Re: [APD] SAV and Plant Fest 2K6

[Thomas Barr <tcbiii at yahoo_com>]

> Tom said, in part, "Adding PO4 to a lake with plants(30% or
> more SAV) will
> NOT produce algae, it will produce more plants. Same for
> rivers with plants.
> . . ."
> 
> I think that the key question to be answered here is "What is
> meant by SAV?"
> Yes, it means "submersed aquatic vegetation", but 30% of what?
>  Of the total
> bottom of the body of water?  Of the total volume of the body
> of water?

Suface area of the bottom, the plants grow and fill in slowly
over time and take over. 
Some have tried to measure the SA volume, that's tough.
In argiculture, they use acres, or hectares for area as a rule. 
% volume would get tricky, but some have done it. Our state does
not moniter volume, just area. 
It takes a long time to established the SAV, but......once it's
there, it's pretty resilent and algae cannot gain a dominate
foothold, unless we come along and kill all the weeds, add so
much muck to the water that the light is blocked, they add Grass
carp etc. 
Folks don't like weeds, so then they kill them, then the whine
about the pea soup they now have in place of this.
The water is gin clear with the weeds, and you can see the bass,
fish etc.

Sadly, then it might take hundreds of years for the plants to
come back naturally to many of those systems once wiped out,
much like an old growth forest or other sensitive ecosystems. 

The springs in FL where full of the plants dating back to Ponce
de Leon's fountain of youth times in the 1500's according to
many references of Spanish writers......so these systems have
been stable for a very long time.......

To get an idea of what they are like, see this new issue of TAG
and look at the Springs in Brazil, we have the same thing here
in FL, the only difference is the plant spcies and fish species
are different, but most everything else is similar and Florida
is much easier to travel to for many here and the springs are
much easier to get to.

Speaking of Florida, I am likely going to do plant Fest 2K6,
this June there's an article in TFH on last year's Hurricane
fest, this year it'll be in the midpart of June, damn
hurricanes. The Marine one is the fun event.

Regards, 
Tom Barr




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