Attached algae play a minor role in conceptual and empirical models of lake ecosystem function but paradoxically form the energetic base of food webs that support a wide variety of fishes. To explore the apparent mismatch between perceived limits on contributions of periphyton to whole‐lake primary production and its importance to consumers, we modeled the contribution of periphyton to whole‐ecosystem primary production across...

Characterizing dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition remains a major unresolved problem in aquatic ecology and is one of the key impediments to developing a good understanding of DOM production and consumption by heterotrophic bacteria. Fluorescence spectroscopy has been proposed as a promising method for characterizing DOM, but few links have been demonstrated between DOM fluorescence and DOM composition or the processes...

The relationships between long‐term (~115‐year) phosphorus and sediment accumulation and submerged macrophyte biomass were determined both within a submerged macrophyte bed and among beds in Lake Memphremagog, Quebec, Canada. Strong relationships between present submerged macrophyte biomass and littoral‐zone sediment and phosphorus accumulation rates both within and among macrophyte beds yielded simple models for estimating lo...

Although there are a number of single system and regional studies on the importance of picophytoplankton (PP; 0.2–2 µm), there has been little effort to quantify their importance on a larger scale and to integrate marine and freshwater studies. We developed empirical models from data in the literature to assess the absolute and relative importance of PP in marine and freshwater. The PP biomass (chlorophyll a [Chl a]) increases...

This study quantifies the role of lake morphometry and submerged macrophyte beds on the accumulation of sediments in the littoral zone. Stable Pb, a historical marker of lacustrine sediments in southern Quebec, was used to date the sediments (∼110 yr) and to calculate three long‐term sediment accumulation rates (SARs) in Lake Memphremagog (located in Quebec and Vermont). The anthropogenic Pb burden in the littoral zone of Lake...

Organic matter mineralization rates were measured by the accumulation of DIC + CH 4 in the water overlying intact cores taken from littoral and protimdal sediments of nine Quebec lakes. The variability in areal carbon mineralization is much greater within lakes than among lakes varying in trophic richness. Organic matter mineralization in littoral sediments is more variable and, on average, threefold higher than in the profund...