Complexity in the Biological Recovery of Tatra Mountain Lakes from Acidification

Stuchlı́k, Evžen; Bitušík, Peter; Hardekopf, David W.; Hořická, Zuzana; Kahounová, Marie; Tátosová, Jolana; Vondrák, Daniel; Dočkalová, Kateřina

doi:10.1007/s11270-017-3362-0

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…4). Some of these presently non-acidified lakes in scree-rich catchments were acidified in the 1980s and exhibited steep recovery trends (Stuchlík et al 2017). Changes in their chemistry are consistent with a conceptual model by Gerson et al (2016) that predicts a decrease in P limitation in freshwater ecosystems after decreased atmospheric N and S deposition due to increasing terrestrial P leaching associated with decreasing P adsorbing capacity of soils and elevated P co-export with DOC.…”

Section: Nutrientssupporting

confidence: 70%

Climate change accelerates recovery of the Tatra Mountain lakes from acidification and increases their nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations

et al. 2019

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We evaluated changes in the concentration of cations, anions, nutrients (dissolved organic carbon, DOC; phosphorus, P; and nitrogen forms including nitrate, NO3and total organic nitrogen, TON), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) in 31 Tatra Mountain lakes in Slovakia and Poland during their recovery from acidic deposition (1992-2018). Typical effects of decreasing acidic deposition on the lakes' water composition, such as decreasing base cation concentrations, were confounded by climate change and catchment characteristics, including areal proportions of well-developed soils and scree. A climate-related increase in physical erosion provided freshly exposed unweathered granodiorite (the dominant bedrock) to chemical weathering. Dissolution of accessory calcite in the granodiorite increased the in-lake Ca 2+ and HCO3concentrations and reversed the Ca 2+ trends, which originally decreased in parallel with strong acid anions. These changes were most pronounced in steep, scree-rich areas, which are most sensitive to physical weathering. Fresh apatite [Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH)] in the crushed granodiorite acts as a P source at soil pH's between 4 and 5 and in the presence of chelating organic acids within soils. These conditions enhance apatite solubility, which in part explains increasing P in lakes with scree-dominated catchments. Soil recovery from acidification due to decreasing acidic deposition and the neutralizing effect of weathering of erosion-derived accessory calcite were the most likely causes of elevated DOC and P export from soils. Their elevated leaching was accompanied by increasing in-lake concentrations of Chl-a and TON. The increasing TON concentrations were, as for Ca 2+ , most pronounced in the scree-rich catchments, and represented the most sensitive indicator of the changes in the lake water nutrient composition.

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Section: Nutrientssupporting

confidence: 70%

Climate change accelerates recovery of the Tatra Mountain lakes from acidification and increases their nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations

et al. 2019

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“…Beamish 1976;Fott et al 1994;Bobbink et al 1998). In geologically sensitive regions, the negative effect of decreased pH is usually associated with acidification-induced oligotrophication, low phosphorus availability, lack of food resources for secondary producers, and ionic aluminium toxicity (Vrba et al 2015;Stuchlík et al 2017). However, levels of acidification stress and acidification recovery rate are always site-specific, depending on the ability of an ecosystem to neutralize the flux of acidity (Stuchlík et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In geologically sensitive regions, the negative effect of decreased pH is usually associated with acidification-induced oligotrophication, low phosphorus availability, lack of food resources for secondary producers, and ionic aluminium toxicity (Vrba et al 2015;Stuchlík et al 2017). However, levels of acidification stress and acidification recovery rate are always site-specific, depending on the ability of an ecosystem to neutralize the flux of acidity (Stuchlík et al 2017). In addition to the acidification caused by atmospheric pollution, the process of natural acidification and phosphorus depletion plays a crucial role on longer time scales (Kuneš et al 2011;Boyle et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postglacial succession of caddisfly (Trichoptera) assemblages in a central European montane lake

et al. 2019

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The Bohemian Forest lakes, situated along the Czech-German-Austrian border, were strongly affected by atmospheric acidification between the 1950s and the late 1980s. The subsequent chemical recovery of the lake water should precede and enable a biological recovery, including changes in caddisfly (Insecta: Trichoptera) assemblages. Nevertheless, local preacidification data and detailed knowledge of the lake district history are missing, making evaluation of lake recovery difficult. We performed high-resolution analysis of caddisfly remains in a 2.2 m long sediment profile from Prášilské Lake covering the complete history of the lake-catchment evolution. Caddisfly larvae are good indicators of environmental conditions and their subfossil remains are well preserved in unconsolidated waterlaid sediments. A total of 10 caddisfly morpho-taxa were found providing a record from 11,400 cal. yr. BP to the present. With the exception of Athripsodes aterrimus, all identified species are currently present in the Bohemian Forest glacial lakes or their inflow streams but not all of them are documented in Prášilské Lake. The caddisfly fauna consisted of acid-resistant, acidtolerant and eurytopic species since the Early Holocene. Based on our results, the acid, dystrophic state of Prášilské Lake has been occurring since the lake formation. We conclude that the first signs of natural acidification appeared not later than during the Holocene onset in the Bohemian Forest region. Furthermore, we did not detect any abrupt changes in the species composition connected to the period of anthropogenic acidification during the 20th century. This study provides for the first time a record of postglacial succession of caddisfly assemblages in a central European mountain lake.

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“…Consequently, in the 1980s almost half of the Tatra Mountain lakes had acid neutralising capacity (ANC; the overall buffering capacity against acidification, determined as Gran alkalinity) <25 µ m or even a depleted carbonate buffering system (Kopáček et al., 2006a, 2015, Stuchlík et al, 2006). Acidification caused significant changes in water chemistry (including increased concentrations of protons and ionic aluminium [Al] forms) that induced water toxicity to aquatic organisms (Kopáček et al., 2003; Kopáček et al., 2006b), influenced the lakes’ trophic status (Kopáček, Hejzlar, et al., 2015), and led to major changes towards less diverse planktonic and benthic communities dominated by acid‐tolerant taxa (Bitušík et al., 2006; Fott et al., 1994; Krno, 1991; Stuchlík et al., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, reappearance of the original acid‐sensitive zooplankton species to the Tatra Mountain lakes started with an approximately 5–10‐year delay after the first significant changes in their water chemistry (Hořická et al., 2006). Signs of a benthic invertebrate recovery have been less clear, and delayed even more by dispersal limitations (Bitušík et al., 2017; Stuchlík et al., 2017). In addition, climate change is likely to induce compositional shifts in the freshwater biota of recovering lakes towards non‐analogous communities (Labaj et al., 2016; Marchetto et al., 2004; Sivarajahe et al., 2017), potentially causing unanticipated synergistic effects, ultimately leading to recovery trajectories that are very difficult to predict (Keller et al., 2019; O’Neill, 1998; Yan et al., 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal trends and spatial patterns of chironomid communities in alpine lakes recovering from acidification under accelerating climate change

et al. 2021

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The biological recovery of remote aquatic ecosystems from atmospheric acidification under ongoing climate change is a complex and poorly understood process, often developing along unanticipated trajectories. Our objective was to evaluate the interacting effects of changing water chemistry and climate on the biological recovery of chironomid communities in the Tatra Mountain lake district (Slovakia and Poland), one of the most strongly acidified alpine regions worldwide. Chironomid communities were chosen as a sensitive indicator to disentangle the effects of acidification and climate change. We used sediment records of a shallow, strongly acidified lake, Starolesnianske pleso, plus data on 77 alpine lakes sampled across the whole study region in 2000–2004 and 2010–2014. Paleolimnological data from Starolesnianske pleso revealed a dramatic effect of acidification on the chironomid communities from the mid‐20th century. A rapid decline of water pH and a depletion of the carbonate buffering system were accompanied by the establishment of a species‐poor chironomid community. The previously dominant Tanytarsus lugens‐type was replaced by the congeneric Tanytarsus mendax‐type in the late 1970s. A subsequent reversal of water chemistry from acidification starting in the early 1990s was followed by a compositional change towards a more diverse community. The effect of chemical recovery was, however, overwhelmed by rising temperatures. Tiny larvae of more thermophilous Corynoneura scutellata‐type quickly gained dominance in the lake community. Throughout the lake district, C. scutellata‐type significantly shifted towards higher elevations, by more than 100 m per decade. The absence of significant interactions between recovering water chemistry and rising temperatures suggests independent effects of these processes on chironomid communities. The observed climate‐related compositional shifts towards the dominance of small‐bodied species are in line with the metabolic theory of ecology predicting higher metabolic demands in warmer environments, which can favour smaller, faster growing organisms and may lead to future changes in the ecosystem functioning of alpine lakes in general. The combination of monitoring and palaeoecological data provided a useful tool for tracking environmental changes. This approach may also help in disentangling the roles of other multiple pressures on aquatic ecosystems. The sensitive responses of shallow Starolesnianske pleso to atmospheric acidification and climate warming suggest that small lentic waterbodies could be useful sentinels of freshwater deterioration, thus deserving special attention in the future monitoring of alpine environments.

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Complexity in the Biological Recovery of Tatra Mountain Lakes from Acidification

Cited by 14 publications

References 51 publications

Climate change accelerates recovery of the Tatra Mountain lakes from acidification and increases their nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations

Climate change accelerates recovery of the Tatra Mountain lakes from acidification and increases their nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations

Postglacial succession of caddisfly (Trichoptera) assemblages in a central European montane lake

Temporal trends and spatial patterns of chironomid communities in alpine lakes recovering from acidification under accelerating climate change

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