Can recovery from disturbance explain observed declines in total phosphorus in Precambrian Shield catchments?

Crossman, Jill; Eimers, M. Catherine; Watmough, Shaun A.; Futter, Martyn N.; Kerr, Jason G.; Baker, Scott R.; Dillon, Peter J.

doi:10.1139/cjfas-2015-0312

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Further analysis over a longer monitoring period is required to understand the effects of warm winters on TP lake ; however, if this is important, it suggests that TP lake in northern lakes may be expected to decline with continued climate warming. Several previous studies have observed declining TP in forested boreal catchments in North America and Europe (Arvola et al, ; Crossman et al, ; Eimers et al, ; Huser et al, ; Stammler et al, ), suggesting that the patterns observed in Sweden may be broadly relevant, although contrasting patterns have been observed in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) where TP in lakes and streams in relatively undisturbed catchments has increased in recent years (Stoddard et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Recent Synchronous Declines in DIN:TP in Swedish Lakes

Isles

Creed

Bergström

2018

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Declining atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition in northern Europe and parts of North America, coupled with ongoing changes in climate, has the potential to alter the nutrient limitation status of freshwater ecosystems. In this study we compared time series data of atmospheric N deposition, air temperature, and precipitation with corresponding estimates of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), total phosphorus (TP), DIN:TP, and total organic carbon from 78 headwater streams and 95 nutrient‐poor lakes in Sweden from 1998 to 2013 to assess trends in, and potential drivers of, lake N:P ratios. We found that trends in nutrients were variable at the scale of individual lakes but were highly synchronous at the regional scale, suggesting underlying control by broad‐scale environmental drivers mediated by site‐specific characteristics. Widespread declines in lake DIN throughout Sweden were correlated with declines in atmospheric N deposition, particularly in northern areas. TP did not have strong directional trends, but interannual variability was synchronous at regional scales, implying that broad‐scale climate drivers were affecting these trends. Overall, we observed a significant decline in DIN:TP throughout Sweden over the monitoring period. At the beginning of the study period, 32% of lakes were N limited and 45% colimited by N and P. Proportions increased to 63% of lakes N limited and 20% colimited by N and P at the end of the study period. These results suggest that N limitation is likely to become more widespread in subarctic and boreal areas of Europe in the future if recent trends continue.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Recent Synchronous Declines in DIN:TP in Swedish Lakes

Isles

Creed

Bergström

2018

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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“…Deposition and weathering of P-containing minerals are two non-wetland sources of inorganic P; deposition is relatively constant across the region, but localised pockets of apatite may result in differences in Pweathering amongst catchments (Casson, Eimers, & Watmough, 2012;Eimers et al, 2009;O'Brien et al, 2013). Furthermore, P export from these catchments is very sensitive to forest and wetland disturbance, which may complicate the observed relationships with wetland proportion (Crossman et al, 2016;Pinder, Eimers, & Watmough, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of wetland coverage within the near‐stream zone in predicting of seasonal stream export chemistry from forested headwater catchments

Casson

Eimers

Watmough

et al. 2019

Hydrological Processes

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Stream chemistry is often used to infer catchment‐scale biogeochemical processes. However, biogeochemical cycling in the near‐stream zone or hydrologically connected areas may exert a stronger influence on stream chemistry compared with cycling processes occurring in more distal parts of the catchment, particularly in dry seasons and in dry years. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that near‐stream wetland proportion is a better predictor of seasonal (winter, spring, summer, and fall) stream chemistry compared with whole‐catchment averages and that these relationships are stronger in dryer periods with lower hydrologic connectivity. We evaluated relationships between catchment wetland proportion and 16‐year average seasonal flow‐weighted concentrations of both biogeochemically active nutrients, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrate (NO3‐N), total phosphorus (TP), as well as weathering products, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), at ten headwater (<200 ha) forested catchments in south‐central Ontario, Canada. Wetland proportion across the entire catchment was the best predictor of DOC and TP in all seasons and years, whereas predictions of NO3‐N concentrations improved when only the proportion of wetland within the near‐stream zone was considered. This was particularly the case during dry years and dry seasons such as summer. In contrast, Ca and Mg showed no relationship with catchment wetland proportion at any scale or in any season. In forested headwater catchments, variable hydrologic connectivity of source areas to streams alters the role of the near‐stream zone environment, particularly during dry periods. The results also suggest that extent of riparian zone control may vary under changing patterns of hydrological connectivity. Predictions of biogeochemically active nutrients, particularly NO3‐N, can be improved by including near‐stream zone catchment morphology in landscape models.

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“…, Crossman et al. ). Limited research, however, focuses on incorporating the influence of terrestrial features on the biological recovery of lakes from disturbance, and how these factors might vary across spatial and temporal scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since a large proportion of the world's human population lives in regions with high threats to water security and biodiversity, understanding factors leading to freshwater resilience, damage, and recovery should be a management priority (Strayer andDudgeon 2010, V€ or€ osmarty et al 2010). In lakes that have experienced severe chemical or catchment disturbance, recovery assessments traditionally occur at single scales of regional and catchment levels (Keller et al 2007, Garmo et al 2014, Ginn et al 2015, Crossman et al 2016. Limited research, however, focuses on incorporating the influence of terrestrial features on the biological recovery of lakes from disturbance, and how these factors might vary across spatial and temporal scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subcatchment deltas and upland features influence multiscale aquatic ecosystem recovery in damaged landscapes

Kielstra

Arnott

Gunn

2017

Ecological Applications

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Assessing biological recovery in damaged aquatic environments requires the consideration of multiple spatial and temporal scales. Past research has focused on assessing lake recovery from atmospheric or catchment disturbance at regional or catchment levels. Studies have also rarely considered the influences of adjacent terrestrial characteristics on within-lake habitats, such as subcatchment delta confluences. We used Hyalella azteca, a ubiquitous freshwater amphipod, as a sensitive indicator to assess the importance of local subcatchment scale factors in the context of multiscale lake recovery within the metal mining region of Sudbury, Canada following a period of major reductions in atmospheric pollution. At the regional scale, data from repeated surveys of 40 lakes showed higher probabilities of H. azteca occurrence with higher lake water conductivity, alkalinity, and pH and lower metal concentrations. The importance of metals decreased through time and the importance of higher conductivity, alkalinity, and pH increased. At the subcatchment scale, a subset of six lakes sampled across a colonization gradient revealed higher H. azteca abundances at subcatchment delta sites than non-delta sites in early colonization stages, and that abundance at delta sites was correlated with both within-lake habitat and terrestrial subcatchment characteristics. For example, wetland cover reduced the strength of positive associations between H. azteca abundance and macrophyte density. A single lake from this subset also revealed higher abundances at delta sites associated with higher concentrations of terrestrial organic matter and larger subcatchments. Our results demonstrate that factors affecting recovery can change with the scale of study, and that managing terrestrial-aquatic linkages is important for facilitating recovery processes within damaged lake ecosystems.

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Can recovery from disturbance explain observed declines in total phosphorus in Precambrian Shield catchments?

Cited by 18 publications

References 39 publications

Recent Synchronous Declines in DIN:TP in Swedish Lakes

Recent Synchronous Declines in DIN:TP in Swedish Lakes

The role of wetland coverage within the near‐stream zone in predicting of seasonal stream export chemistry from forested headwater catchments

Subcatchment deltas and upland features influence multiscale aquatic ecosystem recovery in damaged landscapes

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