454 



the organic substances in solution and suspension in its waters, 

 substances which in the other localities run off with the de- 

 clining flood. During last stages of low water in Phelps Lake 

 there is usually some dying off of the fish and other aquatic 

 animals, possibly as a result of extreme temperatures, and the 

 lake becomes a favorite resort for fish-feeding water-fowl. The 

 organic substances thus released for immediate solution in the 

 water and utilization by the phytoplankton may be of sufficient 

 quantity to materially increase productioi,! at these low levels. 

 It may be that the more complete access of light in these very 

 shoal waters and the condensation caused by evaporation and 

 seepage as the lake dries up are contributory to the increased 

 plankton content, but none of these factors seems adequate to 

 explain the excessively large production found in the summer 

 and autumn in the shallow pools which form the remnant of 

 the lake. 



RELATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS TO PLANKTON PRODUCTION. 



The detailed discussion of the course of plankton produc- 

 tion as defined by volumetric data found in the preceding sec- 

 tion of this paper, has afforded many specific instances of the 

 relationship existing between the movement in production and 

 a number of factors in the environment. Prominent among 

 these are hydrographic conditions, temperature, light, chemic- 

 al conditions, vegetation, and the reproductive cycles of the 

 constituent organisms of the plankton. 



It is my purpose in the following pages to summarize, with 

 a few references to specific illustrations, the conclusions as to 

 general tendencies and the effect of these various factors upon 

 the course of production in the river and its backwaters. 



HYDROGRAPHIC CONDITIONS AND PLANKTON PRODUCTION. 



This is a comprehensive designation for a great variety 

 of major and minor influences which continually impinge upon 

 the plankton as a result of its environment in water. In the 

 case of the plankton of the Illinois River and its backwaters it 



