Comparison of in situ Estimates of ChlorophyllaObtained with Whatman GF/F and GF/C Glass-Fiber Filters in Mesotrophic to Hypereutrophic Lakes

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Abstract
In response to the recent attention given to picoplankton, many researches have switched from GF/C to GF/F glass-fiber filters for chlorophyll a (Chl a) analyses; GF/F filters have a smaller pore size and are more expensive than GF/C filters. In this study, Chl a was measured with both Whatman GF/F and GF/C glass-fiber filters on euphotic zone water from 28 mesotrophic to hypereutrophic lakes (Chl a ranged from 2 to 175 .mu.g .cntdot. L-1) in central Alberta [Canada]. The differences between paired Chl a estimates with the two grades of filter paper were remarkably small; there was no evidence that GF/F filters collected more Chl a than GF/C filters (P > 0.02). Hence there is no justification for switching from GF/C to GF/F filters for routine Chl a analyses on productive lakes.