GUPACA Website
Articles and Papers
- A Management Plan for Gull Pond: Suzanne Grout Thomas,
former Wellfleet Beach Administrator (currently Director of Council on Aging in Wellfleet) - Responses of periphyton to artificial nutrient enrichment in freshwater kettle ponds of Cape Cod National Seashore: Stephen M. Smith & Krista D. LeeAbstractArtificial nutrient enrichment bioassays, in conjunction with sampling and analysis of surface water quality, were conducted in freshwater lakes (kettle ponds) of Cape Cod National Seashore (Massachusetts, USA) to ascertain the importance of nitrogen and phosphorus in regulating the growth of periphyton. Agar-based nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) were suspended at 0.5 m below the water surface in each pond. Algal biomass developing on NDSs after ~3 weeks of exposure was determined by relative amounts of photosynthetic pigment (spectrophotometric absorbance of chlorophyll a + phaeophyton). In both July and August of 2005, strong responses to additions of N+P and N alone were observed, while additions of P alone had no significant effect. These responses correspond well with low atomic ratios (mean = 8) of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to total phosphorus (TP) in ambient surface waters. The results suggest that conditions in the kettle ponds may develop whereby nitrogen is the primary limiting nutrient to algal productivity. While this may be a seasonal phenomenon, it has substantial implications for nutrient management in individual lakes and within the larger watershed.
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