New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Primary production in Lakes Rotorua, Rerewhakaaitu, and Rotoiti, North Island. New Zealand. 1973-78

A. M. R. Burnet

and

Judith M. Davis

Fisheries Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, P.O. Box 19062, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract Primary production was measured by the ¹⁴C method for AVi years in Lake Rotorua (1974-78) and for 1 year in Lakes Rerewhakaaitu and Rotoiti. The results from laboratory incubations of water samples were combined with chlorophyll a, extinction coefficient, and insolation data using a computer model developed by Fee. The average annual daily production rates of carbon were: Lake Rotorua, 2.3 g.m~².day~' (range 0.70-5.5 g.m-\day-'); Lake Rerewhakaaitu, 2.2 g.m~².day~' (range 0.66-4.00 g.m-².day-'); and Lake Rotoiti, 1.1 g.m-².day-' (range 0.32-2.46 g.m~².day~')- The seasonal patterns of production are different for each lake. Lake Rotorua has maxima in summer or early autumn, Lake Rerewhakaaitu in autumn, and Lake Rotoiti in winter. In Lake Rotorua there was considerable variation from year to year in the timing and intensity of the maxima. The year-to-year differences between quarterly and between the annual production totals are small considering the experimental errors involved in the study of large lakes.

Keywords Lake Rotorua; Lake Rerewhakaaitu; Lake Rotoiti; tracers; primary production; oxygen depletion; freshwater lakes.

New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 1980, 14(3): 229-236
Received 17 January 1980; revision received 10 April 1980 Fisheries Research Division Publication 404

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (677K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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