In order to clarify the mechanism triggering the occurrence of a freshwater red tide of Uroglena americana that took place in Lake Biwa from May to June since 1977, a series of studies were undertaken in the northern basin of the lake.
In 1978, Dinobryon barvaricum, Uroglena americana, Closterium aciculare, Aphanothece clathrata, and Planktosphaeria gelatinosa occurred successively as dominant phytoplankton species from early May to late June. Mean concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), urea-N, phosphate-P, and silicate-Si at a representative station (St. 4) were 9.8, 1.2, 0.18, and 1.5 1μg at. 1
-1, respectively, and changes of these concentrations were not so large except for the increasing silicate-Si concentration on June 29. Concentrations of chlorophyll a were ca 2-40 mg m
-3, 50-340 mg m
-2 and these concentrations usually were high and variable near the surface, especially at the time of the occurrence of freshwater red tide. The results suggested that the effects of growth and accumulation of U. americana were large in the occurrence of freshwater red tide in the lake.
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