The effect of the discharge of thermal effluent from a power station on the primary productivity of an epiphytic algal community

Abstract

The discharge of thermal effluent from a power station has been shown to cause an increase in the standing crop size of the epiphyton associated with Scirpus validus. As a result the mean primary productivity, as measured by the 14C method, increased, primarily because of the large spring and summer maxima caused by Oedogonium and Spirogyra. Epithemia turgida, Mougeotia, Amphipleura pellucida, Nitzschia fonlicola and Rhopalodia gibba were apparently detrimentally affected by the thermal effluent. The algal populations in the non-heated areas did not appear to be photosynthesising at optimum temperatures, while the continuous flow of heated water appeared to cause a decrease in photosynthetic efficiency of the algae in the heated area. © 1975 The British Phycological Society.