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Nutrient recycling - a strategy of a grazer community to overcome nutrient limitation

Publication: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Abstract

We examined in situ the fate of N in the epilithon and a grazer community in the N-limited rocky littoral of Lake Erken, Sweden. The grazer community consisted of the sessile caddisfly larva Tinodes waeneri (L.) plus its gallery. The gallery consisted of a web that is spun by the larva plus the microorganisms (mostly algae) closely associated with the web. We applied N-15 in the field and recorded N-15 uptake and retention time. The galleries took up N-15 faster from the overlying water and retained N-15 1 wk longer than the surrounding epilithon. These results supported our hypothesis that effective N use through the Tinodes community by recycling may alleviate N limitation and enhance biomass production of the gallery algae.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)363-369
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of the North American Benthological Society
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1999

Keywords

  • nutrient recycling
  • nitrogen
  • littoral
  • Tinodes waeneri
  • nutrient limitation
  • epilithon

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