Research Article Seasonality of Water Chemistry, Carbonate Production, and Biometric Features of Two Species of Chara in a Shallow

Copyright © 2014 Andrzej Pukacz et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The objective of this study was to analyze the temporal variability of biometric features and the carbonate production of two charophytes: Chara polyacantha A. Braun and Chara rudis A. Braun against the background of the physical-chemical properties of water. The investigation was carried out in a small, mid-forest Lake Jasne (western Poland). It is a polymictic, mesotrophic, hardwater ecosystemdominated by charophyte vegetation. Eachmonth, 10 individuals of each specieswere characterized in terms of morphometric features, fresh and dry weight, and the percentage of calcium carbonate. Additionally, physical-chemical parameters of the water were studied. The results of physical-chemical analyses indicated similar habitat conditions for both species. Despite smaller dry weightC. polyacanthawas characterized by greatermorphological variability and higher rates of growth and percentage share of calcium carbonate in dry mass than C. rudis. The percentage of calcium carbonates in dry mass did not differ significantly between the species and exceeded 60%, reaching the maximum (76 % in C. polyacantha) in July and August. For both species, distinct correlations between the structure of biomass and morphological features were found.The obtained results show the grea