Patterns of ecosystem metabolism in the Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia with links to capture fisheries.

The Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia is a dynamic flood-pulsed ecosystem that annually increases its surface area from roughly 2,500 km(2) to over 12,500 km(2) driven by seasonal flooding from the Mekong River. This flooding is thought to structure many of the critical ecological processes, including aquatic primary and secondary productivity. The lake also has a large fishery that supports the livelihoods of nearly 2 million people. We used a state-space oxygen mass balance model and continuous dissolved oxygen measurements from four locations to provide the first estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) for the Tonle Sap. GPP averaged 4.1±2.3 g O2 m(-3) d(-1) with minimal differences among sites. There was a negative correlation between monthly GPP and lake level (r = 0.45) and positive correlation with turbidity (r = 0.65). ER averaged 24.9±20.0 g O2 m(-3) d(-1) but had greater than six-fold variation among sites and minimal seasonal change. Repeated hypoxia was observed at most sampling sites along with persistent net heterotrophy (GPP