INORGANIC MINERAL NUTRIENT LEVEL STUDIES ON POTAMOGETON-PECTINATUS L AND ENTEROMORPHA-PROLIFERA IN FORFAR LOCH, SCOTLAND

Samples of the aquatic plants Potamogeton pectinatus L. and Enteromorpha prolifera and loch water were collected from 14 sites in Forfar Loch, Scotland in the summer of 1976. The nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and iron in the plants together with those present in the water samples were analysed and found to be high. Significant correlations in the nitrogen (r = 0.805), phosphorus (r = 0.941), calcium (r = -0.649) and magnesium (r = -0.412) levels were apparent between the water and the Potamogeton plant tissue. Similarly for Enteromorpha, negative correlations were observed for the minerals potassium (r = -0.439) and calcium (r = -0.763) in the tissue and that of the corresponding loch water. © 1979 Dr. W. Junk b.v. Publishers.