1. |
- Cremona, Fabien, et al.
(author)
-
Numerical Exploration of the Planktonic to Benthic Primary Production Ratios in Lakes of the Baltic Sea Catchment
- 2016
-
In: Ecosystems (New York. Print). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-9840 .- 1435-0629. ; 19:8, s. 1386-1400
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Autotrophic structure refers to the partitioning of whole-ecosystem primary production between benthic and planktonic primary producers. Autotrophic structure remains poorly understood especially because of the paucity of estimates regarding benthic primary production. We used a conceptual model for numerically exploring the autotrophic structure of 13 hemiboreal lakes situated in the Baltic Sea catchment. We also used diel variations in primary production profiles to graphically evaluate levels of light and/or nutrient limitation in lakes. The input morphometric data, light extinction coefficients and dissolved carbon parameters were mostly obtained from in situ measurements. Results revealed that cross- and within-lake autotrophic structure varied greatly: one lake was clearly dominated by benthic production, and three lakes by phytoplankton production. In the rest, phytoplankton production was generally dominant but switch to benthic dominance was possible. The modelled primary production profiles varied according to lake water clarity and bathymetry. Our results clearly indicate that the relative contribution of benthic primary production to whole-lake primary production should be taken into account in studies about hemiboreal and boreal lakes.
|
|
2. |
- Hampton, Stephanie E., et al.
(author)
-
Ecology under lake ice
- 2017
-
In: Ecology Letters. - : Wiley. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 20:1, s. 98-111
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Winter conditions are rapidly changing in temperate ecosystems, particularly for those that experience periods of snow and ice cover. Relatively little is known of winter ecology in these systems, due to a historical research focus on summer ‘growing seasons’. We executed the first global quantitative synthesis on under-ice lake ecology, including 36 abiotic and biotic variables from 42 research groups and 101 lakes, examining seasonal differences and connections as well as how seasonal differences vary with geophysical factors. Plankton were more abundant under ice than expected; mean winter values were 43.2% of summer values for chlorophyll a, 15.8% of summer phytoplankton biovolume and 25.3% of summer zooplankton density. Dissolved nitrogen concentrations were typically higher during winter, and these differences were exaggerated in smaller lakes. Lake size also influenced winter-summer patterns for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), with higher winter DOC in smaller lakes. At coarse levels of taxonomic aggregation, phytoplankton and zooplankton community composition showed few systematic differences between seasons, although literature suggests that seasonal differences are frequently lake-specific, species-specific, or occur at the level of functional group. Within the subset of lakes that had longer time series, winter influenced the subsequent summer for some nutrient variables and zooplankton biomass.
|
|
3. |
- O’Reilly, Catherine M., et al.
(author)
-
Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe
- 2015
-
In: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 42:24
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this first worldwide synthesis of in situ and satellite-derived lake data, we find that lake summer surface water temperatures rose rapidly (global mean = 0.34°C decade−1) between 1985 and 2009. Our analyses show that surface water warming rates are dependent on combinations of climate and local characteristics, rather than just lake location, leading to the counterintuitive result that regional consistency in lake warming is the exception, rather than the rule. The most rapidly warming lakes are widely geographically distributed, and their warming is associated with interactions among different climatic factors—from seasonally ice-covered lakes in areas where temperature and solar radiation are increasing while cloud cover is diminishing (0.72°C decade−1) to ice-free lakes experiencing increases in air temperature and solar radiation (0.53°C decade−1). The pervasive and rapid warming observed here signals the urgent need to incorporate climate impacts into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts for lakes.
|
|
4. |
- Sharma, Sapna, et al.
(author)
-
A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985–2009
- 2015
-
In: Scientific Data. - : Macmillan Publishers Limited. - 2052-4463. ; 2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Global environmental change has influenced lake surface temperatures, a key driver of ecosystem structure and function. Recent studies have suggested significant warming of water temperatures in individual lakes across many different regions around the world. However, the spatial and temporal coherence associated with the magnitude of these trends remains unclear. Thus, a global data set of water temperature is required to understand and synthesize global, long-term trends in surface water temperatures of inland bodies of water. We assembled a database of summer lake surface temperatures for 291 lakes collected in situ and/or by satellites for the period 1985–2009. In addition, corresponding climatic drivers (air temperatures, solar radiation, and cloud cover) and geomorphometric characteristics (latitude, longitude, elevation, lake surface area, maximum depth, mean depth, and volume) that influence lake surface temperatures were compiled for each lake. This unique dataset offers an invaluable baseline perspective on global-scale lake thermal conditions as environmental change continues.
|
|
5. |
- Gsell, Alena Sonia, et al.
(author)
-
Evaluating early-warning indicators of critical transitions in natural aquatic ecosystems
- 2016
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424. ; 113:50, s. 8089-8095
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ecosystems can show sudden and persistent changes in state despite only incremental changes in drivers. Such critical transitions are difficult to predict, because the state of the system often shows little change before the transition. Early-warning indicators (EWIs) are hypothesized to signal the loss of system resilience and have been shown to precede critical transitions in theoretical models, paleo-climate time series, and in laboratory as well as whole lake experiments. The generalizability of EWIs for detecting critical transitions in empirical time series of natural aquatic ecosystems remains largely untested, however. Here we assessed four commonly used EWIs on long-term datasets of five freshwater ecosystems that have experienced sudden, persistent transitions and for which the relevant ecological mechanisms and drivers are well understood. These case studies were categorized by three mechanisms that can generate critical transitions between alternative states: competition, trophic cascade, and intraguild predation. Although EWIs could be detected in most of the case studies, agreement among the four indicators was low. In some cases, EWIs were detected considerably ahead of the transition. Nonetheless, our results show that at present, EWIs do not provide reliable and consistent signals of impending critical transitions despite using some of the best routinely monitored freshwater ecosystems. Our analysis strongly suggests that a priori knowledge of the underlying mechanisms driving ecosystem transitions is necessary to identify relevant state variables for successfully monitoring EWIs.
|
|
6. |
- Yang, Yang, 1985-
(author)
-
Phytoplankton and Physical Disturbance : Seasonal dynamics in temperate Lake Erken, Sweden
- 2015
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Phytoplankton mirrors changes in the environment and plays an important role in biogeochemical processes. Phytoplankton dynamics is the outcome of both autogenic succession and external disturbances. This thesis focused on the seasonal variation of water column stability and its effects on phytoplankton, particularly considering the influence of mixing events on phytoplankton development. Lake Erken is a dimictic lake with weak and often interrupted summer stratification, which represents an intermediate case between a polymictic lake and a lake with strong summer stratification.There are two diatom phases annually. The spring bloom is caused by pioneer centric diatoms, and the autumn diatom phase is dominated by meroplanktonic diatoms induced by turnover. A summer Cyanobacteria bloom – mainly Gloeotrichia echinulata, depended on the length and stability of stratification.Winter and spring air temperature is found to play an important role in the annual succession of phytoplankton by initiating changes in ice/snow-cover and lake thermal stability and setting the basic status. Instead of starting from zero, the vernal phytoplankton piles up on the overwintering community, this trans-annual ecological memory influences both the composition and diversity and taxonomic distinctness of spring phytoplankton.Water column stability during summer in Lake Erken is mainly influenced by wind-induced turbulence and internal seiches. As thermal stratification develops from early until late summer, variations in stability and gradual deepening of the thermocline depth influence phytoplankton dynamics directly by changing its distribution, and also indirectly by altering the nutrient and light availability. A new disturbance index (DI) was defined to quantify environmental stability/disturbance and tested well to indicate phytoplankton equilibrium status in two summer stratification periods. The concept of species and functional groups was generally used in this study. However, a next generation sequencing based approach was also tested and proved to provide an excellent candidate for revealing distribution patterns of phytoplankton in inland waters.
|
|