Notes: 1. In view of the paucity of data on the response of warm shallow lakes to reductions in nutrient loading, this paper presents a long-term limnological data set to document changes in the food-web of a shallow Mediterranean lake (Lake Albufera, Valencia, Spain) that has experienced reductions in phosphorus (P) (77%) and nitrogen (N) (24%) loading following sewage diversion.2. Nine years after sewage diversion, P concentration in the lake was reduced by 30% but remained high (TP = 0.34 mg L−1), although the mean water retention time in the lake was only 0.1 years. Nitrate concentrations did not significantly change, probably because the lake continued to receive untreated effluents from ricefields.3. Chlorophyll a concentration was reduced by half (annual mean of 180 μg L−1). Cyanobacteria abundance remained high but its composition changed towards smaller species, both filamentous and chroococcal forms.4. Cladocera abundance increased and reached peaks twice a year (December to March and July to September). After nutrient reduction, short-term clear-water phases (up to 5 weeks) occurred during February to March in several years, concomitant with annual flushing of the lake and lower fish densities. The abundance of Cladocera in winter contrasted with the spring peaks observed in northern restored shallow lakes. The zooplankton to phytoplankton biomass ratio remained lower than in northern temperate shallow lakes, probably because of fish predation on zooplankton.5. Improvement of the water quality of Lake Albufera remained insufficient to counteract littoral reed regression or improve underwater light allowing submerged plants re-colonise the lake.6. Sewage diversion from Lake Albufera impacted the food web through the plankton, but higher trophic levels, such as fish and waterfowl, were affected to a lesser degree. Although the fish species present in the lake are mainly omnivorous, long-term data on commercial fish captures indicated that fish communities changed in response to nutrient level and trophic structure as has been observed in restored shallow lakes at northern latitudes.7. Phosphorus concentrations produced similar phytoplankton biomass in Lake Albufera as in more northern shallow lakes with abundant planktivorous fish and small zooplankton. However, in Lake Albufera, high average concentrations were maintained throughout the year. Overall, results suggest that nutrient control may be a greater priority in eutrophicated warm shallow lakes than in similar lakes at higher latitudes.

Notes: 1. Nutrient and fish manipulations in mesocosms were carried out on food-web interactions in a Mediterranean shallow lake in south-east Spain. Nutrients controlled biomass of phytoplankton and periphyton, while zooplankton, regulated by planktivorous fish, influenced the relative percentages of the dominant phytoplankton species.2. Phytoplankton species diversity decreased with increasing nutrient concentration and planktivorous fish density. Cyanobacteria grew well in both turbid and clear-water states.3. Planktivorous fish increased concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP). Larger zooplankters (mostly Ceriodaphnia and copepods) were significantly reduced when fish were present, whereas rotifers increased, after fish removal of cyclopoid predators and other filter feeders (cladocerans, nauplii). The greatest biomass and diversity of zooplankton was found at intermediate nutrient levels, in mesocosms without fish and in the presence of macrophytes.4. Water level decrease improved underwater light conditions and favoured macrophyte persistence. Submerged macrophytes (Chara spp.) outcompeted algae up to an experimental nutrient loading equivalent to added concentrations of 0.06 mg L−1 PO4-P and 0.6 mg L−1 NO3-N, above which an exponential increase in periphyton biomass and algal turbidity caused characean biomass to decline.5. Declining water levels during summer favoured plant-associated rotifer species and chroococcal cyanobacteria. High densities of chroococcal cyanobacteria were related to intermediate nutrient enrichment and the presence of small zooplankton taxa, while filamentous cyanobacteria were relatively more abundant in fishless mesocosms, in which Crustacea were more abundant, and favoured by dim underwater light.6. Benthic macroinvertebrates increased significantly at intermediate nutrient levels but there was no relationship with planktivorous fish density.7. The thresholds of nutrient loading and in-lake P required to avoid a turbid state and maintain submerged macrophytes were lower than those reported from temperate shallow lakes. Mediterranean shallow lakes may remain turbid with little control of zooplankton on algal biomass, as observed in tropical and subtropical lakes. Nutrient loading control and macrophyte conservation appear to be especially important in these systems to maintain high water quality.

Notes: Three populations of phototrophic microorganisms were found closely stratified in the chemocline of the holomictic Lake Arcas. Cryptomonas spp. reached a maximum population density in microaerobic waters above dense plates of Oscillatoria cf. ornata and Chromatium weissei, whose maxima were found in the deeper sulfide-rich waters. High photoassimilation rates were found during the stratification period at the chemocline (up to 197.63 mg C m−3 h−1), especially at depths at which maximal densities of prokaryotic phototrophs were located, whereas much lower values were observed in the mixed zone of the lake. Despite these high rates, the contribution of carbon photoassimilation at the chemocline level accounted for only 16.2–18.3% of the photosynthetic assimilation of the whole lake in the stratification period, due to the narrowness of the depth range in which these populations were active. Moreover, in situ oxygenic photosynthesis took place at sulfide concentrations of about 0.1 mM. The photosynthesis vs. irradiance curve shows that these microorganisms were light limited, but their light-harvesting complexes allowed them to utilize the wavelengths which are relatively more concentrated in the dim light reaching the chemocline.

Notes: Abstract: Three strains of cyanobacteria isolated from karstic Lake Arcas were tested for photosynthetic adaptations to soluble sulfide. One of them, AO11, was identified as Oscillatoria cf. ornata, and forms dense populations in the sulfide-rich anoxic hypolimnion of this lake. This cyanobacterium was able to perform sulfide-dependent anoxygenic photosynthesis and its oxygenic photosynthesis was relatively insensitive to sulfide. The other strains studied were AP1 and AO21, identified respectively as Pseudanabaena sp. and Oscillatoria cf. tenuis, populations of which were present only in epilimnetic waters at low population densities. Pseudanabaena sp. also carried out anoxygenic photosynthesis, but oxygenic photosynthesis was totally inhibited by 0.5 mM sulfide. Oscillatoria cf. tenuis lost most of its oxygenic photosynthetic capacity when submitted to 0.1 mM sulfide and anoxygenic photosynthesis accounted for less than 20% of sulfide-free controls. In addition to different photosynthetic capabilities, the three cyanobacteria exhibited differences in light-harvesting photosynthetic accessory pigments. Pigment analysis of cultures grown under different light conditions showed the capacity of Oscillatoria cf. ornata AO11 to produce phycoerythrin under low light intensity or under predominantly green light, while neither Pseudanabaena sp. AP1 nor Oscillatoria cf. tenuis AO21 produced this pigment. The complementary chromatic adaptation of Oscillatoria cf. ornata correlates well with its summertime distribution under the dim light field of the hypolimnion. The distribution and abundance of specific cyanobacterial populations in Lake Arcas can thus be explained by the interplay of light regime and presence of sulfide as some of the most determinant ecological parameters.

Notes: Abstract Aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA), a potent nuclease inhibitor, has been shown to prevent foreign DNA degradation in transformation of Penicillium chrysogenum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ATA may be useful not only in vitro but also in vivo.