Nitrogen deposition and warming  – effects on phytoplankton nutrient limitation in subarctic lakes

• The aim of this study was to predict the combined effects of enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition and warming on phytoplankton development in high latitude and mountain lakes. Consequently, we assessed, in a series of enclosureexperiments, how lake water nutrient stoichiometry and phytoplankton nutrient limitation varied over the growingseason in 11 lakes situated along an altitudinal/climate gradient with low N-deposition (<1 kg N ha1yr1) in northern subarctic Sweden. Short-term bioassay experiments with N- and P-additions revealed that phytoplankton inhigh-alpine lakes were more prone to P-limitation, and with decreasing altitude became increasingly N- andNP-colimited. Nutrient limitation was additionally most obvious in midsummer. There was also a strong positivecorrelation between phytoplankton growth and water temperature in the bioassays. Although excess nutrients wereavailable in spring and autumn, on these occasions growth was likely constrained by low water temperatures. Theseresults imply that enhanced N-deposition over the Swedish mountain areas will, with the exception of high-alpinelakes, enhance biomass and drive phytoplankton from N- to P-limitation. However, if not accompanied by warming,N-input from deposition will stimulate limited phytoplankton growth due to low water temperatures during largeparts of the growing season. Direct effects of warming, allowing increased metabolic rates and an extension of thegrowing season, seem equally crucial to synergistically enhance phytoplankton development in these lakes.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Nitrogen

phosphorus

atmospheric deposition

water temperature

growing season

chlorophyll

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