Inferring Past Trends in Lake Water Organic Carbon Concentrations in Northern Lakes Using Sediment Spectroscopy

Meyer-Jacob, Carsten; Michelutti, Neal; Paterson, Andrew M.; Monteith, Don; Yang, Handong; Weckström, Jan; Smol, John P.; Bindler, Richard

doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b03147

Cited by 35 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This study is consistent with trends of browning that has been seen over many northern areas (Monteith et al 2007;de Wit et al 2017;Meyer-Jacob et al 2017), and that in northern boreal areas also is associated with increased terrestrial vegetation (Larsen et al 2011;Finstad et al 2016). TOC data from six lakes in the vicinity of Vassfaret in the last mentioned study reflect a rather monotonous increase for the actual period (Table 1; Appendix).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Effects of water browning on freshwater biodiversity: the case of the predatory phantom midge Chaoborus nyblaei

et al. 2018

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Water browning, due to increased runoff of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC), has recently gained considerable attention. While it is well settled how browning affects light regime and thereby aquatic primary production, other impacts on the aquatic biota is less explored. Water browning shelters against UV radiation, and may thus benefit range expansion of UV sensitive organisms, such as midges. We mapped occurrence of Chaoborids in 148 subalpine and alpine ponds in Norway, and identified an apparent threshold for their presence around 3 mg total organic carbon (TOC) l-1. The field study was complemented with laboratory experiments on Chaoborus nyblaei (Zetterstedt 1838), to test if this species is able to identify and select water colour (concentrations of DOC) for oviposition. Number of egg rafts on brown water tanks was significantly higher than in clear water tanks, indicating that C. nyblaei performs oviposition habitat selection. Chaoborids are effective predators in planktonic habitats, and our findings support the hypothesis that climate change may cascade through the ecosystem and promote range shifts of species due to alternated habitat frame conditions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Effects of water browning on freshwater biodiversity: the case of the predatory phantom midge Chaoborus nyblaei

et al. 2018

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“…S4). Therefore, we focus on discussing overall trends and trajectories of change using our methods 26 . For Sudbury lakes, the DOC reconstructions show homogeneous trends, with stable levels until ~1850, declines beginning in ~1890, reaching their lowest values in the ~1960s, and increasing from the ~1970s/1980s (Figs 3 and 4).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent advances in analytical techniques now permit the inference of past DOC trends based on sediment visible-near infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy, a fast, inexpensive and non-destructive technique. Utilizing a calibration model between VNIR spectra of lake-surface sediments and corresponding surface-water DOC concentrations 26 , the technique allows the reconstruction of long-term DOC trends preserved in sediments on the scales of decades to millennia. In previous studies, VNIR inferred trends have successfully matched trends of water-chemistry monitoring data 12,26 , and have, for example, shown the impact of early land use 12,27 and acid deposition 28,29 on lake-water DOC in Sweden.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Utilizing a calibration model between VNIR spectra of lake-surface sediments and corresponding surface-water DOC concentrations 26 , the technique allows the reconstruction of long-term DOC trends preserved in sediments on the scales of decades to millennia. In previous studies, VNIR inferred trends have successfully matched trends of water-chemistry monitoring data 12,26 , and have, for example, shown the impact of early land use 12,27 and acid deposition 28,29 on lake-water DOC in Sweden. However, while acid deposition could be identified as an important factor contributing to 20th-century DOC dynamics, centuries of anthropogenic landscape alterations in Scandinavia and their legacy effects on DOC dynamics confound identifying its individual contribution 12,14 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The browning and re-browning of lakes: Divergent lake-water organic carbon trends linked to acid deposition and climate change

Meyer-Jacob

Michelutti

Paterson

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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108

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Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and water colour are increasing in many inland waters across northern Europe and northeastern North America. This inland-water “browning” has profound physical, chemical and biological repercussions for aquatic ecosystems affecting water quality, biological community structures and aquatic productivity. Potential drivers of this “browning” trend are complex and include reductions in atmospheric acid deposition, changes in land use/cover, increased nitrogen deposition and climate change. However, because of the overlapping impacts of these stressors, their relative contributions to DOC dynamics remain unclear, and without appropriate long-term monitoring data, it has not been possible to determine whether the ongoing “browning” is unprecedented or simply a “re-browning” to pre-industrial DOC levels. Here, we demonstrate the long-term impacts of acid deposition and climate change on lake-water DOC concentrations in low and high acid-deposition areas using infrared spectroscopic techniques on ~200-year-long lake-sediment records from central Canada. We show that acid deposition suppressed naturally higher DOC concentrations during the 20th century, but that a “re-browning” of lakes is now occurring with emissions reductions in formerly high deposition areas. In contrast, in low deposition areas, climate change is forcing lakes towards new ecological states, as lake-water DOC concentrations now often exceed pre-industrial levels.

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“…Neither baseline DOC concentrations nor the reasons for changing DOC are clear, however, answering these questions is critical to better predict future levels of DOC. Recent advances in paleolimnological methods to measure DOC and TOC using visible-near-infrared spectroscopy (VNIRS) (Rouillard et al, 2011;Valina et al, 2015;Meyer-Jacob et al, 2017) should help address these questions (Valina et al, 2015).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mountain lakes: Eyes on global environmental change

Moser

Baron

Brahney

et al. 2019

Global and Planetary Change

236

103

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Mountain lakes are often situated in protected natural areas, a feature that leads to their role as sentinels of global environmental change. Despite variations in latitude, mountain lakes share many features, including their location in catchments with steep topographic gradients, cold temperatures, high incident solar and ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and prolonged ice and snow cover. These characteristics, in turn, affect mountain lake ecosystem structure, diversity, and productivity. The lakes themselves are mostly small and shallow, and up until recently, have been characterized as oligotrophic. This paper provides a review and update of the growing body of research that shows that sediments in remote mountain lakes archive regional and global environmental changes, including those linked to climate change, altered biogeochemical cycles, and changes in dust composition and deposition, atmospheric fertilization, and biological manipulations. These archives provide an important record of global environmental change that pre-dates typical monitoring windows. Paleolimnological research at strategically selected lakes has increased our knowledge of interactions among multiple stressors and their synergistic effects on lake systems. Lakes from transects across steep climate (i.e., temperature and effective moisture) gradients in mountain regions show how environmental change alters lakes in close proximity, but at differing climate starting points. Such research in particular highlights the impacts of melting glaciers on mountain lakes. The addition of new proxies, including DNAbased techniques and novel stable isotopic analyses, provides a gateway to addressing novel research questions about global environmental change. Recent advances in remote sensing and continuous, high-frequency, limnological measurements will improve spatial and temporal resolution and help to add records to spatial gaps including tropical and southern latitudes.

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Inferring Past Trends in Lake Water Organic Carbon Concentrations in Northern Lakes Using Sediment Spectroscopy

Cited by 35 publications

References 62 publications

Effects of water browning on freshwater biodiversity: the case of the predatory phantom midge Chaoborus nyblaei

Effects of water browning on freshwater biodiversity: the case of the predatory phantom midge Chaoborus nyblaei

The browning and re-browning of lakes: Divergent lake-water organic carbon trends linked to acid deposition and climate change

Mountain lakes: Eyes on global environmental change

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