Applying the light: nutrient hypothesis to stream periphyton

Fanta, S E; Hill, Walter; Smith, Timothy B; Roberts, Brian J

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02309.x

Title: Applying the light: nutrient hypothesis to stream periphyton

Full Record
Other Related Research

Abstract

The light:nutrient hypothesis (LNH) states that algal nutrient content is determined by the balance of light and dissolved nutrients available to algae during growth. Light and phosphorus gradients in both laboratory and natural streams were used to examine the relevance of the LNH to stream periphyton. Controlled gradients of light (12-426 mol photons m{sup -2} s{sup -1}) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP, 3-344 {mu}g L{sup -1}) were applied experimentally to large flow-through laboratory streams, and natural variability in canopy cover and discharge from a wastewater treatment facility created gradients of light (0.4-35 mol photons m{sup -2} day{sup -1}) and DRP (10-1766 {mu}g L{sup -1}) in a natural stream. Periphyton phosphorus content was strongly influenced by the light and DRP gradients, ranging from 1.8 to 10.7 {mu}g mg AFDM{sup -1} in the laboratory streams and from 2.3 to 36.9 {mu}g mg AFDM{sup -1} in the natural stream. Phosphorus content decreased with increasing light and increased with increasing water column phosphorus. The simultaneous effects of light and phosphorus were consistent with the LNH that the balance between light and nutrients determines algal nutrient content. In experiments in the laboratory streams, periphyton phosphorus increased hyperbolically with increasing DRP. Uptake then began leveling offmore »« less

Authors:

Fanta, S E ^[1]; Hill, Walter ^[2]; Smith, Timothy B ^[1]; Roberts, Brian J ^[3]

University of Illinois
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
ORNL

Publication Date:: Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1034675

DOE Contract Number:: DE-AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Journal Article

Journal Name:: Freshwater Biology

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 55; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0046-5070

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; ALGAE; AUFWUCHS; FOOD; HYPOTHESIS; NUTRIENTS; PHOSPHORUS; PHOTONS; WATER; benthic algae; light : nutrient hypothesis; periphyton; stoichiometry; stream

Citation Formats


                    Fanta, S E, Hill, Walter, Smith, Timothy B, and Roberts, Brian J. Applying the light: nutrient hypothesis to stream periphyton.  United States: N. p., 2010. 
        Web.  doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02309.x.

Copy to clipboard


                    Fanta, S E, Hill, Walter, Smith, Timothy B, & Roberts, Brian J. Applying the light: nutrient hypothesis to stream periphyton.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02309.x

Copy to clipboard


                    Fanta, S E, Hill, Walter, Smith, Timothy B, and Roberts, Brian J. 2010.  
        "Applying the light: nutrient hypothesis to stream periphyton".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02309.x.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1034675,

  title        = {Applying the light: nutrient hypothesis to stream periphyton},

  author       = {Fanta, S E and Hill, Walter and Smith, Timothy B and Roberts, Brian J},

  abstractNote = {The light:nutrient hypothesis (LNH) states that algal nutrient content is determined by the balance of light and dissolved nutrients available to algae during growth. Light and phosphorus gradients in both laboratory and natural streams were used to examine the relevance of the LNH to stream periphyton. Controlled gradients of light (12-426 mol photons m{sup -2} s{sup -1}) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP, 3-344 {mu}g L{sup -1}) were applied experimentally to large flow-through laboratory streams, and natural variability in canopy cover and discharge from a wastewater treatment facility created gradients of light (0.4-35 mol photons m{sup -2} day{sup -1}) and DRP (10-1766 {mu}g L{sup -1}) in a natural stream. Periphyton phosphorus content was strongly influenced by the light and DRP gradients, ranging from 1.8 to 10.7 {mu}g mg AFDM{sup -1} in the laboratory streams and from 2.3 to 36.9 {mu}g mg AFDM{sup -1} in the natural stream. Phosphorus content decreased with increasing light and increased with increasing water column phosphorus. The simultaneous effects of light and phosphorus were consistent with the LNH that the balance between light and nutrients determines algal nutrient content. In experiments in the laboratory streams, periphyton phosphorus increased hyperbolically with increasing DRP. Uptake then began leveling off around 50 {mu}g L{sup -1}. The relationship between periphyton phosphorus and the light: phosphorus ratio was highly nonlinear in both the laboratory and natural streams, with phosphorus content declining sharply with initial increases in the light: phosphorus ratio, then leveling off at higher values of the ratio. Although light and DRP both affected periphyton phosphorus content, the effects of DRP were much stronger than those of light in both the laboratory and natural streams. DRP explained substantially more of the overall variability in periphyton phosphorus than did light, and light effects were evident only at lower phosphorus concentrations ({approx}< 25 {mu}g L{sup -1}) in the laboratory streams. These results suggest that light has a significant negative effect on the food quality of grazers in streams only under a limited set of conditions.},

  doi          = {10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02309.x},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1034675},
  journal      = {Freshwater Biology},

  issn         = {0046-5070},

  number       = 5,

  volume       = 55,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010},

  month        = {Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02309.x

Other availability

Find in Google Scholar

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Similar records in OSTI.GOV collections:

Quantifying phosphorus and light effects in stream algae

Journal Article Hill, Walter; Fanta, S; Roberts, Brian - Limnology and Oceanography

Simultaneous gradients of phosphorus and light were applied in experimental streams to develop quantitative relationships between these two important abiotic variables and the growth and composition of benthic microalgae. Algal biovolume and whole-stream metabolism responded hyperbolically to phosphorus enrichment, increasing approximately two-fold over the 5-300 g L-1 range of experimental phosphorus concentrations. The saturation threshold for phosphorus effects occurred at 25 g L-1 of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP). Light effects were much stronger than those of phosphorus, resulting in a nearly ten-fold increase in algal biovolume over the 10-400 mol photons m-2 s-1 range of experimental irradiances. Biovolume accrual wasmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2009.54.1.0368
Light, nutrients, and herbivore growth in oligotrophic streams

Journal Article Hill, Walter; Smith, John; Stewart, Arthur - Ecology

The light : nutrient hypothesis posits that herbivore growth is increasingly constrained by low food quality as the ratio of light to nutrients increases in aquatic ecosystems. We tested predictions of this hypothesis by examining the effects of large seasonal cycles in light and nutrients on the mineral content of periphyton and the growth rate of a dominant herbivore (the snail Elimia clavaeformis) in two oligotrophic streams. Streambed irradiances in White Oak Creek and Walker Branch (eastern Tennessee, USA) varied dramatically on a seasonal basis due to leaf phenology in the surrounding deciduous forests and seasonal changes in sun angle.more »« less
https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0703.1
Resource synergy in stream periphyton communities

Journal Article Hill, Walter; Fanta, S; Roberts, Brian; ... - Journal of Ecology

1. Light and nutrients play pivotal roles in determining the growth of autotrophs, yet the potential for synergistic interactions between the two resources in algal communities is poorly understood, especially in stream ecosystems. In this study, light and phosphorus were manipulated in large experimental streams to examine resource colimitation and synergy in stream periphyton. 2. Whole-stream metabolism was simultaneously limited by light and phosphorus. Increasing the supply of either light or phosphorus resulted in significant increases in primary production and the transformation of the streams from heterotrophy to autotrophy. 3. Resource-driven changes in periphyton community structure occurred in concert withmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2010.01785.x
Denitrification associated with stream periphyton: chamber estimates from undisrupted communities

Journal Article Duff, J; Triska, F; Oremland, R

Undisrupted periphyton communities from a N-rich (NO/sub 3//sup -/ = 63 ..mu..mol L/sup -1/) and pristine (NO/sub 3//sup -/ = 2.9 ..mu..mol L/sup -1/) stream were assayed for denitrifying activity (acetylene-blockage technique) in 40-L chambers incubated at in situ temperature and nutrient concentrations. Nitrous oxide formation associated with periphyton from the N-rich stream was immediate and linear (52.1 ..mu..mol N/sub 2/O m/sup -2/ h/sup -1/) in the dark, anaerobic chamber (50 kPa C/sub 2/H/sub 2/). In the corresponding light, aerobic chamber (50 kPa C/sub 2/H/sub 2/), N/sub 2/O production was inhibited by 82% (9.3 ..mu..mol N/sub 2/O m/sup -2/ h/supmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1984.00472425001300040002x
Top-down and bottom-up control of stream periphyton: Effects of nutrients and herbivores

Journal Article Rosemond, A; Mulholland, P; Elwood, J - Ecology; (United States)

Two experiments determineD the relative effects of herbivory and nutrients on an algal community in in a stream having effectively two trophic levels: primary producers and herbivorous snails. The first study (1989), in streamside channels, tested the effects of three factors: (1) stream water nitrogen (N), (2) phosphorus (P), and (3) snail grazing, on periphyton biomass, productivity, and community composition. The second study (1990), conducted in situ, tested the effects of snail grazing and nutrients (N + P). In the 1989 study, nutrients had positive effects, and herbivores had negative effects, on algal biomass and primary productivity. Likewise, both nutrientsmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2307/1940495

Similar Records