Summary
Population dynamics of attached algae in a eutrophic farmland stream (Wellow Brook, England) were correlated through multiple regression analyses with changes in 7 physico-chemical parameters (temperature, light, water velocity, pH, NO3−N, P2O5−P, SiO2−Si). Samples were taken every 2 weeks for 25 consecutive months between June 1973 and June 1975. The relative significance of the 7 parameters in controlling densities varied widely depending on species. Overall light was most important, accounting for 28 and 17% of density changes in the epipelon and epilithon respectively. While winter flooding caused a sharp reduction in the density of these 2 communities, the concentration of P2O5−P and NO3−N and pH usually had little effect on numbers. The 7 parameters did not exert major control over the epiphyton, normally accounting for <30% of densities variation. Grazing by the protozoan Frontonia acuminata may have significantly reduced the density of the epipelon for 2 months during the spring but otherwise was of no importance to any community.
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Moore, J.W. Some factors effecting algal densities in a eutrophic farmland stream. Oecologia 29, 257–267 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345700
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345700