THE SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE, OXYGEN, PLANKTON AND FISH DETERMINED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN LAKE KINNERET, ISRAEL

Temperature and concentrations of oxygen, phytoplankton, zooplankton a nd fish were measured simultaneously on the night of 28 February-1 Mar ch 1991, in Lake Kinneret, Israel. High concentrations of oxygen, up t o 19.9 mg l-1 (207% saturation), were recorded. The phytoplankton was dominated by the dinoflagellate Peridinium gatunense, which was horizo ntally and vertically unevenly distributed. We hypothesize that the ox ygen supersaturation was the result of a high standing stock of Peridi nium, combined with high irradiance input and mild wind-generated turb ulence. The relationship between the concentration of oxygen and Perid inium density was highly significant, both above the thermocline (nega tive correlation) and below the thermocline (positive correlation). Zo oplankton biomass was dominated by cladocerans and cyclopoid copepods. The spatial distribution of these groups was not correlated with othe r measured parameters. Rotifers and calanoid copepods were highly abun dant in the northern part of the lake, and significantly related to ox ygen concentrations. It is suggested that the distributions of rotifer s and calanoid copepods are affected by the Jordan River inflow, Fish abundance was not correlated with limnological parameters or other bio logical components. We conclude that the distribution of the dominant fish species was governed by factors other than those measured in this study.