Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : A large data set (n = 154) of phytoplankton production and biomass in relation to physico-chemical environmental factors was collected from 1979 to 1986 in a recently created sand-pit lake (Paris suburbs). These data are well suited to interpret the oligotrophication observed along the 8 years period, characterized by a regular decrease in chlorophyll (from 16 to 4 μg l-1 as annual averages). A model describing the ecological functioning of the lake has been established. Biological processes related to phyto-, bacterio- and zooplankton as well as sediment-water interactions, are described within several submodels. Most of the parameters involved were determined by in situ measurements in this or similar environments The model provides a good simulation of observed data and confirms that the reduction of nutrient loading, resulting from the diversion - in 1981 - of a sewer previously discharging into the lake, was responsible for the oligotrophication of the system. The model allows to explore the response of planktonic compartments accross a gradient of nutrient loading. The role of hydrology is also tested. The systematic run of the model with and without zooplankton leads to a better understanding of top-down control. © 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers.