Limnological Characteristics and Diatom Dominants in Lakes of Northeastern Poland
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors present several explanations on the impact of environmental factors on the development of diatom communities. They also indicate factors of environmental stress. What is missing from these considerations is global climate changes. The research was carried out in 2015-2017, during which the meteorological conditions in Central Europe were associated with extreme temperatures (including water temperature) and low precipitation throughout the year, including the snow-free winter seasons.
The conditions of hydrological drought may increase the concentration of various chemical compounds in the water, but also affect the rate of transformation of some compounds (e.g. nitrogen compounds). Small lakes located in the agricultural catchment may be particularly susceptible to such changes. Big lakes, in this case Lake Wigry, will be more resistant to such changes. The problem of global climate change should also be included in the discussion chapter.
Overall the work is well written. However, in a few places there were small errors that need to be corrected.
line 146 – conductivity is not a chemical but a physical parameter
Table 1. (line 101) Please use the abbreviations of the lake names and give explanations in the footer of the table
Table 1 "Physical, chemical and biological characteristic of studied lakes", should be Table 2. Here also please use abbreviations for lake names
line 167 – the description of Figure 3 lacks abbreviations of the names of lakes from group 1. and their explanations (i.e. SW, WAD, WYG, SIII)
Figure 7. The symbols G1, G2 and G3 appeared on the x axis, which denote subsequent groups, previously the groups were described only with numbers (1, 2, 3), please standardize
Figure 8. I suggest to arrange the order of the lakes as shown in the previous figures (according to the HCA and PCA analyzes). The graph clearly shows the different dominant species in the different groups of lakes. I propose to separate these groups on the chart with vertical lines and sign these groups with the appropriate numbers
line 260 - quoted by Siuda et al. (2011), there is no citation in the References list, please correct the citation to match the journal requirements
line 314 – convert MUL to M
- 363 – replace KR with K
All Latin names should be italicized.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your time, effort and precision you dedicated to providing feedback on our manuscript. We are truly grateful that your help gives us opportunity to improve our work and present better quality paper.
We incorporated all of your suggestions. Those changes are highlighted in the manuscript.
Below we provide a step-by-step response to the reviewers’ comments and concerns. All numbers refer to lines in the revised manuscript file with tracked changes.
1. The authors present several explanations on the impact of environmental factors on the development of diatom communities. They also indicate factors of environmental stress. What is missing from these considerations is global climate changes. The research was carried out in 2015-2017, during which the meteorological conditions in Central Europe were associated with extreme temperatures (including water temperature) and low precipitation throughout the year, including the snow-free winter seasons.
The conditions of hydrological drought may increase the concentration of various chemical compounds in the water, but also affect the rate of transformation of some compounds (e.g. nitrogen compounds). Small lakes located in the agricultural catchment may be particularly susceptible to such changes. Big lakes, in this case Lake Wigry, will be more resistant to such changes. The problem of global climate change should also be included in the discussion chapter.
We are really thankful for pointing this out. In lines 276-278, 298-299 – we provided note about elevated temperature and low rainfall in those years. In lines 45-48, 426-427, we added a comment on climate impact on diatoms.
2. Table 1. (line 101) Please use the abbreviations of the lake names and give explanations in the footer of the table
Lines 104-107 abbreviations provided. Abbreviations explained in lines 100-102 as suggested below.
3. Table 1 "Physical, chemical and biological characteristic of studied lakes", should be Table 2. Here also please use abbreviations for lake names
Lines 108-112 abbreviation provided. Abbreviations explained in lines 100-102 as suggested below.
4. line 146 – conductivity is not a chemical but a physical parameter
Lines 152-153 – title renamed as physical and chemical data to provide appropriate terminology.
5. line 167 – the description of Figure 3 lacks abbreviations of the names of lakes from group 1. and their explanations (i.e. SW, WAD, WYG, SIII)
lines 177-182 – added - SW, WYG, WAD and SIII. Deleted „ Lakes in the last group (harmonious with a low human impact on the environment):” Minor changes in figure description to facilitate understanding.
6. Figure 7. The symbols G1, G2 and G3 appeared on the x axis, which denote subsequent groups, previously the groups were described only with numbers (1, 2, 3), please standardize
Figure 7. symbols G1, G2, G3 changed to numbers 1,2,3. Figures standardized, more comfortable to analyze.
7. Figure 8. I suggest to arrange the order of the lakes as shown in the previous figures (according to the HCA and PCA analyzes). The graph clearly shows the different dominant species in the different groups of lakes. I propose to separate these groups on the chart with vertical lines and sign these groups with the appropriate numbers
Figure 8. rearranged – the order like in previous figures, separated with lines and signed with appropriate numbers for groups. The figure becomes easier to analyze.
8. line 260 - quoted by Siuda et al. (2011), there is no citation in the References list, please correct the citation to match the journal requirements
Siuda et al. is quoted in references as 43, the wrong year was changed to the appropriate number according to journal requirements.
9. line 314 – convert MUL to M
Mul replaced with M
10. 363 – replace KR with K
KR replaced with K
11. All latin names should be italicized
Latin names' format changed to italicized.
Additionally the references were updated to match journal requirement, some minor changes were provided (for example lines 5-7 some redundant informations were deleted) and one missing figure was added (fig 9)
Reviewer 2 Report
- There are two tables with the same number 1.
- There is no table with number 2 in the text.
- Why were these time periods selected for research? Why is June or August not considered?
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Please provide a justification for the sampling period for diatoms.
-
In our opinion, the conclusions should not contain references to tables and figures. It is better to write about this in the "discussion" section.
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Please sign the axes in Figure 8 and remove the inscription in bold letters above.
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The text and figure captions repeat the decoding of the abbreviated names of the lakes. In our opinion, one explanation of abbreviations is sufficient, which is given in Table 1 (2?). Further in the text, only abbreviations can be used
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We are really grateful for your valuable suggestions. Your time and effort dedicated to providing feedback on our manuscript gave us an opportunity to make our work more understandable and more coherent.
We incorporated all of your suggestions. Those changes are highlighted in the manuscript.
Below we provide a step-by-step response to the reviewers’ comments and concerns. All numbers refer to lines in the revised manuscript file with tracked changes.
1. There are two tables with the same number 1.
Changed by editor
2. There is no table with number 2 in the text.
Changed by editor
3. Why were these time periods selected for research? Why is June or August not considered?
Please provide a justification for the sampling period for diatoms.
We are really thankful for this suggestion. Justification is provided in lines 368-369. Now it is more understandable.
4. In our opinion, the conclusions should not contain references to tables and figures. It is better to write about this in the "discussion" section.
References are deleted - line 431, 432.
5. Please sign the axes in Figure 8 and remove the inscription in bold letters above.
Axes in figure 8 are signed, and the title is removed.
6. The text and figure captions repeat the decoding of the abbreviated names of the lakes. In our opinion, one explanation of abbreviations is sufficient, which is given in Table 1 (2?). Further in the text, only abbreviations can be used
Full names of lakes changed to abbreviation after explanation in lines: 100-102
Additionally, the references were updated to match journal requirement and one missing figure was added (fig 9). Some minor changes were provided, such as deleting redundant information in lines: 5-6. Everything was tracked.
