Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Charophytes in the estuarine Curonian Lagoon: Have the changes in diversity, abundance and distribution occurred since the late 1940s? Cover

Charophytes in the estuarine Curonian Lagoon: Have the changes in diversity, abundance and distribution occurred since the late 1940s?

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies
Volume 46 (2017): Issue 2 (June 2017)
By: Zofija Sinkevičienė,  Martynas Bučas,  Raimonda Ilginė,  Diana Vaičiūtė,  Marija Kataržytė and  Jolita Petkuvienė  
Open Access
|May 2017

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Geographical location of the study area and the distribution of recent (2014-2015) macrophyte sampling transects (samples were collected every ca. 0.25 m along the depth gradient from the coastline or reed stands down to the maximum colonization depth of macrophytes), sites locations (e.g. between the transects or within reed stands) and sampling locations of hydrophysical and chemical parameters in the estuarine part of the Curonian Lagoon
Geographical location of the study area and the distribution of recent (2014-2015) macrophyte sampling transects (samples were collected every ca. 0.25 m along the depth gradient from the coastline or reed stands down to the maximum colonization depth of macrophytes), sites locations (e.g. between the transects or within reed stands) and sampling locations of hydrophysical and chemical parameters in the estuarine part of the Curonian Lagoon

Figure 2

Examples of recent (2014-2015) abundance and depth distribution of macrophytes in the study transects (1-5) with charophytes in the northern part of the Curonian Lagoon
Examples of recent (2014-2015) abundance and depth distribution of macrophytes in the study transects (1-5) with charophytes in the northern part of the Curonian Lagoon

Figure 3

Recent (2014-2015) median ranges of depth distribution and abundance (Braun-Blanquet scale) of 5 charophyte species along the transects (locations are given in Fig. 2) in the Curonian Lagoon; empirical relationships obtained by linear interpolation
Recent (2014-2015) median ranges of depth distribution and abundance (Braun-Blanquet scale) of 5 charophyte species along the transects (locations are given in Fig. 2) in the Curonian Lagoon; empirical relationships obtained by linear interpolation

Figure 4

Recent (2014-2015) and previous (1949-1959, 1960-1980 and 1997-2007) distribution of charophyte species recorded in the Curonian Lagoon
Recent (2014-2015) and previous (1949-1959, 1960-1980 and 1997-2007) distribution of charophyte species recorded in the Curonian Lagoon

Figure 5

Statistics of mean salinity, Secchi depth and concentration of phosphates (PO4) in the northern part of the Curonian Lagoon in May-September in different periods: 1954-1957 (Jurevičius 1959), 1960-1972 (Vaitkevičienė, Vaitkevičius 1978), 1997-2007 (DMREPA) and 2014-2015 (this study and DMREPA). The midpoint of a boxplot is the median, the hinges are 25% and 75% quartiles, the whiskers show minimum and maximum values. N – the number of measurements in the period
Statistics of mean salinity, Secchi depth and concentration of phosphates (PO4) in the northern part of the Curonian Lagoon in May-September in different periods: 1954-1957 (Jurevičius 1959), 1960-1972 (Vaitkevičienė, Vaitkevičius 1978), 1997-2007 (DMREPA) and 2014-2015 (this study and DMREPA). The midpoint of a boxplot is the median, the hinges are 25% and 75% quartiles, the whiskers show minimum and maximum values. N – the number of measurements in the period

The maximum colonization depth (m) and occurrence of charophyte species recorded in different study periods

Species1949-19591960-19801997-20072014-2015
Chara aspera Willd.0.8H, R+R0.6H, R1.7
Chara contraria A. Braun ex Kütz.0.9H, R+R0.5H, R2.0
Nitellopsis obtusa (Desv.) J. Groves0.9H, R+R0.7H, R2.0
Chara globularis Thuill.0.9H, R+H, R0.4H, R0.1
Nitella mucronata (A. Braun) Miq.+H+H––
Chara vulgaris L.–+R+H–
Chara virgata Kütz.–+H, R––
Chara baltica (Hartman) Bruzelius––0.6H, R0.9
Chara canescens Loisel.––0.2H, R0.1
Tolypella nidifica (O. F. Müll.) A. Braun––0.1H, R1.2

Characteristics of the recent and historical macrophyte surveys in the Curonian Lagoon used for comparison analysis

Study periodSampling methodNumber of transects and sitesDepth range (m)Geographic extentReference
1949-1959six-toothed hook, inspection of fishing nets35 sites (26 – littoral part, 4 – middle part, 5 –relevés); 15 littoral sites in the recent study area0-4Entire lagoon (except the south-eastern part)Minkevičius, Pipinys 1959
1960-1980no datano datano dataEastern Lithuanian part along the Nemunas River Delta and the south-eastern Russian partTrainauskaitė 1978
1997-2007six-toothed hook22 transects and 13 sites (littoral part)0-2Lithuanian partPlokštienė 2002; Sinkevičienė 2004
2014-2015double-headed rake, snorkeling27 transects and 12 sites (littoral part)0-3Lithuanian partthis study
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ohs-2017-0019 | Journal eISSN: 1897-3191 | Journal ISSN: 1730-413X
Journal RSS Feed
Language: English
Page range: 186 - 198
Submitted on: Jul 20, 2016
Accepted on: Oct 21, 2016
Published on: May 31, 2017
Published by: University of Gdańsk
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
macrophytes,
Baltic Sea,
long-term changes,
eutrophication
Related subjects:
Chemistry,
Chemistry, other,
Geosciences,
Geosciences, other,
Life sciences,
Life sciences, other

© 2017 Zofija Sinkevičienė, Martynas Bučas, Raimonda Ilginė, Diana Vaičiūtė, Marija Kataržytė, Jolita Petkuvienė, published by University of Gdańsk
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Previous articleVolume 46 (2017): Issue 2 (June 2017)Next article