| 1. |
- Ask, Jenny, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Terrestrial organic matter and light penetration : Effects on bacterial and primary production in lakes
- 2009
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Ingår i: Limnology and Oceanography. - : American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc.. - 0024-3590 .- 1939-5590. ; 54:6, s. 2034-2040
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated productivity at the basal trophic level in 15 unproductive lakes in a gradient ranging from clear-water to brown-water (humic) lakes in northern Sweden. Primary production and bacterial production in benthic and pelagic habitats were measured to estimate the variation in energy mobilization from external energy sources (primary production plus bacterial production on allochthonous organic carbon) along the gradient. Clear-water lakes were dominated by autotrophic energy mobilization in the benthic habitat, whereas humic lakes were dominated by heterotrophic energy mobilization in the pelagic habitat. Whole-lake (benthic + pelagic) energy mobilization was negatively correlated to the light-extinction coefficient, which was determined by colored terrestrial organic matter in the lake water. Thus, variation in the concentration of terrestrial organic matter and its light-absorbing characteristics exerts strong control on the magnitude, as well as on the processes and pathways, of energy mobilization in unproductive lakes. We suggest that unproductive lakes in general are sensitive to input of terrestrial organic matter because of its effects on basal energy mobilization in both benthic and pelagic habitats.
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| 2. |
- Ask, Jenny, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Whole-lake estimates of carbon flux through algae and bacteria in benthic and pelagic habitats of clear-water lakes
- 2009
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Ingår i: Ecology. - Washington, DC, USA : Ecological Society of America. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 90:7, s. 1923-1932
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study quantified new biomass production of algae and bacteria in both benthic and pelagic habitats of clear-water lakes to contrast how carbon from the atmosphere and terrestrial sources regulates whole-lake metabolism. We studied four small unproductive lakes in subarctic northern Sweden during one summer season. The production of new biomass in both benthic and pelagic habitats was calculated as the sum of autotrophic production by algae and heterotrophic production by bacteria using allochthonous organic carbon (OC). Whole-lake production of new biomass was dominated by the benthic habitat (86% +/- 4% [mean +/- SD]) and by primary production (77% +/- 9%). Still, heterotrophic bacteria fueled by allochthonous OC constituted a significant portion of the new biomass production in both benthic (19% +/- 11%) and pelagic habitats (51% +/- 24%). In addition, overall net production (primary production minus respiration) was close to zero in the benthic habitats but highly negative (-163 +/- 81 mg C.m(-2).d(-1)) in pelagic regions of all lakes. We conclude (1) that allochthonous OC supported a significant part of total production of new biomass in both pelagic and benthic habitats, (2) that benthic habitats dominated the whole-lake production of new biomass, and (3) that respiration and net CO2 production dominated the carbon flux of the pelagic habitats and biomass production dominated the benthic carbon flux. Taken together, these findings suggest that previous investigations have greatly underestimated the productivity of clear-water lakes when benthic autotrophic production and metabolism of allochthonous OC have not been measured.
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| 3. |
- Ask, Per, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Competition mediated coexistence of invading intermediate consumer, ninespine stickleback, and a resident omnivorous top predator, Arctic char
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Climate change results in changes in the geographical distribution of species. Species invasion success into a new area is dependent both on the dispersal ability of species as well as the strength and identity of biotic interactions between resident and invading species. Coexistence in intraguild predation (IGP) systems depends on the relative strength of predation and competition interactions which in turn are temperature dependent. We investigated the effects of introducing an intermediate consumer, ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), into allopatric populations of the omnivorous top predator Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). Introductions were performed in lakes with different climate regimes, two tundra lakes and two forest lakes that differed in average summer temperatures with 1.4 ± 0.5 ºC (average ± 1SD). We found that sticklebacks were able to invade and increase in density in both tundra and forest lakes. Sticklebacks had strong negative effects on resource densities which also was reflected in a decreased growth of small char. Increasing stickleback density had a positive effect on growth of large adults and on the maximum size of char. We conclude that stickleback presence is not limited by biological interactions in these systems but rather by dispersion ability. We suggest that the size dependency in the response of char to the invasion of sticklebacks is fundamental for the successful invasion of sticklebacks, and that size dependent interactions including cannibalism play important roles for coexistence in natural IGP-systems.
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| 4. |
- Ask, Per, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature mediated effects on top consumer populations in subarctic lakes
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The effects of temperature on top consumer populations in subarctic lake communities were studied by contrasting two lake pairs in different climate regimes: one pair on the low alpine tundra and one pair in the subalpine birch forest. We measured zooplankton and macroinvertebrate biomasses over the season and estimated population density and size structure of the top consumer Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). Furthermore, we modelled char growth using literature data on temperature dependent search rate, handling time and metabolic demands. The forest lakes were warmer than the tundra lakes. Char in the forest lakes were larger and had a higher individual growth compared to char in the tundra lakes, while population density and biomasses of char were not different between the forest and the tundra lakes. There were no differences in macroinvertebrate and zooplankton resource levels available for char between lake pairs. Our modeling of char growth revealed that higher temperature increased growth of char at the observed resource densities, suggesting that the higher temperature in the forest lakes was primarily the cause of the higher growth of char in these lakes. We suggest that cannibalism in char may regulate char recruitment and thereby population density and biomass of char leading to effects of increasing temperature on consumer biomass and consumer individual growth different from what is expected in pure consumer-resource systems. Our results emphasize the importance of feedbacks within ecosystems when addressing effects of climate change and increasing temperature on lake communities.
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| 5. |
- Byström, Pär, et al.
(författare)
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Substitution of top predators : effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake
- 2007
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Ingår i: Freshwater Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. - 0046-5070 .- 1365-2427. ; 52:7, s. 1271–1280-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Invasions of top predators may have strong cascading effects in ecosystems affecting both prey species abundance and lower trophic levels. A recently discussed factor that may enhance species invasion is climate change and in this context, we studied the effects of an invasion of northern pike into a subarctic lake ecosystem formerly inhabited by the native top predator Arctic char and its prey fish, ninespined stickleback. 2. Our study demonstrated a strong change in fish community composition from a system with Arctic char as top predator and high densities of sticklebacks to a system with northern pike as top predator and very low densities of sticklebacks. A combination of both predation and competition from pike is the likely cause of the extinction of char. 3. The change in top predator species also cascaded down to primary consumers as both zooplankton and predator-sensitive macroinvertebrates increased in abundance. 4. Although the pike invasion coincided with increasing summer temperatures in the study area we have no conclusive evidence that the temperature increase is the causal mechanism behind the pike invasion. But still, our study provides possible effects of future pike invasions in mountain lakes related to climate change. We suggest that future pike invasions will have strong effects in lake ecosystems, both by replacing native top consumers and through cascading effects on lower trophic levels.
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| 6. |
- Byström, Pär, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Warming decrease fish population densities and biomass
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Temperature impact all biota and ecosystems through its direct effect on the vital rates of primary producers and consumers. Still, how these changes in rates translates through ecosystem feed backs to the population level of top consumers are poorly understood. Here, we studied effects of temperature increase (+ 3 ̊C during ice free season) on fish population dynamics in a replicated large scale pond ecosystem experiment over 3 years. Increased temperature had no significant effect on whole ecosystem gross primary production while top down effects of warming on intermediate consumers changed from negative to positive due to negative effects of warming on fish population abundance. Total fish density and biomass and abundance of both mature and old fish decreased with warming, while proportion of young fish increased, with warming. The effects of warming on fish population demographics were likely due to that temperature increased cohort competition and fish energy requirements relative to resource production. Our results suggest that global warming may increase competition, favor young individuals and overall decrease fish population densities and biomass.
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| 7. |
- Capo, Eric, et al.
(författare)
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Droplet digital PCR applied to environmental DNA, a promising method to estimate fish population abundance from humic-rich aquatic ecosystems
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental DNA. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2637-4943. ; 3:2, s. 343-352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measures of environmental DNA (eDNA) concentrations in water samples have the potential to be both a cost-efficient and a nondestructive method to estimate fish population abundance. However, the inherent temporal and spatial variability in abiotic and biotic conditions in aquatic systems have been suggested to be a major obstacle to determine relationships between fish eDNA concentrations and fish population abundance. Moreover, once water samples are collected, methodological biases are common, which introduces additional sources of variation to potential relationships between eDNA concentrations and fish population abundance. Here, we evaluate the performance of applying the droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method to estimate fish population abundance in experimental enclosures. Using large-scale enclosure ecosystems that contain populations of nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), we compared the concentrations of fish eDNA (COI mitochondrial region, 134 bp) obtained with the ddPCR method with high precision estimates of fish population abundance (i.e., number of individuals) and biomass. To evaluate the effects of contrasted concentrations of humic substances (potential PCR inhibitors) on the performance of ddPCR assays, we manipulated natural dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations (range 4–11 mg/L) in the enclosures. Additionally, water temperature (+2°C) was manipulated in half of the enclosures. Results showed positive relationships between eDNA concentration and fish abundance and biomass estimates although unexplained variation remained. Still and importantly, fish eDNA estimates from high DOC enclosures were not lowered by potential inhibitory effects with our procedure. Finally, water temperature (although only 2°C difference) was neither detected as a significant factor influencing fish eDNA estimates. Altogether, our work highlights that ddPCR-based eDNA is a promising method for future quantification of fish population abundance in natural systems.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Hamdan, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
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An experimental test of climate change effects in northern lakes : Increasing allochthonous organic matter and warming alters autumn primary production
- 2021
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Ingår i: Freshwater Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0046-5070 .- 1365-2427. ; 66:5, s. 815-825
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate changes are predicted to influence gross primary production (GPP) of lakes directly through warming and indirectly through increased loads of allochthonous coloured dissolved organic matter (cDOM) from surrounding landscapes. However, few studies have investigated this combined effect.Here we tested the effects of warming (elevated 3celcius) and cDOM input (three levels of humic river water addition) on GPP in autumn (2 months including open water and ice-covered periods) in experimental pond ecosystems.The cDOM input decreased whole-ecosystem GPP at natural temperature conditions mainly as a result of lower benthic GPP not fully counteracted by an increase in pelagic GPP, while warming increased whole-ecosystem GPP due to a positive response of mainly pelagic GPP at all levels of cDOM input.Warming delayed autumn ice cover formation by 2 weeks but did not affect light availability in the water column compared to ambient ice-covered treatments. Gross primary production during this period was still affected by warming and cDOM.The results stress the importance of accounting for multiple climate drivers and habitats when predicting lake GPP responses to climate change. We conclude that climate change may shift whole-ecosystem GPP through different responses of habitat-specific GPP to increasing cDOM inputs and warming.
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| 10. |
- Hamdan, Mohammed, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon dioxide limitation of benthic primary production in a boreal lake
- 2022
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Ingår i: Freshwater Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0046-5070 .- 1365-2427. ; 67:10, s. 1752-1760
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gross primary production (GPP) by benthic microalgae growing on soft sediments is an important contributor to lake productivity in many lakes world-wide. As benthic microalgae have access to nutrients in the sediment they have been regarded as primarily controlled by light, while the role of CO2 as a limiting factor for benthic GPP in lake ecosystems is largely unknown.In this study, we experimentally tested for CO2 limitation of benthic GPP by collecting littoral surface sediments, with associated benthic microalgae, from a typical boreal lake. Intact sediment cores were incubated at different depths (light conditions) after addition of dissolved inorganic (bicarbonate) or organic (DOC; glucose) carbon as direct and indirect sources of CO2, respectively.Benthic microalgal GPP was stimulated by both dissolved inorganic carbon and DOC additions at high, but not at low, light levels.This study shows that benthic microalgal GPP can be CO2-limited when light is not limiting and suggests that both direct (e.g., via groundwater inflow) and indirect (via mineralisation of DOC) CO2 supply can stimulate benthic GPP.
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