Department of Biology

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Open Access
Abrupt changes in the physical and biological structure of endorheic upland lakes due to 8-m lake-level variation during the 20 th century
(Wiley, 2022-03-07) Bjorndahl, Judith A.; Gushulak, Cale A.C.; Mezzini, Stefano; Simpson, Gavin L.; Haig, Heather A.; Leavitt, Peter R; Finlay, Kerri
Climate-induced variation in lake level can affect physicochemical properties of endorheic lakes, but its consequences for phototrophic production and regime shifts are not well understood. Here, we quantified changes in the abundance and community composition of phototrophs in Kenosee and White Bear lakes, two endorheic basins in the parkland Moose Mountain uplands of southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, which have experienced > 8 m declines in water level since ~ 1900. We hypothesized that lower water levels and warmer temperatures should manifest as increased abundance of phytoplankton, particularly cyanobacteria, and possibly trigger a regime shift to turbid conditions due to evaporative concentration of nutrients and solutes. High-resolution analysis of sedimentary pigments revealed an increase in total phototrophic abundance (as β-carotene) concurrent with lake-level decline beginning ~ 1930, but demonstrated little directional change in cyanobacteria. Instead, significant increases in obligately anaerobic purple sulfur bacteria (as okenone) occurred in both lakes during ~ 1930–1950, coeval with alterations to light environments and declines in lake level. The presence of okenone suggests that climate-induced increases in solute concentrations may have favored the formation of novel bacterial habitats where photic and anoxic zones overlapped. Generalized additive models showed that establishment of this unique habitat was likely preceded by increased temporal variance of sulfur bacteria, but not phytoplankton or cyanobacteria, suggesting that this abrupt change to physical lake structure was unique to deep-water environments. Such climate-induced shifts may become more frequent in the region due to hydrological stress on lake levels due to warming temperatures across the Northern Great Plains.
Open Access
Anthropogenic eutrophication of shallow lakes: Is it occasional?
(Elsevier, 2022-08-01) Zhou, Jian; Leavitt, Peter R.; Zhang, Yibo; Qin, Boqiang
Understanding and managing the susceptibility of lakes to anthropogenic eutrophication has been a primary goal of limnological research for decades. To achieve United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, scientists have attempted to understand why shallow lakes appear to be prone to eutrophication and resistant to restoration. A rich data base of 1151 lakes (each ≥ 0.5 km2 located within the Europe and the United States of America offers a rare opportunity to explore potential answers. Analysis of sites showed that lake depth integrated socio-ecological systems and reflected potential susceptibility to anthropogenic stressors, as well as lake productivity. In this study, lakes distributed in agricultural plain and densely populated lowland areas were generally shallow and subjected to intense human activities with high external nutrient inputs. In contrast, deep lakes frequently occurred in upland regions, dominated by natural landscapes with little anthropogenic nutrient input. Lake depth appeared to not only reflect external nutrient load to the lake, but also acted as an amplifier that increased shallow lake susceptibility to anthropogenic disturbance. Our findings suggest that shallow lakes are more susceptible to human forcing and their eutrophication may be not an occasional occurrence, and that societal expectations, policy goals, and management plans should reflect this observation.
Open Access
Basin-specific records of lake oligotrophication during the middle-to-late Holocene in boreal northeast Ontario, Canada
(SAGE Publications, 2021-06-28) Gushulak, Cale AC; Leavitt, Peter R.; Cumming, Brian F
Descriptions of regional climate expression require data from multiple lakes, yet little is known of how variation in records within morphometrically complex lakes may affect interpretations. In northeast Ontario (Canada), this issue was addressed using records of pollen, pigments, and diatoms in three sediment cores from two small boreal lakes spanning the last ~6000 years. Pollen analysis suggested warm conditions between ~6000 and ~4000 cal yr BP, coherent with previous assessments from boreal eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Analysis of phototrophic communities from fossil pigments and diatom valves suggested relatively eutrophic conditions with lower lake-levels during this interval. Generalized additive model trends identified significant regional changes in pollen assemblages and declines in pigment concentrations after ~4000 cal yr BP consistent with cooler and wetter climate conditions that resulted in regional lake oligotrophication and increased lake levels during the late-Holocene. Despite contemporaneous changes in pollen and pigment biomarkers across lakes, cores collected from adjacent basins of the same lake (Green Lake) did not show similar trends in fossil pigments likely reflecting preferential deposition of clay-rich allochthonous material in the deeper central basin and suggesting that regional signals in climate may be complicated by lake- or basin-specific catchment processes.
Open Access
Beppu Bay, Japan, as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for an Anthropocene series
(SAGE Publications, 2022-12-19) Kuwae, Michinobu; Finney, Bruce P; Shi, Zhiyuan; Sakaguchi, Aya; Tsugeki, Narumi; Omori, Takayuki; Agusa, Tetsuro; Suzuki, Yoshiaki; Yokoyama, Yusuke; Hinata, Hirofumi; Hatada, Yoshio; Inoue, Jun; Matsuoka, Kazumi; Shimada, Misaki; Takahara, Hikaru; Takahashi, Shin; Ueno, Daisuke; Amano, Atsuko; Tsutsumi, Jun; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Takemura, Keiji; Yamada, Keitaro; Ikehara, Ken; Haraguchi, Tsuyoshi; Tims, Stephen; Froehlich, Michaela; Keith Fifield, Leslie; Aze, Takahiro; Sasa, Kimikazu; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Matsumura, Masumi; Tani, Yukinori; Leavitt, Peter R; Doi, Hideyuki; Irino, Tomohisa; Moriya, Kazuyoshi; Hayashida, Akira; Hirose, Kotaro; Suzuki, Hidekazu; Saito, Yoshiki
For assessment of the potential of the Beppu Bay sediments as a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate for the Anthropocene, we have integrated datasets of 99 proxies. The datasets for the sequences date back 100 years for most proxy records and 1300 years for several records. The cumulative number of occurrences of the anthropogenic fingerprint reveal unprecedented increases above the base of the 1953 flood layer at 64.6 cm (1953 CE), which coincides with an initial increase in global fallout of 239Pu+240Pu. The onset of the proliferation of anthropogenic fingerprints was followed by diverse human-associated events, including a rapid increase in percent modern 14C in anchovy scales, changes in nitrogen and carbon cycling as recorded by anchovy δ15N and δ13C, elevated pollution of heavy metals, increased depositions of novel materials (spheroidal carbonaceous particles, microplastics, polychlorinated biphenyls), the occurrence of hypoxia (Re/Mo ratio) and eutrophication (biogenic opal, TOC, TN, diatoms, chlorophyll a), unprecedented microplankton community changes (compositions of carotenoids, diatoms, dinoflagellates), abnormally high spring air temperatures as inferred from diatom fossils, and lithological changes. These lines of evidence indicate that the base of the 1953 layer is the best GSSP level candidate in the stratigraphy at this site.
Open Access
Bias in Research Grant Evaluation Has Dire Consequences for Small Universities
(Public Library of Science, 2016-06-03) Murray, Dennis L.; Morris, Douglas; Lavoie, Claude; Leavitt, Peter R.; MacIsaac, Hugh; Masson, Michael E. J.; Villard, Marc-Andre
Federal funding for basic scientific research is the cornerstone of societal progress, economy, health and well-being. There is a direct relationship between financial investment in science and a nation’s scientific discoveries, making it a priority for governments to distribute public funding appropriately in support of the best science. However, research grant proposal success rate and funding level can be skewed toward certain groups of applicants, and such skew may be driven by systemic bias arising during grant proposal evaluation and scoring. Policies to best redress this problem are not well established. Here, we show that funding success and grant amounts for applications to Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant program (2011–2014) are consistently lower for applicants from small institutions. This pattern persists across applicant experience levels, is consistent among three criteria used to score grant proposals, and therefore is interpreted as representing systemic bias targeting applicants from small institutions. When current funding success rates are projected forward, forecasts reveal that future science funding at small schools in Canada will decline precipitously in the next decade, if skews are left uncorrected. We show that a recently-adopted pilot program to bolster success by lowering standards for select applicants from small institutions will not erase funding skew, nor will several other post-evaluation corrective measures. Rather, to support objective and robust review of grant applications, it is necessary for research councils to address evaluation skew directly, by adopting procedures such as blind review of research proposals and bibliometric assessment of performance. Such measures will be important in restoring confidence in the objectivity and fairness of science funding decisions. Likewise, small institutions can improve their research success by more strongly supporting productive researchers and developing competitive graduate programming opportunities.
Open Access
Blocks in Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle of Salmonella enterica Cause Global Perturbation of Carbon Storage, Motility, and Host-Pathogen Interaction
(American Society for Microbiology, 2019-12-11) Noster, Janina; Hansmeier, Nicole; Persicke, Marcus; Chao, Tzu-Chiao; Kurre, Rainer; Popp, Jasmin; Liss, Viktoria; Reuter, Tatjana; Hensel, Michael
The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle is a central metabolic hub in most cells. Virulence functions of bacterial pathogens such as facultative intracellular Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) are closely connected to cellular metabolism. During systematic analyses of mutant strains with defects in the TCA cycle, a strain deficient in all fumarase isoforms (ΔfumABC) elicited a unique metabolic profile. Alongside fumarate, S. Typhimurium ΔfumABC accumulates intermediates of the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway. Analyses by metabolomics and proteomics revealed that fumarate accumulation redirects carbon fluxes toward glycogen synthesis due to high (p)ppGpp levels. In addition, we observed reduced abundance of CheY, leading to altered motility and increased phagocytosis of S. Typhimurium by macrophages. Deletion of glycogen synthase restored normal carbon fluxes and phagocytosis and partially restored levels of CheY. We propose that utilization of accumulated fumarate as carbon source induces a status similar to exponential- to stationary-growth-phase transition by switching from preferred carbon sources to fumarate, which increases (p)ppGpp levels and thereby glycogen synthesis. Thus, we observed a new form of interplay between metabolism of S. Typhimurium and cellular functions and virulence.
Open Access
Bottom-Up Forces Drive Increases in the Abundance of Large Daphnids in Four Small Lakes Stocked with Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Interior British Columbia, Canada
(Springer, 2019-09-23) Mushet, Graham R.; Laird, Kathleen R.; Leavitt, Peter R.; Maricle, Stephen; Klassen, Andrew; Cumming, Brian F.
The introduction of salmonids into lakes of western North America for sport fishing is a widespread phenomenon. While numerous investigations have documented cascading trophic interactions upon the introduction of fish into naturally fishless systems, little research has been done to investigate the importance of natural fish status (fishless vs. fish bearing) in modulating historical food web response to dual forcing by bottom-up (resource regulation from nutrients) and top-down (planktivory from stocked fish) processes. We used the paleolimnological record to reconstruct food web changes in four lakes in interior British Columbia that have been stocked with rainbow trout since the early to mid-1900s. Analysis of pigments, diatoms, and Cladocera was undertaken in cores from all lakes. We predicted that if fish were important in structuring cladoceran abundance and composition, we would document a decline in the abundance of large daphnids post-stocking in our two naturally fishless lakes, and little change in the two fish-bearing lakes. Instead, we documented increased abundance of large daphnids after stocking in all lakes in the early to mid-1900s, a finding inconsistent with size-selective predation from planktivorous fish. Further, our data suggest that deep, low-oxygen refugia may be important in sustaining populations of large Daphnia, a process which was enhanced by increased nutrients and lake production according to sub-fossil diatom and pigment analyses. This study shows that fish stocking does not invariably result in a decrease in large-bodied Cladocera and that nutrients and lake type can modulate the response of invertebrate planktivores.
Open Access
Breathing space: deoxygenation of aquatic environments can drive differential ecological impacts across biological invasion stages
(Springer, 2021-04-30) Dickey, James W. E.; Coughlan, Neil E.; Dick, Jaimie T. A.; Médoc, Vincent; McCard, Monica; Leavitt, Peter R.; Lacroix, Gérard; Fiorini, Sarah; Millot, Alexis; Cuthbert, Ross N.
The influence of climate change on the ecological impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) remains understudied, with deoxygenation of aquatic environments often-overlooked as a consequence of climate change. Here, we therefore assessed how oxygen saturation affects the ecological impact of a predatory invasive fish, the Ponto-Caspian round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), relative to a co-occurring endangered European native analogue, the bullhead (Cottus gobio) experiencing decline in the presence of the IAS. In individual trials and mesocosms, we assessed the effect of high, medium and low (90%, 60% and 30%) oxygen saturation on: (1) functional responses (FRs) of the IAS and native, i.e. per capita feeding rates; (2) the impact on prey populations exerted; and (3) how combined impacts of both fishes change over invasion stages (Pre-invasion, Arrival, Replacement, Proliferation). Both species showed Type II potentially destabilising FRs, but at low oxygen saturation, the invader had a significantly higher feeding rate than the native. Relative Impact Potential, combining fish per capita effects and population abundances, revealed that low oxygen saturation exacerbates the high relative impact of the invader. The Relative Total Impact Potential (RTIP), modelling both consumer species’ impacts on prey populations in a system, was consistently higher at low oxygen saturation and especially high during invader Proliferation. In the mesocosm experiment, low oxygen lowered RTIP where both species were present, but again the IAS retained high relative impact during Replacement and Proliferation stages at low oxygen. We also found evidence of multiple predator effects, principally antagonism. We highlight the threat posed to native communities by IAS alongside climate-related stressors, but note that solutions may be available to remedy hypoxia and potentially mitigate impacts across invasion stages.
Open Access
Changes in coupled carbon‒nitrogen dynamics in a tundra ecosystem predate post-1950 regional warming
(Nature Research, 2020-10-28) Anderson, N. John; Engstrom, Daniel R.; Leavitt, Peter R.; Flood, Sarah M.; Heathcote, Adam J.
Arctic ecosystems are changing in response to recent rapid warming, but the synergistic effects of other environmental drivers, such as moisture and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, are difficult to discern due to limited monitoring records. Here we use geo- chemical analyses of 210 Pb-dated lake-sediment cores from the North Slope of Alaska to show that changes in landscape nutrient dynamics started over 130 years ago. Lake carbon burial doubled between 1880 and the late-1990s, while current rates (~10 g C m−2 yr−1) represent about half the CO2 emission rate for tundra lakes. Lake C burial reflects increased aquatic production, stimulated initially by nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems due to late- 19 th century moisture-driven changes in soil microbial processes and, more recently, by atmospheric reactive N deposition. These results highlight the integrated response of Arctic carbon cycling to global environmental stressors and the degree to which C–N linkages were altered prior to post-1950 regional warming.
Open Access
Climate change drives widespread shifts in lake thermal habitat
(Nature Publishing Group, 2021-06-03) Kraemer, Benjamin M.; Leavitt, Peter R.
ake surfaces are warming worldwide, raising concerns about lake organism responses to thermal habitat changes. Species may cope with temperature increases by shifting their seasonality or their depth to track suitable thermal habitats, but these responses may be constrained by ecological interactions, life histories or limiting resources. Here we use 32 million temperature measurements from 139 lakes to quantify thermal habitat change (percentage of non-overlap) and assess how this change is exacerbated by potential habitat constraints. Long-term temperature change resulted in an average 6.2% non-overlap between thermal habitats in baseline (1978–1995) and recent (1996–2013) time periods, with non-overlap increasing to 19.4% on aver- age when habitats were restricted by season and depth. Tropical lakes exhibited substantially higher thermal non-overlap com- pared with lakes at other latitudes. Lakes with high thermal habitat change coincided with those having numerous endemic species, suggesting that conservation actions should consider thermal habitat change to preserve lake biodiversity.
Open Access
Cold and alone? Roost choice and season affect torpor patterns in lesser short‑tailed bats
(Springer, 2017) Brigham, R. Mark; HIckey, Anthony J.R.; Parsons, Stuart; Czenze, Zenon J.
Seasonal changes in weather and food availability differentially impact energy budgets of small mammals such as bats. While most thermal physiological research has focused on species that experience extreme seasonal temperature variations, knowledge is lacking from less variable temperate to subtropical climates. We quantified ambient temperature (Ta) and skin temperature (Tsk) responses by individuals from a population of New Zealand lesser shorttailed bats (Mystacina tuberculata) during summer and winter using temperature telemetry. During summer, communal roosts were more thermally stable than Ta. During winter, solitary roosts were warmer than Ta indicating significant thermal buffering. Communal roost trees were used on 83 % of observation days during summer, and individuals occupying them rarely entered torpor. Solitary roosts were occupied on 93 % of observation days during winter, and 100 % of individuals occupying them used torpor. During summer and winter, bats employed torpor on 11 and 95 % of observation days, respectively. Maximum torpor bout duration was 120.8 h and winter torpor bout duration correlated negatively with mean Ta. Torpor bout duration did not differ between sexes, although female minimum Tsk was significantly lower than males. The summer Heterothermy Index varied, and was also significantly affected by Ta. Mean arousal time was correlated with sunset time and arousals occurred most frequently on significantly warmer evenings, which are likely associated with an increased probability of foraging success. We provide the first evidence that torpor is used flexibly throughout the year by M. tuberculata, demonstrating that roost choice and season impact torpor patterns. Our results add to the growing knowledge that even small changes in seasonal climate can have large effects on the energy balance of small mammals.
Open Access
Comparison of isotopic mass balance and instrumental techniques as estimates of basin hydrology in seven connected lakes over 12 years
(Elsevier, 2019-11-22) Haig, H.A.; Hayes, N.M.; Simpson, G.L.; Yi, Y.; Wissel, B.; Hodder, K.R.; Leavitt, P.R.
Mass-balance models using stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen provide useful estimates of the water balance of lakes, particularly in the absence of instrumental data. However, isotopic mass balances are rarely compared directly to measured water fluxes. Here we compared instrumental and isotope-based determinations of water fluxes in seven connected lakes over 12 years to quantify how agreement between the two approaches is affected by lake type and its position in the landscape. Overall, lake-specific ratios of evaporation to inflow (E/I) from instrumental measurements (median, x̃ = 0.06, median absolute deviation, MAD = 0.06) agreed well with isotopic estimates using headwater models (x̃ = 0.14, MAD = 0.08), with the exception of one lake with limited channelized inflow of surface waters (x̃ instrumental = 0.51 vs. x̃ headwater = 0.24). Isotope-instrument agreement improved (x̃ = 0.09 vs. x̃ = 0.03) when basin-specific (‘best-fit’) isotope models also considered local con- nectivity to upstream water bodies. Comparison among years revealed that mean isotopic E/I values were lowest in 2011 (mean, μ = 0.06, standard deviation, σ = 0.09) during a 1-in-140 year spring flood, and highest during a relatively arid year, 2003 (μ = 0.22, σ = 0.19), while interannual variability in E/I generally increased with distance downstream along the mainstem of the watershed. Similar patterns of agreement between methods were recorded for water-residence time. Isotope models also documented the expected low water yield from lake catchments (μ = 36.2 mm yr−1 , σ = 62.3) suggesting that isotope models based on late-summer samples integrate annual inputs from various sources that are difficult to measure with conventional methods. Overall, the strong positive agreement between methods confirms that water isotopes can provide substantial insights into landscape patterns of lake hydrology, even in ungauged systems.
Open Access
Consequences of Fish Kills for Long-Term Trophic Structure in Shallow Lakes: Implications for Theory and Restoration
(Springer, 2016-07-22) Sayer, Carl D.; Davidson, Thomas A.; Rawcliffe, Ruth; Langdon, Peter G.; Leavitt, Peter R.; Cockerton, Georgina; Rose, Neil, L.; Croft, Toby
Fish kills are a common occurrence in shallow, eutrophic lakes, but their ecological consequences, especially in the long term, are poorly understood. We studied the decadal-scale response of two UK shallow lakes to fish kills using a palaeolimnological approach. Eutrophic and turbid Barningham Lake experienced two fish kills in the early 1950s and late 1970s with fish recovering after both events, whereas less eutrophic, macrophyte-dominated Wolterton Lake experienced one kill event in the early 1970s from which fish failed to recover. Our palaeo-data show fish-driven trophic cascade effects across all trophic levels (covering benthic and pelagic species) in both lakes regardless of pre-kill macrophyte coverage and trophic status. In turbid Barningham Lake, similar to long-term studies of biomanipulations in other eutrophic lakes, effects at the macrophyte level are shown to be temporary after the first kill (c. 20 years) and non-existent after the second kill. In plant-dominated Wolterton Lake, permanent fish disappearance failed to halt a long-term pattern of macrophyte community change (for example, loss of charophytes and over-wintering macrophyte species) symptomatic of eutrophication. Important implications for theory and restoration ecology arise from our study. Firstly, our data support ideas of slow eutrophication-driven change in shallow lakes where perturbations are not necessary prerequisites for macrophyte loss. Secondly, the study emphasises a key need for lake managers to reduce external nutrient loading if sustainable and long-term lake restoration is to be achieved. Our research highlights the enormous potential of multi-indicator palaeolimnology and alludes to an important need to consider potential fish kill signatures when interpreting results.
Open Access
Controls of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Natural and Constructed Agricultural Waterbodies on the Northern Great Plains
(2022-11-21) Jensen, Sydney; Webb, Jackie; Simpson, Gavin; Baulch, Helen Margaret; Finlay, Kerri
Inland waters are hotspots of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and small water bodies are now well known to be particularly active in the production and consumption of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). High variability in physical, chemical, and environmental parameters affect the production of these GHG, but currently the mechanistic underpinnings are unclear, leading to high uncertainty in scaling up these fluxes. Here, we compare the relative magnitudes and controls of emissions of all three major GHG in twenty pairs of natural wetland ponds and constructed reservoirs in Canada’s largest agricultural region. While gaseous fluxes of CO2 and CH4 were comparable between the two waterbody types, CH4 ebullition was greater in wetland ponds. Carbon dioxide levels were associated primarily with metabolic indicators in both water body types, with primary productivity paramount in agricultural reservoirs, and heterotrophic metabolism a stronger correlate in wetland ponds. Methane emissions were positively driven by eutrophication in the reservoirs, while competitive inhibition by sulfur-reducing bacteria may have limited CH4 in both waterbody types. Contrary to expectations, N2O was undersaturated in both water body types, with wetlands a significantly stronger and more widespread N2O sink than were reservoirs. These results support the need for natural and constructed water bodies for regional GHG budgets and identification of GHG processing hotspots.
Open Access
Controls of thermal response of temperate lakes to atmospheric warming
(Nature Research, 2023-10-16) Zhou, Jian; Leavitt, Peter R.; Rose, Kevin C.; Wang, Xiwen; Zhang, Yibo; Shi, Kun; Qin, Boqiang
Atmospheric warming heats lakes, but the causes of variation among basins are poorly understood. Here, multi-decadal profiles of water temperatures, trophic state, and local climate from 345 temperate lakes are combined with data on lake geomorphology and watershed characteristics to identify controls of the relative rates of temperature change in water (WT) and air (AT) during summer. We show that differences in local climate (AT, wind speed, humidity, irradiance), land cover (forest, urban, agriculture), geomorphology (elevation, area/depth ratio), and water transparency explain >30% of the difference in rate of lake heating compared to that of the atmosphere. Importantly, the rate of lake heating slows as air warms (P < 0.001). Clear, cold, and deep lakes, especially at high elevation and in undisturbed catchments, are particularly responsive to changes in atmospheric temperature. We suggest that rates of surface water warming may decline relative to the atmosphere in a warmer future, particularly in sites already experiencing terrestrial development or eutrophication.
Open Access
Deeper waters are changing less consistently than surface waters in a global analysis of 102 lakes
(Nature Research, 2020-11-25) Pilla, Rachel M.; Williamson, Craig E.; Adamovich, Boris V.; Adrian, Rita; Anneville, Orlane; Chandra, Sudeep; Colom‑Montero, William; Devlin, Shawn P.; Dix, Margaret A.; Dokulil, Martin T.; Gaiser, Evelyn E.; Girdner, Scott F.; Hambright, K. David; Hamilton, David P.; Havens, Karl; Hessen, Dag O.; Higgins, Scott N.; Huttula, Timo H.; Huuskonen, Hannu; Isles, Peter D. F.; Joehnk, Klaus D.; Jones, Ian D.; Keller, Wendel Bill; Knoll, Lesley B.; Korhonen, Johanna; Kraemer, Benjamin M.; Leavitt, Peter R.; Lepori, Fabio; Luger, Martin S.; Maberly, Stephen C.; Melack, John M.; Melles, Stephanie J.; Müller‑Navarra, Dörthe C.; Pierson, Don C.; Pislegina, Helen V.; Plisnier, Pierre‑Denis; Richardson, David C.; Rimmer, Alon; Rogora, Michela; Rusak, James A.; Sadro, Steven; Salmaso, Nico; Saros, Jasmine E.; Saulnier‑Talbot, Émilie; Schindler, Daniel E.; Schmid, Martin; Shimaraeva, Svetlana V.; Silow, Eugene A.; Sitoki, Lewis M.; Sommaruga, Ruben; Straile, Dietmar; Strock, Kristin E.; Thiery, Wim; Timofeyev, Maxim A.; Verburg, Piet; Vinebrooke, Rolf D.; Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A.; Zadereev, Egor
Globally, lake surface water temperatures have warmed rapidly relative to air temperatures, but changes in deepwater temperatures and vertical thermal structure are still largely unknown. We have compiled the most comprehensive data set to date of long-term (1970–2009) summertime vertical temperature profiles in lakes across the world to examine trends and drivers of whole-lake vertical thermal structure. We found significant increases in surface water temperatures across lakes at an average rate of + 0.37 °C decade−1, comparable to changes reported previously for other lakes, and similarly consistent trends of increasing water column stability (+ 0.08 kg m−3 decade−1). In contrast, however, deepwater temperature trends showed little change on average (+ 0.06 °C decade−1), but had high variability across lakes, with trends in individual lakes ranging from − 0.68 °C decade−1 to + 0.65 °C decade−1. The variability in deepwater temperature trends was not explained by trends in either surface water temperatures or thermal stability within lakes, and only 8.4% was explained by lake thermal region or local lake characteristics in a random forest analysis. These findings suggest that external drivers beyond our tested lake characteristics are important in explaining long-term trends in thermal structure, such as local to regional climate patterns or additional external anthropogenic influences.
Open Access
Differential Controls of Greenhouse Gas (CO2, CH4, and N2O) Concentrations in Natural and Constructed Agricultural Waterbodies on the Northern Great Plains
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2023-04-18) Jensen, Sydney A.
Inland waters are hotspots of greenhouse gas (GHG) cycling, with small water bodies particularly active in the production and consumption of carbon dioxide (CO 2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). However, wetland ponds are being replaced rapidly by small constructed reservoirs in agricultural regions, yet it is unclear whether these two water body types exhibit similar physical, chemical, and environmental controls of GHG content and fluxes. Here, we compared the content and regulatory mechanisms of all three major GHGs in 20 pairs of natural wetland ponds and constructed reservoirs in Canada's largest agricultural region. Carbon dioxide content was associated primarily with metabolic indicators in both water body types; however, primary production was paramount in reservoirs, and heterotrophic metabolism a stronger correlate in wetland ponds. Methane concentrations were correlated positively with eutrophication of the reservoirs alone, while competitive inhibition by sulfur-reducing bacteria may have limited CH 4 in both waterbody types. Contrary to expectations, N 2O was undersaturated in both water body types, with wetlands being a significantly stronger and more widespread N 2O sink. Varying regulatory processes are attributed to differences in age, depth, morphology, and water-column circulation between water body types. These results suggest that natural and constructed water bodies should be modeled separately in regional GHG budgets.
Open Access
Differential stimulation and suppression of phytoplankton growth by ammonium enrichment in eutrophic hardwater lakes over 16 years
(Wiley, 2018-12-07) Swarbrick, Vanessa J.; Simpson, Gavin L.; Glibert, Patricia M.; Leavitt, Peter R.
Previous research suggests that fertilization of surface waters with chemically reduced nitrogen (N), including ammonium (NH4+), may either enhance or suppress phytoplankton growth. To identify the factors influencing the net effect of NH4+, we fertilized natural phytoplankton assemblages from two eutrophic hardwater lakes with growth-saturating concentrations of NH4Cl in 241 incubation experiments conducted biweekly May–August during 1996–2011. Phytoplankton biomass (as chlorophyll a) was significantly (p < 0.05) altered in fertilized trials relative to controls after 72 h in 44.8% of experiments, with a marked rise in both spring suppression and summer stimulation of assemblages over 16 yr, as revealed by generalized additive models (GAMs). Binomial GAMs were used to compare contemporaneous changes in physico-chemical (temperature, Secchi depth, pH, nutrients; 19.5% deviance explained) and biological parameters (phytoplankton community composition; 40.0% deviance explained) to results from fertilization experiments. Models revealed that that the likelihood of growth suppression by NH4+ increased with abundance of diatoms, cryptophytes, and unicellular cyanobacteria, particularly when water temperatures and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations were low. In contrast, phytoplankton was often stimulated by NH4+ when chlorophytes and non-N2-fixing cyanobacteria were abundant, and temperatures and SRP concentrations were high. Progressive intensification of NH4+ effects over 16 yr reflects changes in both spring (cooler water, increased diatoms and cryptophytes) and summer lake conditions (more chlorophytes, earlier cyanobacteria blooms), suggesting that the seasonal effects of NH4+ will vary with future climate change and modes of N enrichment.
Open Access
Effects of experimental nitrogen fertilization on planktonic metabolism and CO2 flux in a hypereutrophic hardwater lake
(Public Library of Science, 2017-12-12) Bogard, Matthew J.; Finlay, Kerri; Waiser, Marley J.; Tumber, Vijay P.; Donald, Derek B.; Wiik, Emma; Simpson, Gavin L.; del Giorgio, Paul A.; Leavitt, Peter R.
Hardwater lakes are common in human-dominated regions of the world and often experience pollution due to agricultural and urban effluent inputs of inorganic and organic nitrogen (N). Although these lakes are landscape hotspots for CO2 exchange and food web carbon (C) cycling, the effect of N enrichment on hardwater lake food web functioning and C cycling patterns remains unclear. Specifically, it is unknown if different eutrophication scenarios (e.g., modest non point vs. extreme point sources) yield consistent effects on auto- and heterotrophic C cycling, or how biotic responses interact with the inorganic C system to shape responses of air-water CO2 exchange. To address this uncertainty, we induced large metabolic gradients in the plankton community of a hypereutrophic hardwater Canadian prairie lake by adding N as urea (the most widely applied agricultural fertilizer) at loading rates of 0, 1, 3, 8 or 18 mg N L-1 week-1 to 3240-L, in-situ mesocosms. Over three separate 21-day experiments, all treatments of N dramatically increased phytoplankton biomass and gross primary production (GPP) two- to six-fold, but the effects of N on autotrophs plateaued at ~3 mg N L-1. Conversely, heterotrophic metabolism increased linearly with N fertilization over the full treatment range. In nearly all cases, N enhanced net planktonic uptake of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and increased the rate of CO2 influx, while planktonic heterotrophy and CO2 production only occurred in the highest N treatments late in each experiment, and even in these cases, enclosures continued to in-gas CO2. Chemical effects on CO2 through calcite precipitation were also observed, but similarly did not change the direction of net CO2 flux. Taken together, these results demonstrate that atmospheric exchange of CO2 in eutrophic hardwater lakes remains sensitive to increasing N loading and eutrophication, and that even modest levels of N pollution are capable of enhancing autotrophy and CO2 in-gassing in P-rich lake ecosystem
Open Access
Effects of lake warming on the seasonal risk of toxic cyanobacteria exposure
(Wiley, 2020-06-18) Hayes, Nicole M.; Haig, Heather A.; Simpson, Gavin L.; Leavitt, Peter R.
Incidence of elevated harmful algal blooms and concentrations of microcystin are increasing globally as a result of human-mediated changes in land use and climate. However, few studies document changes in the seasonal and interannual concentrations of microcystin in lakes. Here, we modeled 11 yr of biweekly microcystin data from six lakes to characterize the seasonal patterns in microcystin concentration and to ascertain if there were pronounced changes in the patterns of potential human exposure to microcystin in lakes of central North America. Bayesian time series analysis with generalized additive models found evidence for a regional increase in microcystin maxima and duration but recorded high variation among lakes. During the past decade, warmer temperatures, but not nutrient levels, led to a marked increase in the number of days when concentrations exceeded drinking and recreational water thresholds set by the World Health Organization and United States Environmental Protection Agency.