From Ecological Informatics to the Generation of Ecological Knowledge: Long-Term Research in the English Lake District

Maberly, Stephen C.; Ciar, D.; Elliott, J. Alex; Jones, Ian D.; Reynolds, C. S.; Thackeray, Stephen J.; Winfield, Ian J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59928-1_21

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Ecosystems evolve over timescales that are impossible to experience by a human eye, yet humans are the ones responsible for their management (Vitousek et al 1997). Ecologists acknowledge this and there is no doubt long-term observatories provide invaluable knowledge on ecosystems specificities and framework for ecological theories (Maberly et al 2018). Our results show that Lake Geneva long-term monitoring database, despite being one of the longest series in the world, may not be documenting the ecological baseline condition.…”

Section: Time Perspective and Implication For Managersmentioning

confidence: 82%

Reframing Lake Geneva ecological trajectory in a context of multiple but asynchronous pressures

Bruel

Girardclos

Marchetto³

et al. 2021

J Paleolimnol

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There are no doubts long-term observatories provide unique insight on ecosystems trajectories. Can we use earliest data to set restoration goals? We take the example of Lake Geneva, for which descriptions of the ecosystem are available for as soon as the late 19 th and early 20 th century. Forel writes about how the luxuriant growth of plant communities provided important habitat for aquatic animals, as well as trapping nutrients and affecting water currents. It can be hard to believe Forel is referring to the same lake as present-day Lake Geneva; however, without continuous monitoring, this qualitative description can hardly be compared to recent observations. We resorted to paleolimnology to quantify the changes in plankton communities, as a proxy of general ecological changes, over the past 1,500 years. Our results show that from 563 AD (beginning of the record) to the 20 th century, the cladoceran assemblage remained stable, despite important amplitude of climate variability (3°C). Trajectory of LakeGeneva shifted for the first time in 1946. Online dynamic linear models revealed the following transition, in 1958-1961, transition was critical, i.e., the ecosystem changed state. Littoral associated species were totally lost, and the assemblage is now dominated by pelagic species. The shift took place around the beginning of the long-term monitoring program, when local perturbations (eutrophication) were escalading. Our result raises the vexing observation that the historical dataset, one of the longest records in the world, may not provide a baseline for Lake Geneva's condition.

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Section: Time Perspective and Implication For Managersmentioning

confidence: 82%