Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T00:45:34.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Production of Larval Chironomidae in the Mud at Loch Leven, Kinross

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

W. Nigel Charles ,
Kenneth East ,
David Brown ,
Muriel C. Gray  and
Thomas D. Murray
W. Nigel Charles
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh and London.
Kenneth East
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh and London.
David Brown
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh and London.
Muriel C. Gray
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh and London.
Thomas D. Murray
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh and London.
Get access

Synopsis

The production of four dominant species of larval Chironomidae (Chironomus anthracinus, Glyptotendipes paripes, Polypedilum nubeculosum and Limnochironomus pulsus) was measured and compared between different sections of the mud zone covering a total area of 662 ha (50 per cent of the loch bed) from March 1971 to March 1972. The results showed that the performance of Chironomus was very similar throughout the area in respect to numbers, growth and production but it was more variable in other species. The mean annual dry weight production of Chironomus over the whole area was 26 g/m2 and the four species together raised this to 29 g/m2 (equivalent to 579 k J/m2). The numbers of Chironomus increased and Glyptotendipes decreased through the sampling period. Estimates of biomass are given for other larval Chironomidae present in the mud. The accuracy of the results is discussed, as well as the variations in the seasonal growth of larvae and the changing composition of the community; some tentative estimates are given of assimilation by larval Chironomidae. The methods used for analysing these data are described in an appendix.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 74 , 1974 , pp. 241 - 258
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References to Literature

Anderson, R. O., 1959. A modified floatation technique for sorting bottom fauna samples. Limnol. Oceanog., 4, 223–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bindloss, M. E., 1974. Phytoplankton production at Loch Leven, Kinross. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb. B, 74, 157–181.Google Scholar
Bryce, D., 1960. Studies on the larvae of the British Chironomidae (Diptera), with keys to the Chironominae and Tanypodinae. Trans. Soc. Br. Ent., 14, 19–62.Google Scholar
Bryce, D. and Hobart, A., 1972. The biology and identification of the larvae of the Chironomidae (Diptera). Entomologist's Gaz., 23, 175–217.Google Scholar
Chernovskii, A. A., 1949. Identification of larvae of the Midge family Tendipendidae. (English translation by Lees, E., 1961, N.L.L. Boston Spa.)Google Scholar
Coe, R. L., Freeman, P. and Mattingly, P. F., 1950. Handbk. Ident. Br. Insects, 9 (2), Diptera, Nematocera, 121–206. Lond: Roy. Ent. Soc.Google Scholar
Davies, B. R., 1974. The planktonic activity of larval Chironomidae in Loch Leven, Kinross. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., B, 74, 275–283.Google Scholar
Edmondson, W. T. and Winberg, G. G. (eds.), 1971. A manual of methods for the assessment of secondary productivity in fresh waters. I.B.P. Handb., 17, 358 pp.Google Scholar
Jonasson, P. M., 1955. The efficiency of sieving techniques for sampling bottom freshwater fauna. Oikos, 6, 183–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonasson, P. M., 1971. Ecology and production of the profundal benthos in relation to phytoplankton in Lake Esrom. Oikos, Suppl., 14.Google Scholar
Kajak, Z., 1967. Remarks on methods of investigating benthos production. Ekol. Pol., B, 131, 173–195.Google Scholar
Kajak, Z., Hillbricht-Ilkowska, A. and Pieczynska, E., 1972. The production processes in several Polish lakes. Proc. IBP-UNESCO Symp. on Productivity Problems of Freshwater, Kazimierz Dolny, 1970.Google Scholar
Maitland, P. S., Charles, W. N., Morgan, N. C., East, K. and Gray, M. C., 1972. Preliminary research on the production of Chironomidae in Loch Leven, Scotland. Proc. IBP-UNESCO Symp. on Productivity Problems of Freshwater, Kazimierz Dolny, 1970. 795–812.Google Scholar
Maitland, P. S. and Hudspith, P. M. G., 1974. The zoobenthos of Loch Leven, Kinross, and estimates of its production in the sandy littoral area during 1970 and 1971. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., B, 74, 219–239.Google Scholar
Mason, W. J., 1968. An Introduction to the Identification of Chironomid Larvae. Div. Pollut. Surveillance, F.W.P.C.A., U.S. Dept. of Interior.Google Scholar
McLusky, D. S. and McFarlane, A., 1974. The energy requirements of certain larval chironomid populations in Loch Leven, Kinross. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., B, 74, 259–264.Google ScholarPubMed
Morgan, N. C., 1972. Productivity studies at Loch Leven (a shallow nutrient rich lowland lake). Proc. IBP-UNESCO Symp. on Productivity Problems of Freshwater, Kazimierz Dolny, 1970, 183–205.Google Scholar
Mortimer, C. H., 1941. Exchange of dissolved substances between mud and water in lakes. J. Ecol., 29, 280–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slack, H. D., 1972. A rotary sieve for removing mud from bottom deposit samples. Freshwat. Biol., 2, 159–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, I. R., 1974. The structure and physical environment of Loch Leven, Scotland. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., B, 74, 81–100.Google Scholar
Sukhatme, P. V., 1954. Sampling Theory of Surveys with Applications. Ames: Iowa State Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Thorpe, J. E., 1974. Trout and perch populations at Loch Leven, Kinross. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., B, 74, 295–313.Google Scholar