Soler-López, L.R. and Val-Merníz, N.A., 2022, Data for the Hydrologic and Water-Quality Characterization of Levittown Lake, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, April 2010 – June 2011: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9MC6JZ6.
The purpose of the in-situ incubation of two light-and-dark bottles is to determine dissolved oxygen concentrations and ultimately, net changes in the dissolved oxygen concentrations by comparing dissolved oxygen concentrations in light and dark bottles with the initial bottle (fixed to avoid oxygen saturation). The main objectives of the investigation is to establish baseline data of the physical, chemical, biological, and bacteriological conditions of the Levittown Lake to define its seasonal variability over a 15-month period. The study included the lake’s main water body, the lake’s inlet/outlet channel (Rio El Cocal), and the Caño El Hato drainage canal. The principal primary producers in aquatic ecosystems include phytoplankton, periphyton, and macrophytes. Of these, phytoplankton often synthesizes the most organic matter in aquatic systems, although periphyton and macrophytes add substantial amounts of organic matter. The light (translucent) and dark (nontranslucent) bottle method, which can be used to determine net changes in the concentration of DO for a given volume of water within a given time interval (Dodds, and Whiles, 2010), was used to estimate gross primary productivity in the lake. This technique was used to analyze net primary productivity by phytoplankton in the water column. In addition, two diel (24-hour) studies were conducted to determine the aquatic net community primary productivity, which differentiates between phytoplankton, periphyton, and macrophyte productivity (Cornell and Klarer, 2008). The productivity associated only with periphyton and macrophytes can therefore be calculated by subtracting phytoplankton net primary productivity from community net primary productivity. References: Dodds, W., and Whiles, M., 2010, Aquatic chemistry and factors controlling nutrient cycling—Redox and O2, chap. 12 of Freshwater ecology, concepts & environmental applications of limnology (2d ed): Elsevier, p. 302–305. Cornell, L.P., and Klarer, D.M., 2008, Patterns of dissolved oxygen, productivity and respiration in Old Woman Creek estuary, Erie County, Ohio during low and high water conditions: The Ohio Journal of Science, v. 108, no. 3, p. 31–43.
