Catchment biogeochemistry modifies long-term effects of acidic deposition on chemistry of mountain lakes

With decreases in acid deposition, nitrogen : phosphorus (N:P) ratios in lakes are anticipated to decline, decreasing P limitation of phytoplankton and potentially changing current food web dynamics. This effect could be particularly pronounced in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, a historic hotspot for effects of acid deposition. In this study, we evaluate spatial patterns of nutrient dynamics in Adirondack lakes and use these to infer potential future temporal trends. We calculated Mann–Kendall tau correlations among total phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll a, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), and nitrate (NO3−) concentrations in 52 Adirondack Long Term Monitoring (ALTM) program lakes using samples collected monthly during 2008–2012. We evaluated the hypothesis that decreased atmospheric N and S deposition will decrease P limitation in freshwater ecosystems historically impacted by acidification. We also compared these patterns among lake watershed characteristics (i.e., seepage or lacking a surface outlet, chain drainage, headwater drainage, thin glacial till, medium glacial till). We found that correlations (P < 0.05) were highly dependent upon the different hydrologic flowpaths of seepage vs. drainage lakes. Differentiations among watershed till depth were also important in determining correlations due to water interaction with surficial geology. Additionally, we found low NO3−:TP (N:P mass) values in seepage lakes (2.0 in winter, 1.9 in summer) compared to chain drainage lakes (169.4 in winter, 49.5 in summer) and headwater drainage lakes (97.0 in winter, 10.9 in summer), implying a high likelihood of future shifts in limitation patterns for seepage lakes. With increasing DOC and decreasing NO3− concentrations coinciding with decreases in acid deposition, there is reason to expect changes in nutrient dynamics in Adirondack lakes. Seepage lakes may become N‐limited, while drainage lakes may become less P‐limited, both resulting in increased productivity. Long‐term measurements of TP and chlorophyll a from the Adirondacks are needed to inform how future decreases in atmospheric N and S deposition will influence the trophic status of lake ecosystems throughout the region.

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“…, Kopácek et al. ,). Though there are other sources of P, DOM is the primary transporter of this nutrient to remote lakes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Previous studies have found that terrestrial mobility of P, driven by soil retention and size of the watershed, drives water concentration of TP and trophic status (Kopácˇek et al. , 2015 a , Kanˇa et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of nutrient dynamics in Adirondack lakes recovering from acid deposition

Gerson

Driscoll

Roy

2016

Ecological Applications

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“…The steepest increase in Ca 2+ concentrations in Tatra Mountain lakes occurs in the same type of lakes that have increasing nutrient concentrations, including P (Kopáček et al 2015b;. These parallel trends in Ca and P concentrations suggest that elevated weathering rates due to climate change also could contribute to the increased P leaching in some alpine catchments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Positive relationships between lake water DOC and TP concentrations (Kopáček et al 2015b; Fig. 4) may be associated with their linked export from soils.…”

Section: Nutrientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change accelerates recovery of the Tatra Mountain lakes from acidification and increases their nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations

et al. 2019

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We evaluated changes in the concentration of cations, anions, nutrients (dissolved organic carbon, DOC; phosphorus, P; and nitrogen forms including nitrate, NO3and total organic nitrogen, TON), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) in 31 Tatra Mountain lakes in Slovakia and Poland during their recovery from acidic deposition (1992-2018). Typical effects of decreasing acidic deposition on the lakes' water composition, such as decreasing base cation concentrations, were confounded by climate change and catchment characteristics, including areal proportions of well-developed soils and scree. A climate-related increase in physical erosion provided freshly exposed unweathered granodiorite (the dominant bedrock) to chemical weathering. Dissolution of accessory calcite in the granodiorite increased the in-lake Ca 2+ and HCO3concentrations and reversed the Ca 2+ trends, which originally decreased in parallel with strong acid anions. These changes were most pronounced in steep, scree-rich areas, which are most sensitive to physical weathering. Fresh apatite [Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH)] in the crushed granodiorite acts as a P source at soil pH's between 4 and 5 and in the presence of chelating organic acids within soils. These conditions enhance apatite solubility, which in part explains increasing P in lakes with scree-dominated catchments. Soil recovery from acidification due to decreasing acidic deposition and the neutralizing effect of weathering of erosion-derived accessory calcite were the most likely causes of elevated DOC and P export from soils. Their elevated leaching was accompanied by increasing in-lake concentrations of Chl-a and TON. The increasing TON concentrations were, as for Ca 2+ , most pronounced in the scree-rich catchments, and represented the most sensitive indicator of the changes in the lake water nutrient composition.

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“…Successful indices of change in lake sediment cores were developed. These took advantage of the sensitivity of diatom, chrysophyte, and some invertebrate species assemblages to lake pH, and synchronous changes in heavy metal concentrations that were indicative of industrial emission sources and biogeochemical/biological responses (Charles et al, 1989;Cumming et al, 1992;Evans et al, 2001;Kopáček et al, 2015a). Since 1980 and with the advent of controls on industrial emissions and socio-economic changes in industrial and agricultural production, there has been some recovery from acidification in certain lakes.…”

Section: Insights From Paleolimnology On the Effects Of Atmospheric Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mountain lakes: Eyes on global environmental change

Moser

Baron

Brahney

et al. 2019

Global and Planetary Change

221

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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Catchment biogeochemistry modifies long-term effects of acidic deposition on chemistry of mountain lakes

Cited by 24 publications

References 71 publications

Patterns of nutrient dynamics in Adirondack lakes recovering from acid deposition

Patterns of nutrient dynamics in Adirondack lakes recovering from acid deposition

Climate change accelerates recovery of the Tatra Mountain lakes from acidification and increases their nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations

Mountain lakes: Eyes on global environmental change

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