a dynamics in a shallow eutrophic lake , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 80 No. 3 (2021): Celebratory Issue - 80th Anniversary of the Journal of Limnology

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