1.
Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A., et al.
(författare)
Towards critical white ice conditions in lakes under global warming.
2022
Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
The quality of lake ice is of uppermost importance for ice safety and under-ice ecology, but its temporal and spatial variability is largely unknown. Here we conducted a coordinated lake ice quality sampling campaign across the Northern Hemisphere during one of the warmest winters since 1880 and show that lake ice during 2020/2021 commonly consisted of unstable white ice, at times contributing up to 100% to the total ice thickness. We observed that white ice increased over the winter season, becoming thickest and constituting the largest proportion of the ice layer towards the end of the ice cover season when fatal winter drownings occur most often and light limits the growth and reproduction of primary producers. We attribute the dominance of white ice before ice-off to air temperatures varying around the freezing point, a condition which occurs more frequently during warmer winters. Thus, under continued global warming, the prevalence of white ice is likely to substantially increase during the critical period before ice-off, for which we adjusted commonly used equations for human ice safety and light transmittance through ice.
2.
Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A., et al.
(författare)
Selective decay of terrestrial organic carbon during transport from land to sea
2012
Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 18:1, s. 349-355
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Numerous studies have estimated carbon exchanges at the landatmosphere interface, more recently also including estimates at the freshwateratmosphere interface. Less attention has been paid to lateral carbon fluxes, in particular to the fate of terrestrial carbon during transport from soils via surface waters to the sea. Using extensive datasets on soil, lake and river mouth chemistry of the boreal/hemiboreal region we determined organic carbon (OC) stocks of the O horizon from catchment soils, annual OC transports through more than 700 lakes (OClakeflux) and the total annual OC transport at Sweden's 53 river mouths (OCseaflux). We show here that a minimum of 0.030.87% yr(-1) of the OC soil stocks need to be exported to lakes in order to sustain the annual OClakeflux. Across Sweden we estimated a total OClakeflux of similar to 2.9 Mtonne yr(-1), which corresponds to similar to 10% of Sweden's total terrestrial net ecosystem production, and it is over 50% higher than the total OCseaflux. The OC loss during transport to the sea follows a simple exponential decay with an OC half-life of similar to 12 years. Water colour, a proxy often used for dissolved humic matter, is similarly lost exponentially but about twice as fast as OC. Thus, we found a selective loss of the coloured portion of soil-derived OC during its transport through inland waters, prior to being discharged into the sea. The selective loss is water residence time dependent, resulting in that the faster the water flows through the landscape the less OC and colour is lost. We conclude that increases in runoff will result in less efficient losses of OC, and particularly of colour, if the time for OC transformations in the landscape shortens. Consequently, OC reaching the sea is likely to become more coloured, and less processed, which can have far-reaching effects on biogeochemical cycles.
3.
Adrian, Rita, et al.
(författare)
Lakes as sentinels of climate change
2009
Ingår i: Limnology and Oceanography. - : Wiley. - 0024-3590 .- 1939-5590. ; 54:6(2), s. 2283-2297
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
While there is a general sense that lakes can act as sentinels of climate change, their efficacy has not been thoroughly analyzed. We identified the key response variables within a lake that act as indicators of the effects of climate change on both the lake and the catchment. These variables reflect a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological responses to climate. However, the efficacy of the different indicators is affected by regional response to climate change, characteristics of the catchment, and lake mixing regimes. Thus, particular indicators or combinations of indicators are more effective for different lake types and geographic regions. The extraction of climate signals can be further complicated by the influence of other environmental changes, such as eutrophication or acidification, and the equivalent reverse phenomena, in addition to other land-use influences. In many cases, however, confounding factors can be addressed through analytical tools such as detrending or filtering. Lakes are effective sentinels for climate change because they are sensitive to climate, respond rapidly to change, and integrate information about changes in the catchment.
4.
Creed, Irena F., et al.
(författare)
Global change-driven effects on dissolved organic matter composition : Implications for food webs of northern lakes
2018
Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 24:8, s. 3692-3714
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat) abstract
Northern ecosystems are experiencing some of the most dramatic impacts of global change on Earth. Rising temperatures, hydrological intensification, changes in atmospheric acid deposition and associated acidification recovery, and changes in vegetative cover are resulting in fundamental changes in terrestrial-aquatic biogeochemical linkages. The effects of global change are readily observed in alterations in the supply of dissolved organic matter (DOM)-the messenger between terrestrial and lake ecosystems-with potentially profound effects on the structure and function of lakes. Northern terrestrial ecosystems contain substantial stores of organic matter and filter or funnel DOM, affecting the timing and magnitude of DOM delivery to surface waters. This terrestrial DOM is processed in streams, rivers, and lakes, ultimately shifting its composition, stoichiometry, and bioavailability. Here, we explore the potential consequences of these global change-driven effects for lake food webs at northern latitudes. Notably, we provide evidence that increased allochthonous DOM supply to lakes is overwhelming increased autochthonous DOM supply that potentially results from earlier ice-out and a longer growing season. Furthermore, we assess the potential implications of this shift for the nutritional quality of autotrophs in terms of their stoichiometry, fatty acid composition, toxin production, and methylmercury concentration, and therefore, contaminant transfer through the food web. We conclude that global change in northern regions leads not only to reduced primary productivity but also to nutritionally poorer lake food webs, with discernible consequences for the trophic web to fish and humans.
5.
Wallin, Marcus, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
Carbon dioxide and methane emissions of Swedish low-order streams : a national estimate and lessons learnt from more than a decade of observations
2018
Ingår i: Limnology and Oceanography Letters. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2378-2242. ; 3:3, s. 156-167
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Low-order streams are suggested to dominate the atmospheric CO2 source of all inland waters. Yet, many large-scale stream estimates suffer from methods not designed for gas emission determination and rarely include other greenhouse gases such as CH4. Here, we present a compilation of directly measured CO2 and CH4 concentration data from Swedish low-order streams (> 1600 observations across > 500 streams) covering large climatological and land-use gradients. These data were combined with an empirically derived gas transfer model and the characteristics of a ca. 400,000 km stream network covering the entire country. The total stream CO2 and CH4 emission corresponded to 2.7 Tg C yr(-1) (95% confidence interval: 2.0-3.7) of which the CH4 accounted for 0.7% (0.02 Tg C yr(-1)). The study highlights the importance of low-order streams, as well as the critical need to better represent variability in emissions and stream areal extent to constrain future stream C emission estimates.
6.
Engel, Fabian
(författare)
The role of freshwater phytoplankton in the global carbon cycle
2020
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Water flowing through the landscape transports chemical substances including carbon. Along the way from upland soils to the ocean, carbon is transformed from organic carbon into inorganic carbon and vice versa. One such carbon transformation process is the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the water phase by phytoplankton. For some inland waters, it has been shown that phytoplankton can significantly reduce the amount of CO2 (measured as partial pressure of CO2, pCO2) in the water phase. However, the importance of this process for carbon budgets on a regional and global scale is not yet known.The aim of this thesis was to investigate the importance of CO2 uptake by phytoplankton for CO2 dynamics in lakes and rivers on a regional and global scale, and to explain its spatial variation. Conceptual models and the analysis of monitoring data together with statistical modeling and meta-analyses were used.Combining a conceptual lake model for carbon transformation with a mass balance approach showed that gross primary production in lakes is an important flux in the global dissolved inorganic carbon budget of inland waters. In a next step, a simple proxy to assess the phytoplankton influence on the pCO2 in individual lakes and rivers was tested and applied on a regional and global scale. The analysis showed that a significant pCO2 reduction by phytoplankton could be expected in about 20% to 40% of lakes in the temperate and sub-/tropical region. In 9% of the Swedish lakes analyzed, the proxy indicated a significant pCO2 reduction by phytoplankton during summer. The pCO2 can also be significantly reduced by phytoplankton in rivers, and such a reduction might occur in about 20% of the temperate rivers on Earth. In a temperate river that was studied in more detail, consecutive impoundments were found to stimulate phytoplankton production, which might be one explanation for a greater phytoplankton influence on the pCO2 in such systems.Taken together, these results suggest that CO2 uptake by phytoplankton is a significant flux in the global CO2 budget of inland waters. The importance of CO2 uptake by phytoplankton for CO2 dynamics in individual lakes and rivers was predictable by easily available water physico-chemical and biological variables and varied widely in relation to environmental conditions.
7.
Jenny, Jean Philippe, et al.
(författare)
Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: Rapid degradation of the world's large lakes
2020
Ingår i: Journal of Great Lakes Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0380-1330. ; 46:4, s. 686-702
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat) abstract
© 2020 The Authors Large lakes of the world are habitats for diverse species, including endemic taxa, and are valuable resources that provide humanity with many ecosystem services. They are also sentinels of global and local change, and recent studies in limnology and paleolimnology have demonstrated disturbing evidence of their collective degradation in terms of depletion of resources (water and food), rapid warming and loss of ice, destruction of habitats and ecosystems, loss of species, and accelerating pollution. Large lakes are particularly exposed to anthropogenic and climatic stressors. The Second Warning to Humanity provides a framework to assess the dangers now threatening the world's large lake ecosystems and to evaluate pathways of sustainable development that are more respectful of their ongoing provision of services. Here we review current and emerging threats to the large lakes of the world, including iconic examples of lake management failures and successes, from which we identify priorities and approaches for future conservation efforts. The review underscores the extent of lake resource degradation, which is a result of cumulative perturbation through time by long-term human impacts combined with other emerging stressors. Decades of degradation of large lakes have resulted in major challenges for restoration and management and a legacy of ecological and economic costs for future generations. Large lakes will require more intense conservation efforts in a warmer, increasingly populated world to achieve sustainable, high-quality waters. This Warning to Humanity is also an opportunity to highlight the value of a long-term lake observatory network to monitor and report on environmental changes in large lake ecosystems.
8.
Nydahl, Anna C., et al.
(författare)
Groundwater carbon within a boreal catchment : spatiotemporal variability of a hidden aquatic carbon pool
2020
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. - 2169-8953 .- 2169-8961. ; 125:1
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Groundwater is an essential resource providing water for societies and sustaining surface waters. Although groundwater at intermediate depth could be highly influential at regulating lake and river surface water chemistry, studies quantifying organic and inorganic carbon (C) species in intermediate depth groundwater are still rare. Here, we quantified dissolved and gaseous C species in the groundwater of a boreal catchment at 3- to 20-m depth. We found that the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO(2)), the stable carbon isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (delta C-13-DIC), and pH showed a dependency with depth. Along the depth profile, a negative relationship was observed between pCO(2) and delta C-13-DIC and between pCO(2) and pH. We attribute the negative pCO(2)-pH relationship along the depth gradient to increased silicate weathering and decreased soil respiration. Silicate weathering consumes carbon dioxide (CO2) and release base cations, leading to increased pH and decreased pCO(2). We observed a positive relationship between delta C-13-DIC and depth, potentially due to diffusion-related fractionation in addition to isotopic discrimination during soil respiration. Soil CO2 may diffuse downward, resulting in a fractionation of the delta C-13-DIC. Additionally, the dissolved organic carbon at greater depth may be recalcitrant consisting of old degraded material with a greater fraction of the heavier C isotope. Our study provides increased knowledge about the C biogeochemistry of groundwater at intermediate depth, which is important since these waters likely contribute to the widespread CO2 oversaturation in boreal surface waters.
9.
Engel, Fabian, et al.
(författare)
Environmental conditions for phytoplankton influenced carbon dynamics in boreal lakes
2019
Ingår i: Aquatic Sciences. - : SPRINGER BASEL AG. - 1015-1621 .- 1420-9055. ; 81:2
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
The partial pressure of CO2 (pCO(2)) in lake water, and thus CO2 emissions from lakes are controlled by hydrologic inorganic carbon inputs into lakes, and in-lake carbon transformation (mainly organic carbon mineralization and CO2 uptake by primary producers). In boreal lakes, CO2 uptake by phytoplankton is often considered to be of minor importance. At present, however, it is not known in which and how many boreal lakes phytoplankton CO2 uptake has a sizeable influence on the lake water pCO(2). Using water physico-chemical and phytoplankton data from 126 widely spread Swedish lakes from 1992 to 2012, we found that pCO(2) was negatively related to phytoplankton carbon in lakes in which the phytoplankton share in TOC (C-phyto:TOC ratio) exceeded 5%. Total phosphorus concentration (TP) was the strongest predictor of spatial variation in the C-phyto:TOC ratio, where C-phyto:TOC ratios>5% occurred in lakes with TP>30 mu gl(-1). These lakes were located in the hemi-boreal zone of central and southern Sweden. We conclude that during summer, phytoplankton CO2 uptake can reduce the pCO(2) not only in warm eutrophic lakes, but also in relatively nutrient poor hemi-boreal lakes.
10.
Hintz, William D., et al.
(författare)
Current water quality guidelines across North America and Europe do not protect lakes from salinization
2022
Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 119:9
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Human-induced salinization caused by the use of road deicing salts, agricultural practices, mining operations, and climate change is a major threat to the biodiversity and functioning of freshwater ecosystems. Yet, it is unclear if freshwater ecosystems are protected from salinization by current water quality guidelines. Leveraging an experimental network of land-based and in-lake mesocosms across North America and Europe, we tested how salinization—indicated as elevated chloride (Cl−) concentration—will affect lake food webs and if two of the lowest Cl− thresholds found globally are sufficient to protect these food webs. Our results indicated that salinization will cause substantial zooplankton mortality at the lowest Cl− thresholds established in Canada (120 mg Cl−/L) and the United States (230 mg Cl−/L) and throughout Europe where Cl− thresholds are generally higher. For instance, at 73% of our study sites, Cl− concentrations that caused a ≥50% reduction in cladoceran abundance were at or below Cl− thresholds in Canada, in the United States, and throughout Europe. Similar trends occurred for copepod and rotifer zooplankton. The loss of zooplankton triggered a cascading effect causing an increase in phytoplankton biomass at 47% of study sites. Such changes in lake food webs could alter nutrient cycling and water clarity and trigger declines in fish production. Current Cl− thresholds across North America and Europe clearly do not adequately protect lake food webs. Water quality guidelines should be developed where they do not exist, and there is an urgent need to reassess existing guidelines to protect lake ecosystems from human-induced salinization.
