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Vol. 49 No. 5, 2010
Periphytic Ciliates in Three Shallow Lakes in Eastern Poland:
A Comparative Study between a Phytoplankton-Dominated Lake, a
Phytoplankton-Macrophyte Lake and a Macrophyte-Dominated Lake
Tomasz
Mieczan*
Department
of Hydrobiology, University of Life Sciences, Dobrzańskiego 37, 20-262
Lublin, Poland
Tomasz Mieczan
(2010) The aim of
this investigation was to determine the abundance and taxonomic
composition of periphytic ciliates in relation to selected physical,
chemical, and biological factors in 3 shallow lakes in eastern Poland,
classified according to the alternate stable state theory as a
phytoplankton-dominated lake, a phytoplankton-macrophyte lake, and a
macrophyte-dominated lake. Sampling from the reed stems was done
on a monthly basis from Apr. to Nov. during 3 yr. Numbers of
periphytic ciliates of the reed surface significantly differed among
the studied lakes, with the lowest numbers in the macrophyte-dominated
lake (37 species), a little higher number in the
phytoplankton-macrophyte lake (43 species), and the highest number in
the phytoplankton-dominated lake (50 species). The same
distribution pattern was observed for ciliate abundances.
Generally, the abundance of ciliates was positively correlated with
temperature, total organic carbon, nutrients, chlorophyll a, and the
biomass of periphyton. However, the number of significant
correlations between the numbers of ciliates and environmental
variables differed in the studied lakes. In the
phytoplanktondominated lake, the density of ciliates was strongly
correlated with the periphyton biomass, and concentrations of
chlorophyll a and total organic carbon; whereas in the
phytoplankton-macrophyte and macrophyte-dominated lakes, the density of
ciliates was correlated with concentrations of ammonium-nitrogen,
nitrate-nitrogen, and total phosphorus.
Key words: Ciliates,
Shallow lakes, Alternative stable state concept.
*Correspondence: Tel: 048-81-4610061 ext. 306. Fax:
048-81-4610061 ext. 304. E-mail:tomasz.mieczan@up.lublin.pl
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