Advection, growth and nutrient status of phytoplankton populations in the lower River Murray, South Australia

Abstract

To investigate the link between river flow, nutrient availability and development of algal blooms, growth rates of the major phytoplankton species were examined in situ in the lower River Murray, South Australia over the 1994/1995 summer. Eight sites were selected over a 54 km reach between Lock 1 and Nildottie and growth rates estimated by monitoring mean cell density in time-aligned parcels of water as they travelled downstream. Discharge at Lock 1 during the period of study (3000–5000 ML day−1) typified summer entitlement flows to South Australia. A large, shallow floodplain lake (lagoon), with an hydraulic connection to the river, supported a large population of cyanobacteria in summer, but inputs to the main channel did not substantially affect the abundance and composition of river phytoplankton. Mean net growth rates of Anabaena circinalis and A. flos-aquae f. flos-aquae were 0.132 and 0.176 day−1, respectively, although individual rates varied from positive to negative. In contrast, the mean growth rate of the filamentous diatom Aulacoseira granulata was −0.15 day−1, reflecting a decrease in population size with advection downstream. Mean cell densities of the three species did not exceed 5000 cells mL−1 throughout the study. Growth bioassays conducted in the laboratory indicated that nitrogen was often the nutrient limiting algal growth, although it was not established whether nitrogen was limiting in situ. A conceptual model is presented, linking these findings with those of other work on the lower River Murray, to summarize the physical and chemical environmental factors governing the abundance of cyanobacteria in this reach of the river. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.