Salt Pond

Salt Pond (70 to >160 ‰) is centrally located on the eastern coast. It contains a continuous, highly laminated, non-calcified cyanobacterial mat. The most conspicuous cyanobacterial genera include Microcoleus, Lyngbya, Oscillatoria, Aphanothece, Aphanocapsa, and Pleurocapsales. The cyanobacterial and associated microbial biomass is densely packed leading to rapid light extinction with depth. Mats have strong vertical biogeochemical gradients (O2, Eh) zonations (Paerl et al., 2000). A layer of anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (Chromatium, Rhodopseudomonas) is often visible. Unlike mats in Storr's Lake communities, Salt pond mats show no structural differentiation along the desiccation gradient. A noticeable phytoplankton community has never been observed in Salt Pond community, but brine shrimp are often very abundant.