I

sl{ / PLANKTONIC COMMUNITIES: PELAGIAL BACTERIA

timeters (Davis. 1968. 1973: Wetzel. el a1.,79721. This fine-grained particulate matter is
swept into the water column where it is subiect to additional degradation by bacteria
under aerobic conditions. In calcareous lakes. as exemplified in Figure 77-13, calcium
carbonale forms a maior constituent of the seslon during the periods of circulation.
Resuspension of surface sediments occurs at irregular intervals throughout the year in
nonstratified lakes.
Horizontal difierential sedimenta*tion of particulate matter has been demonstrated
in studies of the movement, deposition. and redeposition of pollen grains of different
sizes and densities by Davis and Brubaker (1973). Larger particles with rapid sinking
rates are deposited fairly evenly onto ihe sediments throughout the lake basin. Smaller-
sized particles with slower sinking rales in wdter are kept in suspension in the turbulent
waters of the epilimnion. are carried acrcss tnc lake in wind-induced waler currents,
and are deposited preferentially onto littoral dbdiments. Later. particularly during fall
circulation. these f,ne particles are resuspended in the littoral areas. mixed in the lake
water. and are redeposited over the entire ba-sin. Larger particles of organic matter or
seston are not extensively resuspended and transported from the littoral to the center
of the lake, although they are frequentll' shifted about in the. littoral region (Wetzel, et
al., LSZZ1. The result is a size-seiective sorting and a lransport of the finest-sized parti-
cles from.the littoral. which sediment inlo the quiescent w'aters below the melalimnion
(cf. also Sebesty6n, 1949). This resuspension and redistribution of organic matter has
important consequenc6s for the rates of deccmposition of particulate organic malter
deposited in littoral areas from either littoral production or allochthonous matter
brought to the lake basin {cf. chapters 78,2a. and ::).

Ptonktonic Bocterlol Productlvlty

Comprehensive evaluations of planktonic bacterial productivitl'. in sufficient detail

for functional analyses of carbon flux. are exceedingly few. At best. the siluation is one
of fragments of information on flux rates within bacterial communities. and man1, esti-
mates of variable accuracy on metabolic rates. N4ost of the estimates of bacterial pro-
ductivity will be discussed in Chapter 23 on the organic carbon c1'cling in aquatic eco-
systems. A few stalements are appropriate here. hirwever. in relation to the discussion
on the distribution of pelagial bacteria and their growth on specific organic cornpounds.

CHEMOSYNTHESIS
Microbial production by chemosynthesis occurs to a marked extent in layers hav-
ing contact with anaerobic zones of an aquatic s-vstem. especiall-v in boundary layers
between anaerobic and aerobic zones. As indicated in earlier discussions of cycling of
several elements, the anaerobic processes of decomposition of organic matter provide
reduced inorganic compounds that serve as energy substrates for the chemoautotrophic i

bacteria. Chemos-vnthetic production. a type of secondary production. becomes signif- :

icant primarily in steep gradient of redox potential {Sorokin. 1964a. 1365, 19701. Outside .
of these layers. chemosynthesis is very low in relation to toial bacteria! production
fRomanenko, 1966: fordan and Likens. 1980)- Chemosl'nthesis b1' bacteria is normally