Fertilization of an Oligotrophic Lake with a Deep Chlorophyll Maximum: Predicting the Effect on Primary Productivity

We investigated how epilimnetic fertilization would affect chlorophyll levels and light penetration of oligotrophic sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) lakes and how the resulting self-shading would affect primary production of the prominent deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM) of the lakes. Epilimnetic nutrient additions to large mesocosms (330 m3) in Redfish Lake, Idaho, increased levels of primary productivity and chlorophyll a but decreased Secchi depths and light available in the metalimnion and hypolimnion. Redfish Lake and other Sawtooth Valley (Idaho) lakes had DCM in which the mean chlorophyll a peaks were 240-1000% of mean epilimnetic chlorophyll a concentrations. The DCM existed at low light levels and accounted for 36-72% of the lakes\u27 primary production. Simulations using photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) curves demonstrated that fertilization would increase predicted water column primary production by 75-101%. Most of this increase occurred in the epilimnion, with only a slight decrease occurring in the DCM as the result of increased shading