Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• GOPHEN, M

Titel

Lake Kinneret (Israel) ecosystem : Long-term instability or resiliency?

Ist Teil von

• Water, air and soil pollution, 2000-10, Vol.123 (1-4), p.323-335

Ort / Verlag

Dordrecht: Springer

Erscheinungsjahr

2000

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

SpringerLink (Online service)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The Kinneret ecosystem has undergone significant man-made modifications. These include, among others: construction of the south dam (1932); drying of Hula Lake and swamps (1950s); salty springs diversion (1964); lake water salinity decline from 395 (1961) to 210 ppm chlorid; deepening of the Jordan River near Bnot-Yaacov bridge (1971) with consequent high loads of suspended matter; National Water Carrier (NWC) operation (1964); sewage removal and fishpond restriction in the catchment; implementation of the Hula Project (1994-1998); introduction of native and exotic fishes; an amplitude of water level fluctuations of 4.8 m. Natural fluctuations occurred as well: heavy floods with high nutrient loads in 1968/69 and 1991/92 and droughts in 1973, 1989-1991 and 1998-1999; 4.6 m water level fluctuations; low temperatures (12.3°C) and fish kill in 1971/72 and 1991/92; no mixing period in 1984; low (1975, 1996-1997) and high biomass of Peridinium (1994, 1998); N^sub 2^-fixing cyanobacterium bloom (1994, 1995); high stock of Lavnun (Acanthobrama) fishes (1990s); zooplankton biomass decline (1969-1993) and increase afterwards. Although man made changes and natural environmental changes were significant, the lake ecosystem did not deviate from the level of resilient fluctuations and the classification of long-term instability in Lake Kinneret is probably an overestimation. In this paper I use long-term (31 years) distribution data of plankton, nutrients, and water level in Lake Kinneret to distinguish between resiliency and instability.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]