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- FG Gewässerökologie (3) (remove)
Nostocales form thick-walled, resting cells (akinetes) for overwintering in lake sediments of Central Europe. The pelagic Nostocales population recruits after the germination of akinetes, which mainly takes place in the spring with increasing temperatures and light intensities. The study aimed to i) characterize the sediment surfaces inhabited by viable akinetes that potentially contribute to the formation of a pelagic population, and ii) estimate the inoculum size of the available sedimentary akinete pool. We investigated the horizontal distribution of akinetes in sediments and the seasonal course of light and temperature in two deep dimictic lakes (Lake Stechlinsee, max. depth 69 m and Lake Scharmützelsee, max. depth 29.5 m; NE Germany). The akinete pool was calculated and the potential inoculum was estimated using assumed light and temperature data for akinete germination. The akinete abundance in sediments depended on the basin morphometry and increased with water depth. Only a small proportion of the viable akinete pool in shallow water areas contributed as inoculum to pelagic population. The potential inoculum size in Lake Scharmützelsee was larger than in Lake Stechlinsee.
The ability to fix molecular nitrogen is considered to be a competitive advantage of Nostocales to overcome periods of nitrogen shortage but it is unclear to what extend these cyanobacteria import nitrogen into freshwaters and if they are able to compensate the efforts of reducing anthropogenic nitrogen input.
We studied nitrogen fixation, cyanobacterial biovolume and species composition and abiotic parameters in two polymictic lakes (Germany) over three years. Although Nostocales were present from April to November N2-fixation was found only from June/July to September. In the summer months, it amounted up to 40 mgN m-²d-¹ or up to 500 mgN m-²d-¹ resulting in rather low annual N-inputs between 0.1 and 8 gN m-²a-¹. We found a high variation in N2-fixation rates between the two lakes and the years, which could neither be explained by total Nostocales biovolume nor heterocyte numbers. N2-fixation rates measured in the field will be analyzed on Nostocales species level, be compared to those of laboratory cultures and be discussed in the context of possible phosphorus or light limitation of Nostocales.
Rapidly developing countries are facing severe environmental problems at an extent that industrialized countries did not have to solve in comparable periods. Freshwaters belong to the ecosystems with the most severe impacts despite they are one of the most vital resources. The Lerma River is one example of a heavily degraded freshwater ecosystem in the rapidly developing country of Mexico. A number of NGOs and governmental institutions have made great efforts to elaborate strategies for the restoration and rehabilitation of the river system during the last years. Scientists from different disciplines and institutions met for a workshop at ININ in February 2009 to discuss the actual degradation of the upper Lerma River and argue about solutions for its sustainable restoration. This also included the presentation and discussion of new technologies that are currently in an experimental stage, but have the potential to solve different river pollution problems in the near future.