A Carbon Flow Model of Epipelic Algal Productivity in Alaskan Tundra Ponds

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Abstract
Epipelic algal production in arctic tundra ponds (near Barrow, Alaska) was simulated by a mathematical model utilizihg experimental data and measured initial conditions. There was close agreement between the model's estimate of total annual production and an estimate calculated from measured data points (e.g., 9.4 g C°m(—2)°yr(—1) and 10.1 g C°m(—2)°yr(—1) for one pond in 1971). A hypothetical annual carbon budget for the epipelic algae, produced by summing all the hourly transfer rates from one summer simulation run, suggested that most of the surface algal production (97%) was lost by burial in the pond sediments and that only 15.1% was consumed by benthic grazer organisms in the top 5 cm. The model simulations also strongly suggest that much of the year—to—year variation in total epipelic production in these ponds can be explained solely by variations in temperature and light.