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

Zofija Sinkevičienė
Zofija Sinkevičienė
, 
Martynas Bučas
Martynas Bučas
, 
Raimonda Ilginė
Raimonda Ilginė
, 
Diana Vaičiūtė
Diana Vaičiūtė
, 
Marija Kataržytė
Marija Kataržytė
 and 
Jolita Petkuvienė
Jolita Petkuvienė
   | May 31, 2017
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Article Category: Original research paper
Published Online: May 31, 2017
Page range: 186 - 198
Received: Jul 20, 2016
Accepted: Oct 21, 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ohs-2017-0019
© Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland. All rights reserved.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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

Species 1949-1959 1960-1980 1997-2007 2014-2015
Chara aspera Willd. 0.8H, R +R 0.6H, R 1.7
Chara contraria A. Braun ex Kütz. 0.9H, R +R 0.5H, R 2.0
Nitellopsis obtusa (Desv.) J. Groves 0.9H, R +R 0.7H, R 2.0
Chara globularis Thuill. 0.9H, R +H, R 0.4H, R 0.1
Nitella mucronata (A. Braun) Miq. +H +H – –
Chara vulgaris L. – +R +H –
Chara virgata Kütz. – +H, R – –
Chara baltica (Hartman) Bruzelius – – 0.6H, R 0.9
Chara canescens Loisel. – – 0.2H, R 0.1
Tolypella nidifica (O. F. Müll.) A. Braun – – 0.1H, R 1.2

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

Study period Sampling method Number of transects and sites Depth range (m) Geographic extent Reference
1949-1959 six-toothed hook, inspection of fishing nets 35 sites (26 – littoral part, 4 – middle part, 5 –relevés); 15 littoral sites in the recent study area 0-4 Entire lagoon (except the south-eastern part) Minkevičius, Pipinys 1959
1960-1980 no data no data no data Eastern Lithuanian part along the Nemunas River Delta and the south-eastern Russian part Trainauskaitė 1978
1997-2007 six-toothed hook 22 transects and 13 sites (littoral part) 0-2 Lithuanian part Plokštienė 2002; Sinkevičienė 2004
2014-2015 double-headed rake, snorkeling 27 transects and 12 sites (littoral part) 0-3 Lithuanian part this study
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