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Dunkle MR, Bellmore JR, Fellman JB, Hood EW, Caudill CC. Loss of meltwater from glaciers and snowpack may increase synchrony of river habitats and resources in mountain watersheds. Ecology 2025; 106:e70023. [PMID: 40265335 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.70023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Revised: 08/15/2024] [Accepted: 09/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/24/2025]
Abstract
Stream biogeochemical regimes can vary over short distances in heterogenous landscapes. In many mountainous and high-latitude watersheds, streams fed by rain and groundwater sources coexist with streams dominated by meltwater from melting glaciers, permafrost, and seasonal snowpack. The distinct physicochemical regimes of meltwater and non-meltwater fed streams can promote spatial and temporal asynchronies in biotic and abiotic environmental conditions within watersheds that promote ecological heterogeneity and stability. However, fading cryospheric inputs to watersheds threaten to homogenize and synchronize stream habitats and resources. Here, we compared the physicochemical conditions and biomass dynamics of stream food webs (course particulate detritus, periphyton, aquatic invertebrates, and fish) over a meltwater season from April to November in four streams with different predominant sources of runoff, one glacier-fed, one snow-fed, one rain-fed, and one stream transitioning from glacier- and snow-fed to a rain-fed. We then analyzed the temporal correlation ("synchrony") of the abiotic and biotic conditions in these streams and evaluated how synchrony might change if certain stream types were lost. We found that glacier-, snow-, and rain-fed streams had distinct temperature, flow, and water chemistry regimes and asynchronous seasonal patterns of detritus, biofilm, aquatic invertebrate, and fish biomass. The strongest differences were associated with the divergence of abiotic and biotic conditions in the glacier-fed stream relative to the other stream types. Synchrony analysis suggests that the climate-driven loss of meltwater contributions from the cryosphere may synchronize the seasonal resource dynamics of meltwater and non-meltwater streams during the primary growing season within and across watersheds. Increasing synchrony of abiotic processes that drive instream production could reduce ecological stability within watersheds as seasonal conditions converge, especially for mobile consumers that will lose the opportunity to integrate resource waves across complex landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Dunkle
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA
| | - J Ryan Bellmore
- Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Juneau, Alaska, USA
| | - Jason B Fellman
- Environmental Science Program and Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, Alaska, USA
| | - Eran W Hood
- Environmental Science Program and Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, Alaska, USA
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2
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Stevens C, Frost PC, Pearce NJT, Kelley JD, Zastepa A, Xenopoulos MA. Limnological data derived from high frequency monitoring buoys are asynchronous in a large lake. PLoS One 2025; 20:e0314582. [PMID: 40048466 PMCID: PMC11884689 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 11/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2025] Open
Abstract
Autonomous data collection is rapidly becoming an integral part of water quality monitoring, particularly for agencies looking to manage and protect aquatic ecosystems. While beneficial, it is unclear how the collection of these data can be applied in spatially complex large lakes (e.g., Laurentian Great Lakes) given the spatial heterogeneity of the ecosystem. To address this potential shortcoming in large lakes, we assessed the synchrony of sensor variables between 10 pairs of static buoys in the western basin of Lake Erie (western basin surface area = 3,282 km2). Within western Lake Erie, water temperature was highly synchronous whereas dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll and phycocyanin were asynchronous. The extent of this asynchrony was higher with increasing spatial distance between buoys. We found that between pairs of static buoys, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity all experienced decreasing correlations with increasing distance. Our results show that if researchers intend to leverage these data to answer important questions and provide real-time applications related to environmental issues like harmful algal/cyanobacterial blooms, monitoring networks need to be designed carefully with spatial complexity in mind. While autonomous data collection has many benefits, the reliance on a single or limited network of anchored monitoring buoys in large lake ecosystems has a high probability of missing important spatial features of these systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Stevens
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
| | - Paul C. Frost
- Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - James D. Kelley
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
| | - Arthur Zastepa
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
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3
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Saros JE, Hazuková V, Northington RM, Huston GP, Lamb A, Birkel S, Pereira R, Bourdin G, Jiang B, McGowan S. Abrupt transformation of west Greenland lakes following compound climate extremes associated with atmospheric rivers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2025; 122:e2413855122. [PMID: 39835905 PMCID: PMC11789078 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2413855122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2024] [Accepted: 12/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2025] Open
Abstract
Arctic ecosystems are affected by accelerated warming as well as the intensification of the hydrologic cycle, yet understanding of the impacts of compound climate extremes (e.g., simultaneous extreme heat and rainfall) remains limited, despite their high potential to alter ecosystems. Here, we show that the aquatic ecosystems in historically arid west Greenland have undergone an ecological transformation after a series of atmospheric rivers that simultaneously produced record heat and rainfall hit the region in autumn 2022. We analyzed a unique, long-term lake dataset and found that compound climate extremes pushed Arctic lakes across a tipping point. As terrestrial-aquatic linkages were strengthened, lakes synchronously transformed from "blue" lakes with high transparency and low pelagic primary production to "brown" in less than a year, owing to a large influx of dissolved organic material and metals, with iron concentrations increasing by more than two orders of magnitude. The browning of lake waters reduced light penetration by 50% across lakes. The resulting light limitation altered plankton distributions and community structure, including a major reduction in prokaryotic diversity and an increase in algal groups capable of metabolizing organic carbon sources. As a result, lakes shifted from being summer carbon sinks to sources, with a >350% increase in carbon dioxide flux from lakes to the atmosphere. The remarkably rapid, coherent transformation of these Arctic ecosystems underscores the synergistic and unpredictable impacts of compound extreme events and the importance of their seasonal timing, especially in regions with negative moisture balance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmine E. Saros
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
- School of Biology & Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
| | - Václava Hazuková
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
- School of Biology & Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
| | | | - Grayson P. Huston
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
- School of Biology & Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
| | - Avery Lamb
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
- School of Biology & Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
| | - Sean Birkel
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
- Cooperative Extension, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469
| | - Ryan Pereira
- The Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University, EdinburghEH14 4AS, United Kingdom
| | | | - Binbin Jiang
- School of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou310000, People’s Republic of China
- Anji-Zhejiang University of Science and Technology Research Institute, Huzhou313000, People’s Republic of China
| | - Suzanne McGowan
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen6708 PB, The Netherlands
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Chan CN, Gushulak CAC, Leavitt PR, Logozzo LA, Finlay K, Bogard MJ. Experimental Ecosystem Eutrophication Causes Offsetting Effects on Emissions of CO 2, CH 4, and N 2O from Agricultural Reservoirs. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:7045-7055. [PMID: 38587903 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c07520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Despite decades of research and management efforts, eutrophication remains a persistent threat to inland waters. As nutrient pollution intensifies in the coming decades, the implications for aquatic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are poorly defined, particularly the responses of individual GHGs: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). The biogeochemical controls of each gas can differ, making it difficult to predict the overall effect of nutrient pollution on the net radiative forcing of aquatic ecosystems. Here, we induced eutrophication of small nitrogen (N)-limited agricultural reservoirs and measured changes in diffusive GHG emissions within a before-after-control-impact (BACI) study design during June to September 2021. Each gas exhibited a unique response to 300% increases in primary production, with a shift from an overall CO2 source to a sink, a modest increase in N2O flux, and, unexpectedly, no significant change in CH4 emissions. The lack of net directional change in CO2-equivalent GHG emissions in fertilized reservoirs during the summer contrasts findings from empirical studies of eutrophic lakes. Our findings illustrate the difficulty in extrapolating among different sized ecosystems and suggest that forecast 2-fold increases in agricultural N fertilization by 2050 may not result in consistently elevated GHG emissions during summer, at least from small reservoirs in continental grassland regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun Ngai Chan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
| | - Cale A C Gushulak
- Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
- Institute of Environmental Change and Society, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Peter R Leavitt
- Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
- Institute of Environmental Change and Society, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Laura A Logozzo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
| | - Kerri Finlay
- Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
- Institute of Environmental Change and Society, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Matthew J Bogard
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
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Duan T, Li Y. A multiscale analysis of the spatially heterogeneous relationships between non-point source pollution-related processes and their main drivers in Chaohu Lake watershed, China. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:86940-86956. [PMID: 37407861 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-28233-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
A better understanding of the relationships between non-point source (NPS) pollution-related processes and their drivers will help to develop scientific watershed management measures. Although various studies have explored the drivers' impact on NPS pollution-related processes, quantitative knowledge of the properties within these relationships is still needed. This study uses the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to produce three related processes of NPS pollution, quick flow (QF), nitrogen export (NE), and sediment export (SE), in the upstream watershed of Chaohu Lake, China. The spatial distributions of QF, NE, and SE and their responses to multiple natural-socioeconomic drivers at nine spatial scales (1 km2, 10 km2, 20 km2, 30 km2, 50 km2, 75 km2, 100 km2, 200 km2, and town) were compared. The results showed that the spatial scale has little impact on the spatial distributions of NPS pollution-related processes. Across the nine scales, the socioeconomic drivers related to agricultural activities, area proportions of cultivated land (cultivated) and paddy field (paddy), have dominant impacts on NE, while the topographical drivers, the connectivity index (IC) and slope, have dominant impacts on both SE and QF. The magnitudes of single and paired natural-socioeconomic drivers' impacts on NPS pollution-related processes increase logarithmically or linearly with increasing spatial scale, but they tend to reach a stable threshold at a certain coarse scale. Our results emphasized the necessity and importance of embracing spatial scale effects in watershed water environmental management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Duan
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yingxia Li
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China.
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6
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Rodrigues AC, Granzotti RV, dos Santos NCL, Bini LM, Severi W, Gomes LC. Interspecific variation in fish spatial synchrony relates to reproductive traits in a highly fragmented river. AUSTRAL ECOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Cantarute Rodrigues
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Departamento de Biologia (DBI), Centro de Ciências Biológicas (CCB) Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM) Maringá Brazil
| | - Rafaela Vendrametto Granzotti
- Programa DTI/CNPq, INCT em Ecologia, Evolução e Conservação da Biodiversidade (EECBio) Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG) Goiânia Brazil
| | | | - Luis Mauricio Bini
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB) Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG) Goiânia Brazil
| | - William Severi
- Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura, Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Recursos Pesqueiros e Aquicultura Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE) Recife Brazil
| | - Luiz Carlos Gomes
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Departamento de Biologia (DBI), Centro de Ciências Biológicas (CCB) Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM) Maringá Brazil
- Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Centro de Ciências Biológicas (CCB) Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM) Maringá Brazil
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7
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Ecosystem Recovery in Progress? Initial Nutrient and Phytoplankton Response to Nitrogen Reduction from Sewage Treatment Upgrade in the San Francisco Bay Delta. NITROGEN 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/nitrogen3040037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The San Francisco Bay Delta has been an estuary of low productivity, with causes hypothesized to relate to light limitation, grazing by invasive clams, and polluting levels of NH4+ discharge from a wastewater treatment plant. Suppression of phytoplankton NO3− uptake by NH4+ has been well documented, and thus this estuary may have experienced the counterintuitive effect of depressed productivity due to wastewater NH4+ enrichment. In 2021, a new wastewater treatment plant came online, with a ~75% reduction in nitrogen load, and within-plant nitrification, converting the discharge to NO3−. The expectation was that this change in nitrogen loading would support healthier phytoplankton production, particularly of diatoms. Here, responses of the post-upgrade Bay Delta phytoplankton were compared to five years of data collected pre-upgrade during the fall season. Indeed, increased chlorophyll a accumulation in the estuary was documented after the implementation of the upgraded wastewater treatment and photophysiological responses indicated comparatively less stress. Major differences in river flow were also observed due to drought conditions during the decade covered by this study. While short-term favorable effects were observed, understanding longer-term ecological feedback interactions that may follow from this major nutrient change under variable flow conditions will require more years of observations.
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8
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Chen X, McGowan S, Peng J, Zheng T, Bai X, Zeng L. Local and Regional Drivers of Environmental Changes in Two Subtropical Montane Ponds (Central China) Over the Last Two Centuries. Ecosystems 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-020-00535-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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Ewing HA, Weathers KC, Cottingham KL, Leavitt PR, Greer ML, Carey CC, Steele BG, Fiorillo AU, Sowles JP. “New” cyanobacterial blooms are not new: two centuries of lake production are related to ice cover and land use. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Holly A. Ewing
- Program in Environmental Studies Bates College Lewiston Maine04240USA
| | | | | | - Peter R. Leavitt
- Department of Biology University of Regina Regina SaskatchewanS4S 0A2Canada
- Institute for Global Food Security Queen’s University Belfast AntrimBT9 5DLUK
| | | | - Cayelan C. Carey
- Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia24061USA
| | - Bethel G. Steele
- Program in Environmental Studies Bates College Lewiston Maine04240USA
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Millbrook New York12545USA
| | | | - John P. Sowles
- Program in Environmental Studies Bates College Lewiston Maine04240USA
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10
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Gonzalez A, Germain RM, Srivastava DS, Filotas E, Dee LE, Gravel D, Thompson PL, Isbell F, Wang S, Kéfi S, Montoya J, Zelnik YR, Loreau M. Scaling-up biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:757-776. [PMID: 31997566 PMCID: PMC7497049 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A rich body of knowledge links biodiversity to ecosystem functioning (BEF), but it is primarily focused on small scales. We review the current theory and identify six expectations for scale dependence in the BEF relationship: (1) a nonlinear change in the slope of the BEF relationship with spatial scale; (2) a scale‐dependent relationship between ecosystem stability and spatial extent; (3) coexistence within and among sites will result in a positive BEF relationship at larger scales; (4) temporal autocorrelation in environmental variability affects species turnover and thus the change in BEF slope with scale; (5) connectivity in metacommunities generates nonlinear BEF and stability relationships by affecting population synchrony at local and regional scales; (6) spatial scaling in food web structure and diversity will generate scale dependence in ecosystem functioning. We suggest directions for synthesis that combine approaches in metaecosystem and metacommunity ecology and integrate cross‐scale feedbacks. Tests of this theory may combine remote sensing with a generation of networked experiments that assess effects at multiple scales. We also show how anthropogenic land cover change may alter the scaling of the BEF relationship. New research on the role of scale in BEF will guide policy linking the goals of managing biodiversity and ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gonzalez
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Rachel M Germain
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Diane S Srivastava
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Elise Filotas
- Center for Forest Research, Département Science et Technologie, Université du Québec, 5800 Saint-Denis, Téluq, Montreal, H2S 3L5, Canada
| | - Laura E Dee
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA
| | - Dominique Gravel
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l'Université, Sherbrooke, J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Patrick L Thompson
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Forest Isbell
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Shaopeng Wang
- Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Science, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China
| | - Sonia Kéfi
- ISEM, CNRS, Univ. Montpellier, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Jose Montoya
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, 2 route du CNRS, 09200, Moulis, France
| | - Yuval R Zelnik
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, 2 route du CNRS, 09200, Moulis, France
| | - Michel Loreau
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, 2 route du CNRS, 09200, Moulis, France
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11
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Soranno PA, Wagner T, Collins SM, Lapierre JF, Lottig NR, Oliver SK. Spatial and temporal variation of ecosystem properties at macroscales. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1587-1598. [PMID: 31347258 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2019] [Revised: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Although spatial and temporal variation in ecological properties has been well-studied, crucial knowledge gaps remain for studies conducted at macroscales and for ecosystem properties related to material and energy. We test four propositions of spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem properties within a macroscale (1000 km's) extent. We fit Bayesian hierarchical models to thousands of observations from over two decades to quantify four components of variation - spatial (local and regional) and temporal (local and coherent); and to model their drivers. We found strong support for three propositions: (1) spatial variation at local and regional scales are large and roughly equal, (2) annual temporal variation is mostly local rather than coherent, and, (3) spatial variation exceeds temporal variation. Our findings imply that predicting ecosystem responses to environmental changes at macroscales requires consideration of the dominant spatial signals at both local and regional scales that may overwhelm temporal signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia A Soranno
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan St. University, 480 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Tyler Wagner
- U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Pennsylvania State University, 402 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Sarah M Collins
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA
| | - Jean-Francois Lapierre
- Department of Biological Science, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7
| | - Noah R Lottig
- Trout Lake Research Station, Univ. of Wisconsin, 3110 Trout Lake Station Drive, Boulder Junction, WI, 54512, USA
| | - Samantha K Oliver
- Upper Midwest Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 8505 Research Way, Middleton, WI, 53562, USA
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12
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Lodi S, Machado-Velho LF, Carvalho P, Bini LM. Effects of connectivity and watercourse distance on temporal coherence patterns in a tropical reservoir. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2018; 190:566. [PMID: 30178164 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-018-6902-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Temporal coherence exists when environmental variables measured at different spatial locations vary synchronously over time. This is an important property to be analyzed because levels of coherence may indicate the role of regional and local processes in determining population and ecosystem dynamics. Also, studies on temporal coherence may guide the optimal allocation of sampling effort. We analyzed a dataset from a monitoring program undertaken at a tropical reservoir (Peixe Angical Reservoir, State of Tocantins, Brazil) to test three predictions. First, coherence should be a common pattern in the reservoir considering that sampling sites were distributed in a single water body and over a small spatial extent. Second, coherence was expected to decline with increasing watercourse distance and to increase with hydrological connectivity. Third, abiotic variables should exhibit higher coherence than biological variables. Twenty limnological variables were monitored at 14 sites and for 31 months. We found significant levels of coherence for all variables, supporting our first prediction. Watercourse distances, hydrological connectivity, or both were significant predictors of coherence for 17 environmental variables. In all these cases, the signs of the coefficients were in the direction predicted. Interestingly, for some environmental variables (color, turbidity, alkalinity, and total phosphorus), hydrological connectivity was even more important in predicting coherence than watercourse distance. The view that abiotic variables should exhibit higher coherence than biological variables was supported. Our analyses revealed that precipitation was an important factor inducing coherence of a key set of environmental variables, highlighting the role of regional processes in ecosystem dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Lodi
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Av. Esperança s/n, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, GO, 74690-900, Brazil.
| | | | - Priscilla Carvalho
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Av. Esperança s/n, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, GO, 74690-900, Brazil
| | - Luis Mauricio Bini
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Av. Esperança s/n, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, GO, 74690-900, Brazil
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13
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Moorhouse HL, McGowan S, Taranu ZE, Gregory-Eaves I, Leavitt PR, Jones MD, Barker P, Brayshaw SA. Regional versus local drivers of water quality in the Windermere catchment, Lake District, United Kingdom: The dominant influence of wastewater pollution over the past 200 years. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:4009-4022. [PMID: 29749028 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Revised: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by multiple anthropogenic stressors acting over different spatial and temporal scales, resulting in toxic algal blooms, reduced water quality and hypoxia. However, while catchment characteristics act as a 'filter' modifying lake response to disturbance, little is known of the relative importance of different drivers and possible differentiation in the response of upland remote lakes in comparison to lowland, impacted lakes. Moreover, many studies have focussed on single lakes rather than looking at responses across a set of individual, yet connected lake basins. Here we used sedimentary algal pigments as an index of changes in primary producer assemblages over the last ~200 years in a northern temperate watershed consisting of 11 upland and lowland lakes within the Lake District, United Kingdom, to test our hypotheses about landscape drivers. Specifically, we expected that the magnitude of change in phototrophic assemblages would be greatest in lowland rather than upland lakes due to more intensive human activities in the watersheds of the former (agriculture, urbanization). Regional parameters, such as climate dynamics, would be the predominant factors regulating lake primary producers in remote upland lakes and thus, synchronize the dynamic of primary producer assemblages in these basins. We found broad support for the hypotheses pertaining to lowland sites as wastewater treatment was the main predictor of changes to primary producer assemblages in lowland lakes. In contrast, upland headwaters responded weakly to variation in atmospheric temperature, and dynamics in primary producers across upland lakes were asynchronous. Collectively, these findings show that nutrient inputs from point sources overwhelm climatic controls of algae and nuisance cyanobacteria, but highlights that large-scale stressors do not always initiate coherent regional lake response. Furthermore, a lake's position in its landscape, its connectivity and proximity to point nutrients are important determinants of changes in production and composition of phototrophic assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather L Moorhouse
- School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, UK
| | - Suzanne McGowan
- School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Zofia E Taranu
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | | | - Peter R Leavitt
- Limnology Laboratory, Biology Department, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada
- Institute of Environmental Change and Society, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada
- Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University Belfast, UK
| | - Matthew D Jones
- School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Philip Barker
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, UK
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14
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Lottig NR, Tan P, Wagner T, Cheruvelil KS, Soranno PA, Stanley EH, Scott CE, Stow CA, Yuan S. Macroscale patterns of synchrony identify complex relationships among spatial and temporal ecosystem drivers. Ecosphere 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Noah R. Lottig
- University of Wisconsin Center for Limnology Trout Lake Station, 3110 Trout Lake Station Dr. Boulder Junction Wisconsin 54531 USA
| | - Pang‐Ning Tan
- Department of Computer Science & Engineering Michigan State University 428 South Shaw Lane, Room 3115 East Lansing Michigan 48824 USA
| | - Tyler Wagner
- U.S. Geological Survey Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit The Pennsylvania State University 420 Forest Resources Building University Park Pennsylvania 16802 USA
| | - Kendra Spence Cheruvelil
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife & Lyman Briggs College Michigan State University Natural Resources Building, 480 Wilson Road, Room 334D East Lansing Michigan 48824 USA
| | - Patricia A. Soranno
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University Natural Resources Building, 480 Wilson Road, Room 334D East Lansing Michigan 48824 USA
| | - Emily H. Stanley
- University of Wisconsin Center for Limnology 680 North Park Street Madison Wisconsin 53706 USA
| | - Caren E. Scott
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University Natural Resources Building, 480 Wilson Road, Room 334D East Lansing Michigan 48824 USA
| | - Craig A. Stow
- NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory 4840 South State Road Ann Arbor Michigan 48108 USA
| | - Shuai Yuan
- Department of Computer Science & Engineering Michigan State University 428 South Shaw Lane, Room 3115 East Lansing Michigan 48824 USA
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15
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Anderson TL, Walter JA, Levine TD, Hendricks SP, Johnston KL, White DS, Reuman DC. Using geography to infer the importance of dispersal for the synchrony of freshwater plankton. OIKOS 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.04705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas L. Anderson
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Univ. of Kansas, 2101 Constant Avenue; Lawrence KS 66047 USA
| | - Jonathan A. Walter
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Univ. of Kansas, 2101 Constant Avenue; Lawrence KS 66047 USA
- Kansas Biological Survey Lawrence; KS USA
| | - Todd D. Levine
- Hancock Biological Station, Murray State Univ.; Murray KY USA
- Dept of Biology; Carrol Univ.; Waukesha WI USA
| | | | | | - David S. White
- Hancock Biological Station, Murray State Univ.; Murray KY USA
| | - Daniel C. Reuman
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Univ. of Kansas, 2101 Constant Avenue; Lawrence KS 66047 USA
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16
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Long-Term Trends and Temporal Synchrony in Plankton Richness, Diversity and Biomass Driven by Re-Oligotrophication and Climate across 17 Danish Lakes. WATER 2016. [DOI: 10.3390/w8100427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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17
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Vogt RJ, Frost PC, Nienhuis S, Woolnough DA, Xenopoulos MA. The dual synchronizing influences of precipitation and land use on stream properties in a rapidly urbanizing watershed. Ecosphere 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Richard J. Vogt
- Department of Biological Sciences Trent University 2140 East Bank Drive Peterborough Ontario K9J 7B8 Canada
| | - Paul C. Frost
- Department of Biological Sciences Trent University 2140 East Bank Drive Peterborough Ontario K9J 7B8 Canada
| | - Sarah Nienhuis
- Department of Biological Sciences Trent University 2140 East Bank Drive Peterborough Ontario K9J 7B8 Canada
| | - Daelyn A. Woolnough
- Department of Biological Sciences Trent University 2140 East Bank Drive Peterborough Ontario K9J 7B8 Canada
- Department of Biology and Institute for Great Lakes Research Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant Michigan 48859 USA
| | - Marguerite A. Xenopoulos
- Department of Biological Sciences Trent University 2140 East Bank Drive Peterborough Ontario K9J 7B8 Canada
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18
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Hammond MP, Kolasa J. Predicting the occurrence of persistent hotspots in ecosystem variables. OIKOS 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.02262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew P. Hammond
- Dept of Biology; McMaster University; 1280 Main Street West Hamilton ON L8S 4K1 Canada
| | - Jurek Kolasa
- Dept of Biology; McMaster University; 1280 Main Street West Hamilton ON L8S 4K1 Canada
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19
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Stevenson MA, McGowan S, Anderson NJ, Foy RH, Leavitt PR, McElarney YR, Engstrom DR, Pla-Rabés S. Impacts of forestry planting on primary production in upland lakes from north-west Ireland. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2016; 22:1490-1504. [PMID: 26666434 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2015] [Revised: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 12/04/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Planted forests are increasing in many upland regions worldwide, but knowledge about their potential effects on algal communities of catchment lakes is relatively unknown. Here, the effects of afforestation were investigated using palaeolimnology at six upland lake sites in the north-west of Ireland subject to different extents of forest plantation cover (4-64% of catchment area). (210)Pb-dated sediment cores were analysed for carotenoid pigments from algae, stable isotopes of bulk carbon (δ(13)C) and nitrogen (δ(15)N), and C/N ratios. In lakes with >50% of their catchment area covered by plantations, there were two- to sixfold increases in pigments from cryptophytes (alloxanthin) and significant but lower increases (39-116%) in those from colonial cyanobacteria (canthaxanthin), but no response from biomarkers of total algal abundance (β-carotene). In contrast, lakes in catchments with <20% afforestation exhibited no consistent response to forestry practices, although all lakes exhibited fluctuations in pigments and geochemical variables due to peat cutting and upland grazing prior to forest plantation. Taken together, patterns suggest that increases in cyanobacteria and cryptophyte abundance reflect a combination of mineral and nutrient enrichment associated with forest fertilization and organic matter influx which may have facilitated growth of mixotrophic taxa. This study demonstrates that planted forests can alter the abundance and community structure of algae in upland humic lakes of Ireland and Northern Ireland, despite long histories of prior catchment disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark A Stevenson
- School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Suzanne McGowan
- School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
| | - N John Anderson
- Department of Geography, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
| | - Robert H Foy
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Peter R Leavitt
- Limnology Laboratory, Biology Department, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada
- Institute of Environmental Change and Society, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Yvonne R McElarney
- Agri-Environment Branch, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Newforge Lane, Belfast, BT9 5PX, UK
| | - Daniel R Engstrom
- St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Science Museum of Minnesota, Marine on St. Croix, MN, 55047, USA
| | - Sergi Pla-Rabés
- Department of Geography, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
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20
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Maheaux H, Leavitt PR, Jackson LJ. Asynchronous onset of eutrophication among shallow prairie lakes of the Northern Great Plains, Alberta, Canada. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2016; 22:271-283. [PMID: 26313740 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Revised: 08/17/2015] [Accepted: 08/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Coherent timing of agricultural expansion, fertilizer application, atmospheric nutrient deposition, and accelerated global warming is expected to promote synchronous fertilization of regional surface waters and coherent development of algal blooms and lake eutrophication. While broad-scale cyanobacterial expansion is evident in global meta-analyses, little is known of whether lakes in discrete catchments within a common lake district also exhibit coherent water quality degradation through anthropogenic forcing. Consequently, the primary goal of this study was to determine whether agricultural development since ca. 1900, accelerated use of fertilizer since 1960, atmospheric deposition of reactive N, or regional climate warming has resulted in coherent patterns of eutrophication of surface waters in southern Alberta, Canada. Unexpectedly, analysis of sedimentary pigments as an index of changes in total algal abundance since ca. 1850 revealed that while total algal abundance (as β-carotene, pheophytin a) increased in nine of 10 lakes over 150 years, the onset of eutrophication varied by a century and was asynchronous across basins. Similarly, analysis of temporal sequences with least-squares regression revealed that the relative abundance of cyanobacteria (echinenone) either decreased or did not change significantly in eight of the lakes since ca. 1850, whereas purple sulfur bacteria (as okenone) increased significantly in seven study sites. These patterns are consistent with the catchment filter hypothesis, which posits that lakes exhibit unique responses to common forcing associated with the influx of mass as water, nutrients, or particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Maheaux
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Peter R Leavitt
- Limnology Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Leland J Jackson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
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21
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Decrease in CO2 efflux from northern hardwater lakes with increasing atmospheric warming. Nature 2015; 519:215-8. [PMID: 25731167 DOI: 10.1038/nature14172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2013] [Accepted: 12/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Boreal lakes are biogeochemical hotspots that alter carbon fluxes by sequestering particulate organic carbon in sediments and by oxidizing terrestrial dissolved organic matter to carbon dioxide (CO2) or methane through microbial processes. At present, such dilute lakes release ∼1.4 petagrams of carbon annually to the atmosphere, and this carbon efflux may increase in the future in response to elevated temperatures and increased hydrological delivery of mineralizable dissolved organic matter to lakes. Much less is known about the potential effects of climate changes on carbon fluxes from carbonate-rich hardwater and saline lakes that account for about 20 per cent of inland water surface area. Here we show that atmospheric warming may reduce CO2 emissions from hardwater lakes. We analyse decadal records of meteorological variability, CO2 fluxes and water chemistry to investigate the processes affecting variations in pH and carbon exchange in hydrologically diverse lakes of central North America. We find that the lakes have shifted progressively from being substantial CO2 sources in the mid-1990s to sequestering CO2 by 2010, with a steady increase in annual mean pH. We attribute the observed changes in pH and CO2 uptake to an atmospheric-warming-induced decline in ice cover in spring that decreases CO2 accumulation under ice, increases spring and summer pH, and enhances the chemical uptake of CO2 in hardwater lakes. Our study suggests that rising temperatures do not invariably increase CO2 emissions from aquatic ecosystems.
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