role of light for fish-zooplankton-phytoplankton interactions during winter in shallow lakes - a climate change perspective

1. Variations in the light regime can affect the availability and quality of food for zooplankton grazers as well as their exposure to fish predation. In northern lakes light is particularly low in winter and, with increasing warming, the northern limit of some present-day plankton communities may move further north and the plankton will thus receive less winter light. 2. We followed the changes in the biomass and community structure of zooplankton and phytoplankton in a clear and a turbid shallow lake during winter (November-March) in enclosures both with and without fish and with four different light treatments (100%, 55%, 7% and