Sampling, Biomass Estimation and Counts of Freshwater Algae - Freshwater Algae: Identification, Enumeration and Use as Bioindicators - page 96

Table 2.10 Recent Studies: Biofilm and Periphyton Development on Exposed Surfaces.

Experiment Methods Reference

Inorganic substrata
Stream communities a Collection of epilithic diatoms from periphyton and

biofilm communities for water quality assessment

Kelly et al . (1995)

Algae grown on tiles inserted into experimental and
natural streams. Biomass assessed as dry weight.

Hill et al . (2008)

Algal biofilms grown on artificial plastic substrates.
Algal biomass assessed as chlorophyll- a

Jarvi et al . (2002)

Laboratory fluvarium Effect of substrate particle size on periphyton

development and phosphorus release

Gainswin et al . (2006)

Plant surfaces
Shallow eutrophic lake

Measurement of biomass and productivity of algae
attached to Myriophyllum

Jones (1984)

Shallow river Measurement of composition and abundance of

epiphytic algae on river mosses

Sahin and Ozdemir (2008)

Shallow lake Seasonal variation and vertical zonation of algae on

Phragmites stems

Muller (1999)

Commercial algal cultivation Identification of epiphytic filamentous red algae on the

cultivated red alga Kappaphycus

Vairappan (2006)

Oligotrophic lake - littoral
macrophytes

Determination of epiphytic algal biomass and
productivity on leaves of Potamogeton

Sheldon and Boylen
(1975)

Urban waterways Study of epiphytic algal diversity on four ecological

groups of vascular plants

Sosnovskaya et al . (2008)

Marine seagrass meadows Ecological role of epiphytic algae - high productivity

and preferential ingestion by invertebrates

Kitting et al . (1984)

Laboratory study Effect of epiphytic algae on the growth and production

of Potamogeton

Asaeda et al . (2004)

a Stream communities. See also references to the collection and evaluation of diatoms from biofilm/ periphyton communities for water
quality assessment in Sections 3.4.2-3.4.6.

Epiphytic communities

routine plankton samples collected from the adjacent
epilimnion.
The limited surface area of Cladophora did not
support dense periphyton communities, but sub-
merged surfaces of higher plants (macrophytes) can.
This is seen in Fig. 2.29, where the submerged
stems of Phragmites have an extensive community
of attached blue-green algae ( Phormidium ), stalked
( Gomphonema )andsessile( Rhoicosphenia )diatoms.
Unattached diatoms such as Nitzschia are also caught
up in the tangled filaments of the blue-green mat. The
large stand of Phragmites occurring around much of
the periphery of the lake supports an extensive com-
munity of these epiphytic algae and scrapings from

Attachment to other algae, such as Cladophora ,is
particularly important in parts of lakes and rivers
where macrophytes are absent. The example shown
in Fig. 2.28 was taken from an extensive growth
of Cladophora that was attached to a buoy in the
middle of a lake. The presence of Cladophora at
this site presented an opportunity for establishment
and extensive growth of attached diatoms, including
chains of Tabellaria and sessile Cocconeis . Although
these attached algae will show some detachment to
planktonic forms, with subsequent recolonisation of
fresh Cladophora filaments, they were not detected in