Brackish-water phytoplankton of the Flemish lowland

276 Pages·1984·24.8 MB·English

by  A. Caljon (auth.)

Brackish-water phytoplankton
of the Flemish lowland
Developments in Hydrobiology 18
Series editor
H.J. Dumont
H.J. Dumont and J. Green, eds., Rotatoria. Lake Vechten and Tjeukemeer, The Nether
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Brackish-water phytoplankton of the Flemish lowland
by
A. Caljon
1983 DR W. JUNK PUBLISHERS ~.
a member of the KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP ,-
THE HAGUE / BOSTON / LANCASTER ~
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jar all other countries: Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, Distribution Center,
P.O.Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ce.J.Jon, A.
Brackish-water phytoplankton o~ the Flemish lowland.
(Developments in hydrobiology ; 18)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Algae--Belgium--East Flanders. 2. Phytoplankton-
Belgium--East Flanders. 3. Brackish water ~lora-­
Be~~~--East Flanders. 4. Coastal flora--Belgium-
East 'Flanders. I. Title. II. Series.
QK574.B4C34 1983 589.39493'1 83-13579
ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6556-0 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6554-6
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-6554-6
ISBN 90-6193-751-5 (series)
Copyright
© 1983 by Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague
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Preface
Numerous papers have been published on the animal and algal communities of fresh-water and marine biotopes,
and their relation to the physical and chemical factors of their environment. Brackish-water biotopes have been
studied much less intensely, presumably due to their limited distribution and to the complexity of their bioco
enoses, composed of fresh-water, brackish-water and marine organisms. The reduced size of the species present
forms a supplementary difficulty, which is especially pronounced in the algal communities, a major part of which
are composed of nanno-phytoplankters.
The University of Ghent considered a detailed survey sufficiently attractive to set up because of the high species
diversity, the gaps in the knowledge of brackish-water nannophytoplankton at the species and population levels,
and the convenient proximity of brackish-water biotopes.
Moreover, the brackish-water biotopes proved to be unique, and consist of a series of landlocked creeks, con
nected to the sea by means of an underground salt water supply.
VII
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction..................... . ................ . ............... . . 1
Chapter 2 Study area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. Topographical situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Historical aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3. Edaphic factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4. Hydrology. ................. . .................................. 5
2.4.1. Salinity fluctuations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4.2. Origin of the brownish colour of certain creeks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4.3. Hydrography.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5. Biotopes................. . ................... . .......... . . .... 7
2.6. Climatic features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10
Chapter 3 Methods............................................. . ...... . .. . . . 11
3.1. Sampling procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11
3.2. Physical properties, water chemistry, chlorophyll a and phaeophytin a . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11
3.3. Phytoplankton samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12
3.4. Periphyton and benthos samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 4 Data analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1. Classification techniques .......................... . .. . ...... ... ... " 15
4.2. Ordination techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2.1. Principal component analysis (P.C.A.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2.2. Detrended correspondence analysis (D.C.A.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17
4.3. Transformations....................... . . . ......... . . . ..... .. .... 17
4.4. Selection of the number of the variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17
Chapter 5 Physical properties, water chemistry and phytoplankton production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19
5.1. Temperature.......... . ....... . ................. . .... . ......... . 20
5.2. Conductivity................................................... 20
5.3. Chlorides...................................................... 23
5.4. pH.................................................. . ....... 24
5.5. Carbonate, bicarbonate and alkalinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 25
5.6. Calcium, magnesium, total hardness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.7. Ammonia.............................................. . .. . ... . 32
5.8. Nitrite.............. . . . ............................. . ....... . . 34
5.9. Nitrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34
5.10. Orthophosphate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 36
5.11. Dissolved oxygen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 36
5.12. Active chlorophyll a of the total phytoplankton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 38
5.13. Phaeophytin a of the total phytoplankton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 41
5.14. Active chlorophyll a of the net phytoplankton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 41
5.15. Phaeophytin a of the net phytoplankton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44
5.l6. Surface area of the total phytoplankton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44
VIII
Chapter 6 Phytoplankton groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
6.1. Seasonal phytoplankton groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
6.1.1. Seasonal phytoplankton groups in the Grote Geule (1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
6.1.2. Seasonal phytoplankton groups in the Rode Geule (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
6.1.3. Seasonal phytoplankton groups in the Kapellen-poldcrkreek (5). . . . . . . . . . . .. 48
6.104. Seasonal phytoplankton groups in the Boerenkreek (10). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48
6.1.5. Conclusions.............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 49
6.2. Synopsis of the seasonal phytoplankton groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54
6.2.1. Chlamydomonas umbonata-group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54
6.2.2. Monoraphidium contortum-group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
6.2.3. Anabaena spiroides var. longicellularis-group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
6.204. Hemiselmis simplex-group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 59
6.2.5. Gymnodinium splendens-group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
6.2.6. Chaetoceras orientalis-group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
6.2.7. Prymnesium spec. I-group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
6.2.8. Comparison of the synoptic seasonal groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.2.9. Salinity preferences of the synoptic seasonal groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 61
6.3. Spatial phytoplankton distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 62
6.3.1. Spatial phytoplankton groups in the sample set of January 1973 . . . . . . . . . . .. 62
6.3.2. Spatial phytoplankton groups in the sample set of November 1976. . . . . . . . . .. 67
6.4. Discussion.. . ........... . ...................................... 73
Chapter 7 Typification of algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 77
7.1. Brackish-water species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 77
7.1.1. Subdivisions of brackish water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 77
7.1.2. The origin of brackish water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 78
7.1.3. Ecological features of brackish-water species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 78
7.104. Types of brackish-water species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 79
7.104.1. Holeuryhaline species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 79
7.104.2. Euryhaline limnobionts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 79
7.104.3. Euryhaline marine species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 80
7.1.404. Brackish-water species -Hyphalmyrobionts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 80
7.2. Trophic preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 80
7.3. Saprobity preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 80
7 A. pH preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81
7.5. Littoral species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81
7.6. Plankton species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81
7.7. Benthic species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81
7.8. Periphytic species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 82
7.9. Rheophiles..................................................... 82
7.10. Thermal preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 82
Chapter 8 Systematic account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 83
Taxonomic index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 259
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 265
Chapter 1 Introduction
From a systematic and ecological point of view, the and De Raeve (1975) on the vegetation; Dumont &
algae of brackish waters are of great interest. The Gysels (1971), and Verstraeten (1978) on the fauna;
algal community in these biotopes is composed of Van Meel (1960) on the algae;De Ridder{1956)onthe
holeuryhaline, euryhaline marine and euryhaline rotifers and on some physical and chemical aspects.
brackish-water organisms and euryhaline and weakly Most of these papers contain physical and chemical
euryhaline limnobionts. The relative proportions of data, and these make it possible to study the
these different components is closely related to evolution of several factors in time. We could also
salinity. In Flanders, the algological richness of the compare our algological observations with those by
brackish waters in the coastal region had been Van Meel (1960), although this author examined only
documented by the work of Conrad & Kufferath net phytoplankton, while the main biomass and algal
(1954) who studied some brackish waters in the diversity is due to the nanno phytoplankton.
vicinity of the township of Lillo 0 , near Antwerp. Many studies on the taxonomy of brackish-water
These interesting biotopes were later to be destroyed algae have been published, but till now no truly
by the extension of the harbour of Antwerp, but a systematic survey is available. Papers such as Conrad
comparable area which is at least as varied is still to & Kufferath (1954) give an adequate impression of
be found in the north of East Flanders. It is composed the species diversity of certain brackish waters and
of a series of landlocked creeks. describe interesting new taxa, but they offer few
We selected this area to carry out an in-depth clues for the identification of algal taxa. Diatoms are
algological study. It is a relic of the repeated trans the most intensely studied algal group. They were
gressions and regressions of the North sea and of studied, among others, by Hustedt (1925, 1930 a, b,
many dike-bursts which occurred during the last 1931, 1932, 1933 a, b, 1937, 1959, 1961, 1962,
millennia. It forms a geographical unity with the 1964, 1966) and by Cho1noky (1968) in brackish
creeks of Zealand Flanders (The Netherlands). Its water, limnetic and marine biotopes. Brackish-water
creeks are landlocked and are connected to the sea by species are also dealt with in general works such as
means of an underground supply of salt water only. "Rabenhorst's Kryptogamen Flora", but not all
This supply tends to keep the salinity of most creeks algal groups are treated here: Flagellatae (Gemeinhardt
at a reasonably constant level. Depending on the rate & Schiller 1930), Cyanophyta (Geitler 1932),
of salt water supply, a gradient from nearly limnetic Dinoflagellatae (Schiller 1933, 1937), Conjugatae
to strongly mesohaline waters exists. This gradient (Krieger 1937), Heterocontae (Pascher 1939),
even leads to polyhaline waters in Zealand Flanders. Oedogoniales (Gemeinhardt 1939), Zygnemales
In some creeks, however, a gradual increase in salinity (Kolkwitz & Krieger 1941) and the earlier cited
has been observed during the last decennia. Many are Diatoms (Hustedt 1930 a, 1931, 1932, 1933 a, b,
in the process of silting up, and some are so shallow 1937, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966). For these
that they desiccate or near-desiccate during dry groups in part, and for all algal groups not cited,
summers. This phenomenon is responsible for the identification of brackish-water taxa requires a
pronounced fluctuations in salinity found in some perusal of the specialized literature on this subject
creeks. The whole range of adaptations to these (a.o. Butcher 1959, 1961, 1967; Caljon 1976, 1979,
periodically and spatially changing osmotic con 1983; Carter 1937; Conrad 1926 a, b, 1938, 1939;
ditions, make the flora and the fauna of this Conrad & Kufferath 1954; Dragesco 1965; Heynig
landlocked creek system an extremely diverse one. 1967; Hulburt 1965; Koster 1966; Ruinen 1938;
The complexity of its biocenoses is intriguing and has Schiller 1953, 1957; etc.). Because fresh-water,
challenged many a liminologist. brackish-water and marine organisms co-occur in
Previous investigations which have been carried brackishcwater, one should also consult the extensive
out in this area are: Van Hecke & Rammeloo (1971) literature on the systematics of fresh-water and
2
marine algae. For this reason, we decided to classification techniques are nowadays widely applied
accentuate the systematic part of this study and to in many scientific disciplines (psychology, sociology,
provide an extensive iconographic part, thus hoping biological sciences, etc.). A host of papers deal with
to facilitate the future systematic study of brackish the application of these methods in the treatment of
water algae. Moreover, we add a short ecological phytoplankton data: Allen & Koonce (1973), Estrada
typification to the description of each taxon. (1972), Symons (1970, 1973), Reyssac & Roux
Once the data on algae and environmental factors (1972), Holland & Claflin (1973), Thurlow et aI.
are collected, they need to be analyzed. We used two (1975), Bartell et al. (1978) and Caljon (1978 b).
types of ordination methods (principal component Levandowsky (1972) first applied these methods to
analysis and detrended correspondence analysis) and the phytoplankton of brackish-water biotopes, but
one type of classification technique (group average without very positive conclusions, unlike the results
cluster analysis) to identify objectively the different of the present study.
algal communities in our samples. Ordination and
3
Chapter 2 Study area
2.1. Topographical situation - Klein Geulken (17)
- Kapellenpolderkreek (5).
The landlocked creek area is situated in the West of this first concentration of creeks we also
northern part of East Flanders (Belgium), in a sampled the Noorddijkkreek (6) on the territory of
territory which is limited in the North, the East and the municipality of Watervliet.
the West by the Belgian-Dutch border and in the The second group of landlocked creeks is situated
South by the limit Polders·Flemish sandy region, i.e. further west, on the territory of the municipalities of
approximately the line Sint·Laureins-Boekhoute St.·Jan·in-Eremo, St.·Margriete and Waterland
Assenede-Sas-van-Gent. Two concentrations of Oudeman, with Lambert·coordinates 61 (W), 97 (E),
landlocked creeks occur in this area. The first group is 220 (N) and 215 (S) on survey-maps 13/3-4 and
situated in its eastern part, on the territory of the 5/7-8 of Belgium (Fig. 2). We surveyed the follow
municipalities of Assenede and Boekhoute, with ing creeks in this area:
Lambert·coordinates 105 (W), 110 (E), 219 (N) and Molenkreek (7,8,9)
214 (S) on survey·maps 14/1-2 and 6/5-6 of Boerenkreek (10)
Belgium (Fig. 1). We studied five creeks in this area: Roeselarekreek (II, 19)
Grote Geule (1) Hollandersgat (12)
Rode Geule (2, 3, 4) Blokkreek (13)
Grote Kil (16) Vrouwkenshoekkreek (14)
Fig. 1. Topographic map of the creek area near Assenede and Watervliet with locations of sampling stations 1-6, 16, 17.