PHYTOPLANKTON AND SUBMERGED MACROPHYTES IN THE AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS OF THE DANUBE DELTA DURING THE LAST DECADE

The dynamics are presented of the main primary producers in seven representative Danube Delta lakes. Generally, the primary productivity developed from the macrophyte-epiphyte complex towards the phytoplankton. Species changes occurred in the two main compartments with increasing relative abundance of colonial blue-green algae in the phytoplankton and in submerged macrophytes of species with a vertical growth strategy. These changes are linked to accelerated eutrophication of the lakes, with increased phosphorus loading and a reduction in N:P ratio.