Recent Environmental Change and Atmospheric Contamination on Svalbard as Recorded in Lake Sediments – Modern Limnology, Vegetation, and Pollen Deposition

Abstract

* This is the second in a series of nine papers published in this special issue dedicated to recent environmental change on Svalbard. H.J.B. Birks, Vivienne J. Jones, and Neil L. Rose were guest editors of this special issue. 31: 411-431, 2004 1 Abstract Twenty-four lakes on Svalbard were sampled for palaeolimnological studies and are described in terms of their geographical location, catchment characteristics, water chemistry, and flora. No sediment could be retrieved from one of the lakes. There is a close correlation, as detected by redundancy analysis, between lake-water chemistry and catchment variables, particularly bedrock geology and geographical location for 23 lakes. The flora of the lake catchments is statistically related, as shown by canonical correspondence analysis, to bedrock geology, climate (geographical location), and nutrient status (bird impact). Modern pollen assemblages from eleven lakes contain 2-25% far-distance extra-regional pollen. The modern local and regional pollen depositions are dominated by Oxyria digyna, Poaceae, Saxifraga, Salix, and Brassicaceae pollen. Journal of Paleolimnology

Distribution and Autecology of Chrysophyte Cysts from High Arctic Svalbard Lakes: Preliminary Evidence of Recent Environmental Change

“…VIF > 20) in canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) (ter Braak 1990). The removed variables included Ca 2+ , Mg + , latitude, longitude, extent of bird activity in the catchment, the geological and landform categories (granite, carbonate rock, strandflat), and the catchment variables percent vegetation and percent snow in the catchment (see Birks et al 2004a for details). Monte Carlo permutation tests (999 unrestricted permutations) under the null model in CCA (ter Braak 1988(ter Braak , 1990 were used to determine which of the remaining non-collinear environmental variables had a significant influence on the present-day distributions of cyst morphotypes.…”

“…The peculiar assemblage (Figures 2 and 3) and the position of this site on the edge of the ordination (Figure 2) suggest that some other unmeasured variable is strongly influencing the cyst flora of this particular lake. At the time of sampling, a distinct purple-coloured layer was identified at the sediment water interface of this lake (Birks et al 2004a). This purple layer may have been a mat of sulphur bacteria.…”

“…By comparison, a total of 181 morphotypes were identified from 71 lakes in Adirondack Park, USA , 137 morphs from 35 ponds on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic (Wilkinson et al 1997), and 126 morphotypes from 50 Central European lakes (Facher and Schmidt 1996). This diversity was not particularly surprising, however, as even though there were only a small number of sites, they covered a relatively wide range of limnological variables (Birks et al 2004a). The number of new morphotypes discovered seems somewhat low, given that this was the first taxonomic undertaking of chrysophyte subfossils from Svalbard.…”

“…In late July and early August of 1995, 20 lakes (Jensenvatnet (L) is ignored here -see Birks et al 2004a) were sampled along the west coast of Svalbard (Figure 1). A detailed discussion of the sites, as well as limnological and catchment variables measured at the time of sampling, can be found in Birks et al (2004a).…”

“…A detailed discussion of the sites, as well as limnological and catchment variables measured at the time of sampling, can be found in Birks et al (2004a). Briefly, these sites are small, shallow lakes (Z max = 0.9 m -26.0 m), covering a moderately large range in conductivity (12 μS cm -1 -367 μS cm -1 ) and pH (5.6 -8.4).…”