Impact of hypolimnetic aeration on zooplankton and phytoplankton populations

Abstract

The biological impact of hypolimnetic aeration was assessed using large, paired enclosures. During the spring, chlorophyll a concentrations and phytoplankton cell counts were much lower in the aerated, enclosure than they were in the non‐aerated experiment. During the summer, cell counts and biomasses were similar in both. The aerated and non‐aerated enclosures showed no major differences in zooplankton distributions, species composition or successional patterns. We conclude that hypolimnetic aeration can reduce the intensity of spring algal blooms without posing an environmental threat to phytoplankton and zooplankton populations.