Does N₂ fixation meet the nitrogen requirements of heterocystous blue-green algae in shallow eutrophic lakes?

Phytoplankton net carbon uptake and nitrogen fixation were studied in two shallow, eutrophic lakes in South Sweden. Ranges of diurnal net carbon uptake were estimated by subtracting 24-h respiration rates corresponding to 5-20% of P _max, respectively, from daytime carbon uptake values. total nitrogen requirement of the phytoplankton assemblage was determined from the diurnal net carbon uptake, assuming a phytoplankton C:N ratio of 9.5:1. Nitrogen supplied by nitrogen fixation only occasionally corresponded to the demands of the total phytoplankton assemblage. When heterocystous algae made up a substantial proportion (≥10%) of the total phytoplankton biomass, nitrogen fixation could meet the requirements of heterocystous blue-green algae on c. 50% of the sampling occasions. Nitrogen deficiencies in heterocystous algae were most probably balanced by the simultaneous or sequential assimilation of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. It was concluded that uptake of ammonium or nitrate, regenerated from lake seston and sediment, is the main process by which growth of phytoplankton is maintained during summer in the lake ecosystems studied.