Nutrient limitation of benthic algae in Lake Baikal, Russia

Recent nuisance blooms of filamentous benthic algae in Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's most biologically diverse lakes, are strongly driven by nutrient limitation. A study using nutrient-diffusing substrata (NDS) at 10 sites with varying shoreline land use revealed that periphyton biomass—measured as chlorophyll a—responded robustly to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment, showing serial limitation by these nutrients across all locations. Algal biomass was approximately 2–4 times higher on N- and N+P-amended substrata compared to unenriched controls. While periphyton biomass varied among sites, it was not significantly linked to shoreline land use. However, taxonomic composition differed notably between nutrient treatments and land-use categories, with the filamentous green alga Stigeoclonium tenue—associated with recent blooms—dominating on N- and N+P-amended substrata. These findings underscore the potential for improved nutrient controls to mitigate benthic algal blooms in Lake Baikal.

Ozersky, T., Volkova, E. A., Bondarenko, N. A., Timoshkin, O. A., Malnik, V. V., Domysheva, V. M., & Hampton, S. E. (2018). Nutrient limitation of benthic algae in Lake Baikal, Russia. Freshwater Science, 37(3), 472–482. https://doi.org/10.1086/699408