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Contrasting response of two shallow eutrophic cold temperate lakes to a partial winterkill of fish

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Abstract

Food-web effects of winterkill are difficult to predict as the enhanced mortality of planktivorous fish may be counterbalanced by an even higher mortality of piscivores. We hypothesised that a winterkill in a clear and a turbid shallow lake would equalise their fish community composition, but seasonal plankton successions would differ between lakes. After a partial winterkill, we observed a reduction of fish biomass by 16 and 43% in a clear-water and a turbid small temperate lake, respectively. Fish biomass and piscivore shares (5% of fish biomass) were similar in both lakes after this winterkill, but young-of-the-year (YOY) abundances were higher in the turbid lake. Top-down control by crustaceans was only partly responsible for low phytoplankton biomass at the end of May following the winterkill in both lakes. Summer phytoplankton biomass remained low in the clear-water lake despite high abundances of YOY fish (mainly roach). In contrast, the crustacean biomass of the turbid lake was reduced in summer by a high YOY abundance (sunbleak and roach), leading to a strong increase in phytoplankton biomass. The YOY abundance of fish in shallow eutrophic lakes may thus be more important for their summer phytoplankton development after winterkill than the relative abundance of piscivores.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Annika Becker, Kay Brennecke, Hans-Jürgen Exner, Jörg Gelbrecht, Marianne Graupe, Thomas Hintze, Antje Lüder, Barbara Meinck, Sari Oksanen, Thomas Rossoll, Steffi Schuchort, Grit Siegert, Robert Tarasz, Alexander Türck, Asja Vogt and Elke Zwirnmann for their technical assistance and chemical analyses. We also thank Sabine Schmidt-Halewicz (Limsa Gewässerbüro Konstanz) for zooplankton determination and length measurements. Access to our study lakes and background information was granted by the Biosphärenreservat Schorfheide-Chorin, Förderverein Feldberg-Uckermärkische Seen e.V., and Stiftung Pro Artenvielfalt. This study was part of the TERRALAC-project financed by the Leibniz Association (WGL). Jari Syväranta was supported by the IGB Fellowship program in Freshwater Science and Kristin Scharnweber was further supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 301, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Sabine Hilt, Thomas Wanke, Kristin Scharnweber, Mario Brauns, Jari Syväranta, Soren Brothers, Jan Köhler & Thomas Mehner

  2. Institute of Inland Fisheries, Potsdam, Germany

    Thomas Wanke

  3. Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Kristin Scharnweber

  4. Department of Ecology and Genetics, Limnology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Kristin Scharnweber

  5. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Magdeburg, Germany

    Mario Brauns

  6. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jari Syväranta

  7. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada

    Soren Brothers

  8. University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Ursula Gaedke & Betty Lischke

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  1. Sabine Hilt
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Correspondence to Sabine Hilt.

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Hilt, S., Wanke, T., Scharnweber, K. et al. Contrasting response of two shallow eutrophic cold temperate lakes to a partial winterkill of fish. Hydrobiologia 749, 31–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2143-7

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