Effects of sodium and phosphate on growth of cyanobacteria

We conducted laboratory experiments to evaluate the effects of NaCl and phosphorus enrichments on natural phytoplankton assemblages from Lake Michigan in continuous-flow systems, at a dilution rate of 0.25 d⁻¹. The experiment was repeated four times, 1981–1982, using freshly-collected natural lakewater inocula and temperature regimes typical of near-surface waters at initiation (6, 12, 16 and 20°C), at two levels of PO₄−P (1–2 vs 91–92 μg l⁻¹) and of Na⁺ (3–4 vs 9–10 mg l⁻¹) each time. As a single factor, sodium chloride enrichments had no significant effect on growth rates or densities of cyanobacteria in cultures containing natural phytoplankton assemblages from Lake Michigan. However, filamentous cyanobacteria proliferated in the presence of elevated phosphorus concentrations, both with and without concurrent NaCl additions, particularly in warmer waters. Our laboratory results were consistent with the hypothesis that cyanobacteria are favored in phytoplankton of large lakes with low N:P ratios.