Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:33:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FabianaOA.pdf: 1147219 bytes, checksum: 82a575e2220e5c6ece53b3d6ec73aede (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-06 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The increasing of pollution in aquatic ecosystems in the last decades has caused an expansion of eutrophication and loss of water quality for human consumption. The increase of frequency and intensity of cyanobacteria blooms have been recognized as a major problem connected to water quality and eutrophication. The knowledge of environmental factors controlling these blooms is a key step towards the management for recovering aquatic ecosystems from eutrophic conditions. Primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems is dependent on light and nutrients availability. In the present work we evaluated the relative importance of the concentration of major nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, and light for phytoplankton growth in the main water reservoir of Rio Grande do Norte State, named Engenheiro Armando Ribeiro Gon?alves (EARG), which is an eutrophic system, dominated by potentially toxic cyanobacteria populations. Limitation of phytoplankton growth was evaluated through bioassays using differential enrichment of nutrients (N and/or P) under two light conditions (low light and high light) and monthly monitoring of chlorophyll-a and nutrients (total nitrogen and phosphorus) concentrations, and water transparency (Secchi depth) at the pelagic region. Our results confirm that EARG reservoir is an eutrophic system with a low water quality. Results of bioassays on the growth of phytoplankton limitation (N or P) were conflicting with the results predicted by the TN:TP ratios, which indicates that these ratios were not a good indicator of algal growth limitation. Nitrogen was the limiting nutrient, considering both frequency and magnitude. Light and hidrology affected phytoplankton response to nutrient enrichment. The extreme eutrophic conditions of this reservoir, dominated by cyanobacteria blooms, demand urgent managing strategies in order to guarantee the multiple uses for this system, including water supply for human population. Although nitrogen is the limiting nutrient, an effective management program must focus on the reduction of both phosphorus and nitrogen input / O aumento da polui??o nos ecossistemas aqu?ticos nas ultimas d?cadas tem causado uma expans?o da eutrofiza??o e perda da qualidade da ?gua para o consumo humano. O aumento da freq??ncia e intensidade de flora??es de cianobact?rias tem sido reconhecido com o principal problema ligado a eutrofiza??o e qualidade da ?gua. O conhecimento dos fatores ambientais que controlam essas flora??es ? um passo fundamental para a gest?o de recupera??o de ecossistemas aqu?ticos eutrofizados. A produtividade em ecossistemas aqu?ticos ? dependente da disponibilidade de luz e nutrientes. No presente trabalho, n?s avaliamos a import?ncia relativa da concentra??o dos principais nutrientes (nitrog?nio e f?sforo) e da luz para o crescimento fitoplanct?nico no principal reservat?rio do estado do Rio Grande do Norte, o reservat?rio Engenheiro Armando Ribeiro Gon?alves (EARG), que ? um sistema eutrofizado, dominado por cianobact?rias potencialmente t?xicas. A limita??o do crescimento fitoplanct?nico foi avaliada atrav?s de bioensaios usando enriquecimento diferencial de nutrientes (N e/ou P) sob duas condi??es de luz (baixa e alta luz) e monitoramento mensal das concentra??es de nutrientes (nitrog?nio e f?sforo totais), clorofila a e transpar?ncia da ?gua (profundidade de Secchi) na regi?o pel?gica. Nossos resultados confirmaram que o reservat?rio EARG ? um sistema eutr?fico com baixa qualidade da ?gua. Os resultados dos bioensaios sobre a limita??o do crescimento fitoplanct?nico foram contradit?rios com os resultados preditos pelas raz?es NT:PT, o que indica que essas raz?es n?o s?o um bom indicador da limita??o do crescimento. O nitrog?nio foi o nutriente limitante, tanto em freq??ncia quanto em magnitude. A luz e o regime hidrol?gico afetaram a resposta do fitopl?ncton ao enriquecimento com nutrientes. As condi??es eutr?ficas deste reservat?rio, dominado por flora??es de cianobact?rias, demanda estrat?gias de manejo a fim de garantir os usos m?ltiplos neste sistema, incluindo o abastecimento de ?gua para o consumo humano. Embora o nitrog?nio seja o nutriente limitante, um programa de manejo efetivo dever? focar sobre a redu??o da entrada de f?sforo e nitrog?nio