Nutrient dynamics and phytoplankton resource limitation in a deep tropical mountain lake

Corman, Jessica R.; Carlson, Emily M.; Dix, Margaret; Girón, Nancy; Roegner, Amber; Veselá, Jana; Chandra, Sudeep; Elser, James J.; Rejmánková, Eliška

doi:10.5268/iw-5.4.843

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Despite increasing population pressure of over 250,000 people now within the watershed and a booming tourism industry, there is little to no treatment of agricultural and municipal runoff. With the waters of Atitlán dramatically altered by anthropogenic pressures since initial water quality monitoring in the 1970 s (Corman et al 2015), blooms began appearing nearly in 2008. The largest thus far occurred in 2009 with cover over half the lake's area for almost 2 months.…”

Section: Cyanobacterial Blooms At Lake Atitlánmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increased nutrient loading, particularly of nitrogenous wastes, may alter the balance of the lake and cause these potential toxin producers to proliferate (Rejmánková et al 2011). Blooms generally occur toward the beginning of the region's dry season (November through April); however, much of nutrient loading likely occurs during the region's wet season (Corman et al 2015).…”

Section: Cyanobacterial Blooms At Lake Atitlánmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Employing CBPR to investigate function, utility, and longevity of household filters to improve potable water quality for indigenous peoples at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala: a pilot study with San Pedro de La Laguna

Roegner

Ochaeta

Bocel

et al. 2016

Energ. Ecol. Environ.

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Cyanobacterial blooms at Lake Atitlán in Guatemala threaten and compromise the livelihood and health of local residents. Indigenous Tz'utujil, Kaqchikel, and K'iche' rely directly on lake water for drinking, bathing, cleaning, cooking, and fishing. Nonpoint source runoff and untreated wastewater pumped directly into the lake contribute to high fecal pathogen loads into source waters. Concurrent nutrient loading results in cyanobacterial blooms further compromising water quality. A lakeside municipality facing high rates of childhood gastrointestinal illness volunteered to engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR) to evaluate efficacy, utility, and longevity of filters in households. The filters consistently reduced the risk of coliforms and E. coli in household water drawn from the lake based on World Health Organization guidelines. Household surveys were simultaneously administered through a student leadership group regarding water usage, water quality, and community health. Filters demonstrated ability to reduce high loads of fecal indicators from source waters and ability to remove a cyanobacterial toxin (microcystin) at 10 lg/L in deionized water. Further studies are imperative to determine longevity of use in households and CBPR provides a powerful avenue to test efficacy of a possible intervention while engaging stakeholders and empowering community members with sustainable solutions.

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Section: Cyanobacterial Blooms At Lake Atitlánmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cyanobacterial Blooms At Lake Atitlánmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employing CBPR to investigate function, utility, and longevity of household filters to improve potable water quality for indigenous peoples at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala: a pilot study with San Pedro de La Laguna

Roegner

Ochaeta

Bocel

et al. 2016

Energ. Ecol. Environ.

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“…Many point and nonpoint nutrient sources exist in this watershed: untreated sewage, erosion of soils, runoff from fertilized agricultural lands, and effluent water from laundry services. In recent decades, it is believed that increased development in the watershed and poor infrastructure has resulted in increased nutrient loading (phosphorus, nitrogen, and dissolved organic carbon [DOC]) to the lake (Corman et al, ; Rejmankova et al, ). In October 2009, the lake experienced an extensive bloom of a cyanobacterium, Limnoraphis robusta , which covered approximately 40% of the lake surface (Komarek et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Nutrient Limitations and Watershed Inputs on Community Respiration in a Deep, Tropical Lake: Comparison of Pelagic and Littoral Habitats

Weisman

Chandra

Rejmánková

et al. 2018

Water Resources Research

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Community respiration and nutrient limitation are frequently studied in pelagic habitats; however, comparisons of these processes between littoral and pelagic habitats are less common and do not exist from mountain lake ecosystems in the tropics. Community respiration was measured in the littoral benthic and pelagic habitats of a deep, endorheic mountain lake in Guatemala. Community respiration rates were quantified using biochemical oxygen demand within a temperature controlled, dark, laboratory incubation. Community respiration was measured in the pelagic habitat in response to inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, nitrogen and phosphorus, glucose, five different soils, and sewage additions and in the littoral habitat in response to inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, nitrogen and phosphorus, and sewage additions. During all periods, community respiration was higher and more variable in the littoral habitat than in the pelagic habitat. The additions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen and phosphorus had no effect on community respiration, in either habitat. Glucose and four of the five soil additions from various watershed vegetation types significantly stimulated community respiration in the pelagic habitat. Sewage additions elicited the highest response in both pelagic and littoral habitats. We demonstrate that community respiration in a tropical montane lake is not limited by inorganic nitrogen or phosphorus and is not colimited by both nutrients combined. Treatments containing organic carbon and organic nutrients were significant stimulators of community respiration; therefore, organic carbon is likely limiting community respiration in Lake Atitlán.

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“…Further limiting our understanding of tropical lake nutrient dynamics is a relative lack of long-term monitoring efforts in tropical and subtropical lakes (Sarmento 2012). The largest body of work on tropical lakes are studies of the African Great Lakes (Talling and Lemoalle 1998; Guildford and Hecky 2000; Hecky 2000; Bootsma and Hecky 2003; Llirós et al 2012;), with some notable exceptions such as work done in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala (Corman et al 2015; Weisman et al 2018) and in several Brazilian reservoirs (Pinto Coelho 1998; Tundisi et al 2004). While studies of the African Great Lakes have made invaluable contributions to tropical limnology, the distinct lack of comparable research in other regions of the tropics and in lakes differing in size and stratification regime (Cael and Seekell 2016; Dodds and Whiles 2019) may bias our understanding of tropical limnology towards these unique ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While tropical lakes are not exclusively N limited (Melack et al 1982; Kalff 1983; Elser et al 2007), N limitation has been reported to be more common at lower latitudes than in temperate lakes (Prowse and Talling 1958; Talling 1969; Lewis 1974). However, discerning patterns of N limitation across the tropics may be complicated by shifting states of limitation driven by gradual climate changes (Ballantyne et al 2011) and acute changes caused by extreme weather events (Corman et al 2015). Understanding how interactive global and local effects alter biogeochemical pathways in tropical lakes will require coordinated and continuous research efforts aimed at evaluating the underlying mechanisms of ecosystem change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interaction of physical structure and nutrient loading drives ecosystem change in a large tropical lake over 40 years

Fadum

Hall

2020

Preprint

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Lakes across the world are experiencing novel trophic states, declining water quality, and altered biogeochemical cycling due to the synergistic impacts of global change and local anthropogenic stressors. In the tropics these changes can be difficult to assess due to a lack of continuous monitoring or documented legacy conditions to serve as a reference for the contemporary lake. Over the last forty years, Lake Yojoa, located in west central Honduras, has shifted from an oligotrophic to mesotrophic ecosystem as evidenced by a loss of water clarity. To assess the changes that have occurred in Lake Yojoa as well as putative drivers for those changes, we compared secchi depth, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and total phosphorus concentrations between 1979-1983 and today (2018-2020). While we found little change in total phosphorus between legacy and contemporary data, we found concurrent changes to seasonal trends in secchi depth and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). Seasonal peaks in DIN coincident with mixus suggest that accumulation of ammonium in the hypolimnion during stratification, and release to the epilimnion with mixus maintains algal productivity in what was previously a nutrient-limited, clear water phase, driving a change in the overall trophic state of Lake Yojoa. This impact of seasonal dynamics on the trophic state of the lake illustrates a key distinction in how physical structure and nutrients interact differently in tropical and temperate lake ecosystems and highlights the importance of warm anoxic hypolimnions to the biogeochemistry that governs the trophic state of tropical lake ecosystems.

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Nutrient dynamics and phytoplankton resource limitation in a deep tropical mountain lake

Cited by 12 publications

References 58 publications

Employing CBPR to investigate function, utility, and longevity of household filters to improve potable water quality for indigenous peoples at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala: a pilot study with San Pedro de La Laguna

Employing CBPR to investigate function, utility, and longevity of household filters to improve potable water quality for indigenous peoples at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala: a pilot study with San Pedro de La Laguna

Effects of Nutrient Limitations and Watershed Inputs on Community Respiration in a Deep, Tropical Lake: Comparison of Pelagic and Littoral Habitats

The interaction of physical structure and nutrient loading drives ecosystem change in a large tropical lake over 40 years

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