Lake Restoration and Management in a Climate Change Perspective: An Introduction

Abstract

Lakes all around the globe are under severe pressure due to an increasing anthropogenic impact from a growing population in a more developed world. Accordingly, today, many lakes are highly eutrophic and suffer from severe blooms of often toxic cyanobacteria and may become even more eutrophic in the future unless strong lake management actions are taken. Recent research has further shown that global warming and subsequent changes in water use will further exacerbate the eutrophication process in lakes. There is therefore a growing demand for lake restoration and insight into sustainable lake management. The measures to be taken, however, depend on the climate and other local conditions. This special issue addresses lake restoration and management with special emphasis on the restoration of eutrophicated lakes within a climate change perspective. The papers included collectively highlight that the ongoing climate change affects lake water quality by (1) changes in external and internal nutrient loading; (2) higher frequency of extreme events (such as hurricanes); (3) temperature-induced changes in biota, biotic interactions; and (4) water level. Lower nutrient loading is therefore needed in a future warmer world to achieve the same ecological state as today. Several papers discuss lake restoration methods within a climate change perspective and show practical results, notably of various attempts of biomanipulation. Finally, some papers discuss the effects of other anthropogenic stressors and their interaction with climate.

Potential anthropogenic regime shifts in three freshwater lakes in Tropical East Asia

“…Climate warming can be both a gradually varying driver of ecological change, and an inducer of abrupt ecosystem shocks (e.g. through an increased frequency of powerful storms; Jeppesen, Søndergaard, & Liu, ; Winder & Sommer, ). Warming can impact the strength and persistence of stratification and the extent, severity, and duration of hypoxia (Jenny et al., ; Kraemer et al., ).…”

“…through an increased frequency of powerful storms; Jeppesen, Søndergaard, & Liu, 2017;. Warming can impact the strength and persistence of stratification and the extent, severity, and duration of hypoxia (Jenny et al, 2014;Kraemer et al, 2015).…”

Seeking alternative stable states in a deep lake

“…Because man-made eutrophication has been held up as the most important threat on lake water quality over the last 60 years (Schindler, 2006), primary management actions have consisted of controlling and reducing external nutrient loadings into lakes (Jeppesen, Søndergaard, & Liu, 2017). These initiatives have been successful in some cases (Edmondson, 1991), but most of the time, result in incomplete recovery (Sas, 1989) and decades-long delays in lake response .…”

A Simplistic Approach for Assessing Hydroclimatic Vulnerability of Lakes and Reservoirs with Regulated Superficial Outflow

“…If the worst predictions of general circulation models (GCMs) about climate change become true, then lakes/reservoirs (LRs) will hardly manage to maintain their current conditions not only in terms of quantity but also of quality [5][6][7][8][9]. Under such conditions, the local authorities will face great challenges for setting strict measures able to preserve and restore the conditions of LRs [10][11][12][13] especially in regions which have been identified as climate change hot spots such as the Mediterranean Basin [14].…”