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The mean annual biomass of planktonic bacteria showed large variations both within and between lakes. The lowest bacterial biomass was found in acidified lakes (7.8–12.1 μg C · 1−1), and tended to increase with increasing water colour (up to 44.1 μg C · 1−1). The highest recorded bacterial biomass was 138 μg C · 1−1. The mean annual bacterial biomass equalled 23–45% of the algal biomass. Zooplankton biomass was high, compared to algal biomass (40–50%). Multiple regression analysis of 10 variables showed a strong positive correlation between bacterial biomass and humic content (r= 0.74, P < 0.001), while other parameters, except pH, showed no correlation. The observation thus strongly supports the role of humic compounds in aquatic secondary production.
Dag O. Hessen (1985) studied this question.