Publication Date:
2022-06-02
Description:
Considerable amounts of nutrients enter as a result of human activity the Western Baltic Sea in the form of discharge or seepage from land or as atmospheric input. Benthic macrophytes which preferably inhabit the nutrient recipient shallow near-shore areas, and where they often constitute the major primary producers may thus play an important role in eutrophication processes by uptake and accumulation of nutrient elements, enhanced primary production and following degradation of the produced organic material. Nutrient uptake, binding capacity and limitation as well as nutrient dependent growth of the two community forming seaweeds Phycodrys rubens and Fucus vesiculosus have been investigated and related to the seasonal patterns of the nutrient conditions in their respective habitats. Nutrient concentrations, both phosphorus and nitrogen, in the algal beds are markedly higher than in the surface water of the open Kiel Bight. In general, the seaweeds seem not to be nutrient limited under natural conditions except for nitrogen in Phycodrys during summer. Nutrient tissue contents are saturated only for nitrogen during winter. The significance of these findings is discussed in view of the observed increasing nutrient levels and changes of the vegetation in the Kiel Bight.
Type:
Article
,
NonPeerReviewed
Format:
text
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