JPR Advance Access originally published online on September 19, 2005
Journal of Plankton Research 2005 27(9):937-949; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi068
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Optical changes associated with cyanobacterial bloom termination by viral lysis
Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Centre for Limnology, Rijksstraatweg 6, 3631 AC Nieuwersluis, the Netherlands
* Corresponding Author: s.simis{at}nioo.knaw.nl
Received March 29, 2005; accepted in principle May 20, 2005; accepted for publication September 8, 2005; published online September 19, 2005
Communicating editor: K.J. Flynn
Optical changes that accompanied a collapse of the population of filamentous cyanobacteria from a shallow, eutrophic lake were studied in laboratory-scale enclosures (LSEs). The experimental conditions are known, from previous work on these systems, to cause a dramatic collapse of the dominant algal or cyanobacterial species, which in turn can be associated with viral activity. Within 2 weeks of continuous addition of nutrient-rich growth medium, near-complete collapse of the dominant population occurred over the span of a few days. The collapse was repeatedly and reproducibly observed and was primarily characterized by a marked increase in water transparency. Scattering of light decreased by
80%, absorption decreased by 2080%. There was high similarity in optical changes between several experiments, carried out in different seasons. An increase of dissolved material and submicron-sized particles (SMP) that showed chlorophyll a (Chl a) absorption was observed during the collapse. The phycocyanin (PC): Chl a ratio and phaeopigment : Chl a ratio proved to be good indicators of the observed collapse. Reflectance spectra that were modelled using a constant volume-scattering function indicated that mass mortality of this magnitude can be detected in natural systems using current remote sensors.