Carbon partitioning in the food web of a high mountain lake: from bacteria to zooplankton

The organisms of the microbial loop in Lake Paione Superiore (LPS), a high mountain lake in the Italian Alpine region, were studied together with phytoplankton and zooplankton for three successive years. The biomass of bacteria, HNF (heterotrophic nanoflagellates), ciliates and phytoplankton, as mean carbon concentration in the three years, was 30 and 37 μg C l-1 near the surface (SUR) and the bottom (BOT) respectively. Under the ice-cover the mean biomass carbon decreased especially at the BOT, whereas at SUR the decrease was less evident due to the maintenance of higher phytoplankton biomass (mixotrophic flagellates). In LPS ~50% of the carbon was confined in bacteria, 20% in protozoa and 30% in phytoplankton. The ratio Autotrophs/Heterotrophs was lower than 1 (mean: 0,97 at SUR and 0,58 at BOT) thus indicating a system with a predominance of the heterotrophs. This might be the result of light inhibition of algal growth coupled to a production of dissolved carbon, utilized by bacteria. During late summer the peak of Daphnia longispina, the main component of the zooplankton of LPS, increased the carbon content in the lake to a total of 158 and 300 μg C l-1 in 1997 and 1998 respectively. At the late summer peaks, zooplankton represented from 78 to 89% of the total carbon of the pelagic communities. Furthermore, the presence of Daphnia could be responsible for a decrease in the biomass carbon of a variety of organisms (algae, protozoa and bacteria). It may be possible that this is an instance of zooplankton grazing on algae, protozoa and also bacteria, as Daphnia has very broad niches and may eat pico-, nanoplankton and small ciliates. In the oligotrophic LPS, a diet which also includes protozoa could give Daphnia a further chance of survival, as ciliates are an important source of fatty acids and sterols.