The sedimentary flux of phytoplankton in the south basin of Windermere

Abstract

Recoveries of planktonic algae from sediment traps placed near the bottom of Windermere are compared with areal expressions of the corresponding standing crops. Good, order‐of‐magnitude agreement was found between the annual fluxes and maximal standing crops of five species of diatoms and two genera of desmids. Trap recoveries of three colonial chlorophytes, three blue‐green algae, and a dinoflagellate were 1–3 orders smaller than the crop potential. The differences are attributed to specific differences in sinking behavior and in susceptibility to decomposition and consumption by animals. Algal remains recruited to the permanent sediments are dominated by diatoms, four species of which may together contribute between 0.6 and 10.5 mg dry wt · cm −2 yr −1 . Potentially, the heavy metals transported by these algae may account for the annual flux of Zn and Pb to the deep water sediments of Windermere.