Mechanical cutting of submersed macrophytes: Immediate effects on littoral water chemistry and metabolism

Immediate consequences of mechanical cutting of submersed macrophytes may include suspension of sediments and Aufwuchs and exudation from damaged tissues which can potentially alter water chemistry and metabolism. In the densely vegetated littoral of a shallow hardwater eutrophic lake, effects of cutting on concentrations of seston, dissolved organic carbon, biological oxygen demand of dissolved organic carbon, and particulate, dissolved unreactive, and dissolved reactive phosphorus were short lived or insignificant. In shallow areas, community photosynthesis and respiration were decreased by macrophyte removal. Use of this management approach on the limited basis tested does not appear to cause substantial detriment to the littoral environment.