Climate change is affecting lake stratification with consequences for water quality and the benefits that lakes provide to society. Here we use long‐term temperature data (1970–2010) from 26 lakes around the world to show that climate change has altered lake stratification globally and that the magnitudes of lake stratification changes are primarily controlled by lake morphometry (mean depth, surface area, and volume) and mean lake temperature. Deep lakes and lakes with high average temperatures have experienced the largest changes in lake stratification even though their surface temperatures tend to be warming more slowly. These results confirm that the nonlinear relationship between water density and water temperature and the strong dependence of lake stratification on lake morphometry makes lake temperature trends relatively poor predictors of lake stratification trends.

Climate warming is expected to have large effects on ecosystems in part due to the temperature dependence of metabolism. The responses of metabolic rates to climate warming may be greatest in the tropics and at low elevations because mean temperatures are warmer there and metabolic rates respond exponentially to temperature (with exponents >1). However, if warming rates are sufficiently fast in higher latitude/elevation lakes, metabolic rate responses to warming may still be greater there even though metabolic rates respond exponentially to temperature. Thus, a wide range of global patterns in the magnitude of metabolic rate responses to warming could emerge depending on global patterns of temperature and warming rates. Here we use the Boltzmann-Arrhenius equation, published estimates of activation energy, and time series of temperature from 271 lakes to estimate long-term (1970-2010) changes in 64 metabolic processes in lakes. The estimated responses of metabolic processes to warming were usually greatest in tropical/low-elevation lakes even though surface temperatures in higher latitude/elevation lakes are warming faster. However, when the thermal sensitivity of a metabolic process is especially weak, higher latitude/elevation lakes had larger responses to warming in parallel with warming rates. Our results show that the sensitivity of a given response to temperature (as described by its activation energy) provides a simple heuristic for predicting whether tropical/low-elevation lakes will have larger or smaller metabolic responses to warming than higher latitude/elevation lakes. Overall, we conclude that the direct metabolic consequences of lake warming are likely to be felt most strongly at low latitudes and low elevations where metabolism-linked ecosystem services may be most affected.

Wet and dry atmospheric fluxes of total phosphorus (TP) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) measured at four sites over a 12-month period were used to estimate lake-wide atmospheric phosphorus (P) deposition to Lake Victoria, East Africa. Atmospheric samples were collected in plastic buckets with top diameter of 25.5 cm by 30 cm deep. The highest P loading rates of 2.7 (TP) and 0.8 (SRP) kg ha À2 year À1 were measured at Mwanza compared to less than 1.9 (TP) and 0.65 (SRP) kg ha À2 year À1 measured in other three sites. By applying these loading rates to the lake surface, it was estimated that 13.5 ktons (13.5 · 10 3 kg) of TP were deposited annually into the lake from the atmosphere. Thirty-two percent of the total was found to be in the SRP form. Dryfall, a component ignored in previous studies exceeded wet deposition by contributing 75% of the total P input. However, materials deposited by dryfall made a lesser contribution to soluble form of phosphorus, as SRP concentrations in the wet samples were 2-3 times higher than SRP concentrations in dry samples. The annual fluxes of phosphorus measured on the south and western shores of Lake Victoria (1.8-2.7 kg ha À2 year À1 ) are near the upper range of similar fluxes measured in the tropics. In comparison with the existing estimates of municipal and runoff P inputs from other studies, it is estimated that atmospheric deposition represent 55% of the total phosphorus input to the Lake Victoria. The four sampling sites were fairly clustered and wet and dry P deposition data were collected from shore/land stations and applied to open lake areas to estimate lake-wide P deposition. In this regard, the estimates determined here should be viewed as a first order approximation of actual P load deposited into the lake.

Among the many negative impacts of invasive species, hybridization with indigenous species has increasingly become recognized as a major issue. However, relatively few studies have characterized the phenotypic outcomes of hybridization following biological invasions. Here we investigate the genetic and morphological consequences of stocking invasive tilapia species in two water bodies in central Tanzania. We sampled individuals from the Mindu Reservoir on the Ruvu river system, and at Kidatu on the Great Ruaha–Rufiji river system. We screened individuals at 16 microsatellite loci, and quantified morphology using geometric morphometrics and linear measurements. In both the Mindu and Kidatu systems, we identified evidence of hybridization between indigenous Wami tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis) and the introduced Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) or blue-spotted tilapia (Oreochromis leucostictus). At both sites, purebred individuals could largely be separated using geometric morphometric variables, with hybrids occupying a broad morphospace among the parental species. Our data demonstrate that the gene pools and phenotypic identity of the indigenous O. urolepis have been severely impacted by the stocking of the invasive species. Given the lack of evidence for clear commercial benefits from stocking invasive tilapia species in waters already populated by indigenous congenerics, we suggest further spread of introduced species should be undertaken with considerable caution.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10592-018-1088-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.