| Abstract This work reviews the limnology of the largest multi-use reservoir in NE Brazil, the Castanhão Reservoir in Ceará State, during 5 years of an extended drought when the reservoir’s volume decreased from 88% to about 30%. Major physical and chemical parameters of the water column, phytoplankton community, trophic state and sediment geochemistry were monitored, as well as the impact from extensive aquaculture. Water quality of the full reservoir was maintained due to hydrodynamics, which transport nutrients to the hypolimnion of a stratified water column, rendering an oligotrophic state to the reservoir, notwithstanding the large nutrient inputs from aquaculture and irrigated agriculture. However, with the extension of the drought period, the... |
