| 1. |
- Becares, Eloy, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of nutrients and fish on periphyton and plant biomass across a European latitudinal gradient
- 2008
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Ingår i: Aquatic Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1386-2588 .- 1573-5125. ; 42:4, s. 561-574
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Replicated, factorial mesocosm experiments were conducted across Europe to study the effects of nutrient enrichment and fish density on macrophytes and on periphyton chlorophyll a (chl-a) with regard to latitude. Periphyton chl-a densities and plant decline were significantly related to nutrient loading in all countries. Fish effects were significant in a few sites only, mostly because of their contribution to the nutrient pool. A saturation-response type curve in periphyton chl-a with nutrients was found, and northern lakes achieved higher densities than southern lakes. Nutrient concentration and phytoplankton chl-a necessary for a 50% plant reduction followed a latitudinal gradient. Total phosphorus values for 50% plant disappearance were similar from Sweden (0.27 mg L-1) to northern Spain (0.35 mg L-1), but with a sharp increase in southern Spain (0.9 mg L-1). Planktonic chl-a values for 50% plant reduction increased monotonically from Sweden (30 mu g L-1s) to Valencia (150 mu g L-1). Longer plant growing-season, higher light intensities and temperature, and strong water-level fluctuations characteristic of southern latitudes can lead to greater persistence of macrophyte biomass at higher turbidities and nutrient concentration than in northern lakes. Results support the evidence that latitudinal differences in the functioning of shallow lakes should be considered in lake management and conservation policies.
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| 2. |
- Bjerring, Rikke, et al.
(författare)
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Subfossil Cladocera in relation to contemporary environmental variables in 54 Pan-European lakes
- 2009
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Ingår i: Freshwater Biology. - : Wiley. - 0046-5070 .- 1365-2427. ; 54:11, s. 2401-2417
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- P>1. Changes in cladoceran subfossils in the surface sediments of 54 shallow lakes were studied along a European latitude gradient (36-68 degrees N). Multivariate methods, such as regression trees and ordination, were applied to explore the relationships between cladoceran taxa distribution and contemporary environmental variables, with special focus on the impact of climate. 2. Multivariate regression tree analysis showed distinct differences in cladoceran community structure and lake characteristics along the latitude gradient, identifying three groups: (i) northern lakes characterised by low annual mean temperature, conductivity, nutrient concentrations and fish abundance, (ii) southern, macrophyte rich, warm water lakes with high conductivity and high fish abundance and (iii) Mid-European lakes at intermediate latitudes with intermediate conductivities, trophic state and temperatures. 3. Large-sized, pelagic species dominated a group of seven northern lakes with low conductivity, where acid-tolerant species were also occasionally abundant. Small-sized, benthic-associated species dominated a group of five warm water lakes with high conductivity. Cladoceran communities generally showed low species-specific preferences for habitat and environmental conditions in the Mid-European group of lakes. Taxon richness was low in the southern-most, high-conductivity lakes as well as in the two northern-most sub-arctic lakes. 4. The proportion of cladoceran resting eggs relative to body shields was high in the northern lakes, and linearly (negatively) related to both temperature and Chl a, indicating that both cold climate (short growing season) and low food availability induce high ephippia production. 5. Latitude and, implicitly, temperature were strongly correlated with conductivity and nutrient concentrations, highlighting the difficulties of disentangling a direct climate signal from indirect effects of climate, such as changes in fish community structure and human-related impacts, when a latitude gradient is used as a climate proxy. Future studies should focus on the interrelationships between latitude and gradients in nutrient concentration and conductivity.
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| 3. |
- Blanco, Saul, et al.
(författare)
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Epiphytic Diatoms along Environmental Gradients in Western European Shallow Lakes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Clean - Soil, Air, Water. - : Wiley. - 1863-0650. ; 42:3, s. 229-235
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diatom-based assays have been successfully associated worldwide with the tropic status of lakes. Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between epiphytic diatoms and nutrient load in shallow lakes and wetlands. We examine the relative importance of environmental factors in explaining the structure of epiphytic diatom communities in a set of Western European shallow lakes. The effects of lake physical/chemical, morphometric, and geographical variables on diatom assemblages were tested using distance-based, canonical correspondence and regression analyses. Our results show that epiphytic diatom communities respond, mainly to physical/chemical variables, overriding the effects of lake depth, size, and location. The clustering of studied systems based along a total phosphorus concentration gradient concurs with previous classification of diatom taxa and nutrient state. Assessment of epiphytic diatoms provided a potential method for shallow lake classification.
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| 4. |
- Kornijów, Ryszard, et al.
(författare)
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Distribution patterns of epiphytic reed-associated macroinvertebrate communities across European shallow lakes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697. ; 760
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- So far, research on plant-associated macroinvertebrates, even if conducted on a large number of water bodies, has mostly focused on a relatively small area, permitting limited conclusions to be drawn regarding potentially broader geographic effects, including climate. Some recent studies have shown that the composition of epiphytic communities may differ considerably among climatic zones. To assess this phenomenon, we studied macroinvertebrates associated with the common reed Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud in 46 shallow lakes using a common protocol. The lakes, located in nine countries, covered almost the entire European latitudinal range (from <48°N to 61°N) and captured much of the variability in lake size and nutrient content in the region. A Poisson Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) showed the number of macroinvertebrate epiphytic taxa to be negatively associated with water conductivity and positively associated with medium ice cover duration (approximately 1 month). A Gamma GLMM showed a positive effect of chlorophyll a on the density of macroinvertebrates, and a significantly greater density in lakes located at the lowest and highest latitudes. Individual taxa responded differently to lake environmental conditions across climate zones. Chironomidae dominated in all climate zones, but their contribution to total density decreased with increasing latitude, with progressively greater proportions of Naidinae, Asellidae, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. Our study demonstrates that epiphytic macroinvertebrate fauna, even when analyzed at low taxonomic resolution, exhibits clear differences in diversity, relative abundance of individual taxa and total density, shaped both by geographic and anthropogenic variables. The results were discussed in the context of climate change. To our best knowledge this is the first study to examine epiphytic fauna carried out on a European scale.
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| 5. |
- Peeters, E, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing ecological quality of shallow lakes: Does knowledge of transparency suffice?
- 2009
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Ingår i: Basic and Applied Ecology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-0089 .- 1439-1791. ; 10, s. 89-96
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires that all aquatic ecosystems in their member states should reach ‘good’ ecological quality by 2015. To assess ecological quality, the WFD requires the definition of reference conditions using biological, physical and chemical indicators and the assignment of each water body to one of five quality classes using these indicators. Elaborate assessment schemes using large sets of variables are now being developed. Here we address the question whether all this is really needed and what the simplest assessment approach would be for the case of shallow lakes. We explore the relationships between the quality class assigned to a lake by experts in shallow lake ecology and a rich set of biological, physical, and chemical data. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were carried out based on data from 86 shallow lakes throughout Europe that were sampled in 2000 and/or 2001. Ecological quality of shallow lakes judged by experts was strongly correlated to physical and chemical variables associated with light regime and nutrients and much less to biological variables. Our regression model showed that ecological quality of this set of shallow lakes judged by experts could be predicted quite well from water transparency expressed as Secchi depth and that other variables did not contribute to it significantly. According to the WFD, lakes should at least have a ‘good’ ecological quality. Quality judged by experts and predicted quality were similar for 78% of the lakes with respect to meeting this standard. As a cautionary note we stress that Secchi depth alone will be a less useful indicator if effects of stressors other than eutrophication (e.g. lake acidification and toxic pollution) are to be considered.
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| 6. |
- Åhlén, Emma, 1975-
(författare)
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Fingerprints of planktivory : paleolimnological evidence of past fish community structure and dynamics
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Planktivorous fish affect the species composition, size and morphology of their zooplankton prey by size selective predation. Remains of cladocerans are deposited in the lake sediments and this microfossil community hence reflects the historical changes in the planktivore fish community. Most earlier work on quantitatively inferring past planktivory deals with ephippia (resting eggs) of Daphnia, however these remains are very scarce in northern Swedish lakes. In these lakes, often dominated by fish that are not obligate planktivores, such as perch (Perca fluviatilis), the individual size to a large degree determines the type of resource consumed. Therefore, in these lakes, the size distribution as well as the density of the fish community determines the overall planktivoryThis thesis deals with evaluating the use of Bosmina remains in the sediment as indicators of past planktivory. I developed a transfer function based on Bosmina remains to be used in oligotrophic lakes with omnivorous species to reconstruct past planktivory. I test the transfer function in a lake where the history is to a large extent known. Furthermore, in this thesis a novel quantitative measure of planktivore pressure, the PCC (Planktivore Community Capacity) was developed. It was also possible to compare the morphology measurements of carapace length and mucro length of contemporary Bosmina sampled in the lake, with the same measurements on microfossils of Bosmina sedimented during the corresponding time period. By using the resurrection approach this thesis also evaluates the use of Ceriodaphnia clones as indicators of micro-evolutionary responses to past planktivory.From the studies in this thesis I can draw some major conclusions; the morphological measurements carapace length and mucro length of Bosmina can be used to infer past planktivory in northern Swedish lakes. PCC has a higher explanatory power than CPUE in these lakes dominated by omnivorous fish. The morphology of the contemporary Bosmina corresponds well with the remains found in the sediment dating from the same time period. Both the contemporary and microfossil Bosmina changes in body size characteristics was in turn strongly related to PPC. Finally, the hatching of Ceriodaphnia ephippia is promising for studying past planktivory, both because of the high viability of the ephippia and the relationship between eye area and inferred PCC.
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