Nutrients and Phytoplankton Biomass in 22 Irish Turloughs Turloughs are depressions in karst areas that flood seasonally, mostly

by groundwater. The fact that turloughs exist as water bodies mainly in the winter and that they usually show fast water level fluctuations could imply that these are unproductive water bodies. We studied nutrient (phosphorus and nitrogen) and chlorophyll a variations during a flooding season in 22 turloughs and found quite the contrary. Algal biomass in the turloughs studied was similar to or higher than that found in permanent lakes. High chlorophyll a levels were measured even at the beginning stages of flooding or during winter, suggesting good adaptation of aquatic primary producers to the dynamic nature of turlough ecosystems. Nitrogen exhibited a similar seasonal pattern in all turloughs, with an increase until midwinter and a decline since. This did not happen for phosphorus or chlorophyll a, both of which showed erratic patterns amongst turloughs. Phosphorus concentration was a good predictor of chlorophyll a, indicating that phosphorus is often an important limiting nutrient in turloughs. Furthermore, the regression found between phosphorus and chlorophyll a in most turloughs is similar to those found in permanent lakes in the same eco-region. We found indications that other factors, such as colour, may also contribute to algal biomass limitation. Further studies on the land use in turloughs and in their catchment areas and on the hydrology of the turloughs studied could help understand the variations found in nutrient and chlorophyll a levels between and within turloughs in time. Turloughs, chlorophyll, phosphorus, nitrogen, nutrient limitation, phytoplankton, trophic state