The structure of plankton community of the lake Kandry-Kul in the summer of 2010 and 2012

The results of the study of the structure and spatio-temporal distribution of plankton community (algae, bacteria and zooplankton, including crustaceans, rotifers and ciliates) of the oligomesotrophic lake Kandry-Kul (Rep. Bashkortostan) during the summer periods of 2010 and 2012 are presented. A significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity both of the absolute level of plankton components development and their ratio may indicate a structural transformation of the community during the study period. The total biomass of the plankton community in the surface water layer of lake Kandry-Kul varied from 18 to 1085 mg C/m3 during the study period. The contribution of microbial “loop” to the total biomass could reach 72% (in the plant-filled littoral), in average on the water body 18%. In the plankton community structure crustaceans dominated, forming 72-86% of the biomass in the pelagic zone and 51-52% in the littoral. Among the autotrophs Dinophyta dominated in the whole water body, in the intertidal zone they were joined by Chlorophyta, Bacilliariophyta and Cyanobacteria.. The average contribution of autotrophs to the biomass of pelagic plankton as a whole and its microbial part in 2012 increased approximately twice as compared to 2010. Interannual changes in the structure of plankton community of lake Kandry-Kul indicate slight tendency to decrease the differences between pelagic and littoral zones and to increase the productivity of the whole water body.