Clearing the muddy waters: using lake sediment records to inform agricultural management

Carson, Adam; Jennings, Eleanor; Linnane, Suzanne; Jordan, Siobhán N.

doi:10.1007/s10933-014-9803-5

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…and livestock, especially cattle, as has been reported elsewhere in Ireland and Europe (May et al, 2012;Carson et al, 2015). The simulated TP loads from the catchment (excluding the WWTP loads) had a significant change point for 1973 (Q 02.6; p 5 0.01), roughly coinciding with increases in cattle numbers, evident in the 1971 agricultural census, and the increase in annual precipitation.…”

Section: Past Trends and Hindcast Model Simulationssupporting

confidence: 61%

“…The lake may have been in a reasonable state relative to the preceding period: rural population levels in the catchment had declined by the 1940s relative to the nineteenth century (CSO, 2005), while cattle and sheep numbers remained largely unchanged. Results may therefore be in keeping with those from lakes in other parts of Ireland, indicating relatively complex eutrophication histories over the past c.200 years characterised by cycles of nutrient enrichment and subsequent recovery (Taylor et al, 2006;Dalton et al, 2009;Donohue et al, 2010;O'Dwyer et al, 2013;Carson et al, 2015;Murnaghan et al, 2015), and in other parts of the world, for example northwest Europe (Bennion et al, 2012) and North America (Estepp and Reavie, 2015).…”

Section: Max Chl a Mg M -3supporting

confidence: 59%

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Integrating observed, inferred and simulated data to illuminate environmental change: a limnological case study

Dalton¹,

Jennings²,

O’Dwyer³

et al. 2016

Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy

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Effective management of aquatic ecosystems requires knowledge of baseline conditions and past variations in stressors and their effects in order to mitigate the impacts of future variability and change. This study utilizes combined monitoring, sedimentary and hindcast computer model data to reconstruct and examine the eutrophication history of a lake in southwest Ireland over a c.60-year period and uses computer models to simulate future responses in water quality as a result of projected changes in land use and climate. The study site, Lough Leane, has major national and international importance, but is currently regarded as 'at significant risk' of not meeting the water quality objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive. Palaeolimnological reconstructions and hindcast modelling results confirmed that current eutrophication in the lake dates at least to the 1950s, and particularly from the 1970s. When used to simulate future conditions the same computer models indicated that climate change will likely worsen the current situation. The approach described, synthesising data from a range of sources, can inform future-proofing of lake management plans and objectives by enabling the accommodation of future changes in catchment and climate conditions.

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Section: Past Trends and Hindcast Model Simulationssupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Max Chl a Mg M -3supporting

confidence: 59%

Integrating observed, inferred and simulated data to illuminate environmental change: a limnological case study

Dalton¹,

Jennings²,

O’Dwyer³

et al. 2016

Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy

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“…Up-core variations in (from left to right): concentrations (dashed line), accumulation rates (solid line) and EFs (grey silhouettes) for geochemical data; algal pigment data (ratio of chl-a to phaeophytin and zeaxanthin); diatom remains expressed as relative abundances (%), ordination (principal components analysis (PCA) axis 1 sample scores and diatom-inferred total phosphorus (DI-TP)); ratio of benthic Á planktonic Cladocera. and livestock, especially cattle, as has been reported elsewhere in Ireland and Europe (May et al, 2012;Carson et al, 2015). The simulated TP loads from the catchment (excluding the WWTP loads) had a significant change point for 1973 (Q 02.6; p 5 0.01), roughly coinciding with increases in cattle numbers, evident in the 1971 agricultural census, and the increase in annual precipitation.…”

Section: Past Trends and Hindcast Model Simulationssupporting

confidence: 61%

Integrating observed, inferred and simulated data to illuminate environmental change: a limnological case study

Dalton¹,

Jennings²,

Taylor³

2016

Biology and Environment

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“…Concomitant to changing water temperatures, cultural eutrophication has also affected aquatic environments, leading to several management actions (Schindler, 2001;Carson et al, 2015). The re-oligotrophication of many lakes has been documented from seriously compromised situations in the 1970s to presently acceptable trophic states (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of re‐oligotrophication and climate change on lake thermal structure

et al. 2016

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Summary During recent decades, climate change and re‐oligotrophication have been affecting many lakes. Most long‐term research focuses on large North American and northern European lakes, but climate forcing south of the Alps seems to be different. Furthermore, lake restoration frequently involves smaller lakes (<10 km2) that are often overlooked in long‐term limnological studies despite their importance for local stakeholders. We investigated the effects of climate change and re‐oligotrophication on the thermal structure of Lake Caldonazzo (Italy – southern Alps; area = 5.6 km2; maximum depth = 49 m) for the years 1973–2014. The lake received untreated wastewaters from its catchment until the mid‐1970s, leading to algal blooms, severe hypolimnetic anoxia and fish kills. Afterwards, local government initiated sewage removal that was completed in 1989. We used transparency, phosphorus and chlorophyll concentrations as trophic indicators, air temperature and global circulation indices as climatic indicators and epilimnion depth and temperature, hypolimnion temperature, thermocline depth and Schmidt stability as indicators of thermal structure. For these time series, we determined trend patterns and timing of change points. Epilimnetic temperatures showed an upward shift in 1985. Here, we present an alternative explanation for this observed change that generally has been attributed to global circulation indices. Epilimnetic depth continually increased until 1989, but less markedly afterwards. We suggest that until restoration continued, the increasingly deeper epilimnion absorbed the incoming heat of climate change without increasing epilimnetic temperature. After sewage removal, however, the epilimnion did not deepen enough to prevent an upward shift in epilimnetic temperature. We linked the deepening of the epilimnion to increased water transparency. Hypolimnetic temperatures showed a downward shift in 1998. Hypolimnetic cooling has been seldom observed and was in our case related to specific interactions between re‐oligotrophication, climate and lake depth. Penetration of incident solar radiation was insufficient to heat the hypolimnion (>50% of lake volume), while deeper mixing released accumulated heat from the previous season and earlier stratification trapped colder water in the hypolimnion. We suggest that these combined effects resulted in a decrease in hypolimnetic temperature. Our study indicated that re‐oligotrophication mitigated the effects of climate change, but when re‐oligotrophication was no longer progressing, the effects of climate on thermal structure were perceivable. These changes were site specific and not tied to atmospheric circulation indices. Epilimnetic warming in particular will have repercussions on plankton dynamics. Management of non‐point sources of nutrients will become increasingly important to limit the eutrophication‐like effects of climate change, especially in the case of a warming epilimnion.

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Clearing the muddy waters: using lake sediment records to inform agricultural management

Cited by 7 publications

References 40 publications

Integrating observed, inferred and simulated data to illuminate environmental change: a limnological case study

Integrating observed, inferred and simulated data to illuminate environmental change: a limnological case study

Integrating observed, inferred and simulated data to illuminate environmental change: a limnological case study

Effects of re‐oligotrophication and climate change on lake thermal structure

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