Trophic dynamics in turbid and clearwater lakes with special emphasis on the role of zooplankton for water clarity

Within a certain nutrient level shallow lakes may alternate between two states, a clearwater and a turbid state. To obtain more information on the characteristics of these two states, we compared seasonal variations in trophic structure and physico-chemical variables of two clear and two turbid lakes studied during seven or eight years. The clearwater lakes were characterised by a high abundance of submerged macrophytes, high piscivorous:planktivorous fish ratios, high zooplankton:phytoplankton ratios and low chlorophyll a during summer. Submerged macrophytes were almost absent from the turbid lakes, planktivorous fish dominated, the zooplankton:phytoplankton ratio was low and summer chlorophyll a was high. While total phosphorus (TP) was almost constant throughout the season in the clearwater lakes, TP was substantially higher during summer in the turbid lakes reflecting high internal loading. In the clearwater lakes, mean summer chlorophyll a was only 45-51% of winter values, while summer chlorophyll a was 118-259% of winter values in the turbid lakes. Our data suggests that zooplankton, by grazing on phytoplankton, play a major role in maintaining clearwater conditions in eutrophic macrophyte-rich lakes, in particular during summer. In addition, results from a multiple regression on data from 37 lakes and the analyses of the seasonal dynamics in suspended solids provide some evidence that zooplankton grazing diminishes concentrations of detritus and inorganic suspended solids either directly by grazing or more indirectly. Using information also from literature, we argue that the role of zooplankton grazing for water clarity in macrophyte-rich lakes may increase from mesotrophic to eutrophic lakes.