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

Fadum, Jemma; Hall, Edward K.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154454

Cited by 7 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Laboratory and statistical analyses. Lab analyses were consistent with previous research we have conducted for Lake Yojoa 19 . Briefly, Chl-a was measured on a 10-AU fluorometer (Turner Designs Part No.…”

Section: Samplingsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The watershed experiences persistently warm temperatures (annual mean air temperature = 23.4 C in 2019), with the warmest months corresponding with the monsoon season. The majority of precipitation (~ 85%) falls between June and October (based on 2019 measurements) and overlaps with Lake Yojoa's stratified water column months (typically April to November) 19 . An industrial net-pen Tilapia aquaculture operation, located in the northern region of the lake, likely contributes large quantities of nutrients to Lake Yojoa 19 , with additional allochthonous nutrients being delivered during the monsoon season.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of precipitation (~ 85%) falls between June and October (based on 2019 measurements) and overlaps with Lake Yojoa's stratified water column months (typically April to November) 19 . An industrial net-pen Tilapia aquaculture operation, located in the northern region of the lake, likely contributes large quantities of nutrients to Lake Yojoa 19 , with additional allochthonous nutrients being delivered during the monsoon season. El Mochito mine, located in the western region of the watershed has contributed heavy metals to Lake Yojoa's sediments since production began in 1948 20 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent decades, Lake Yojoa has transitioned from an oligotrophic to mesotrophic ecosystem with an annual mean Secchi depth of just over 3 m (compared to over 7 m in the 1980s) 19 . One key mechanism for maintaining Lake Yojoa's recently elevated trophic state is intra-annual hypolimnetic nutrient accumulation during seasonal stratification (typically April to November) combined with nutrient release to the photic zone during annual mixing 19 . Therefore, changes in nutrient concentrations in both surface and deep waters is a critical metric for understanding trophic state development in this ecosystem.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Trophic state resilience to hurricane disturbance of Lake Yojoa, Honduras

Fadum

Waters

Hall

2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cyclones are a poorly described disturbance in tropical lakes, with the potential to alter ecosystems and compromise the services they provide. In November 2020, Hurricanes Eta and Iota made landfall near the Nicaragua-Honduras border, inundating the region with a large amount of late-season precipitation. To understand the impact of these storms on Lake Yojoa, Honduras, we compared 2020 and 2021 conditions using continuous (every 16 days) data collected from five pelagic locations. The storms resulted in increased Secchi depth and decreased algal abundance in December 2020, and January and February 2021, and lower-than-average accumulation of hypolimnetic nutrients from the onset of stratification (April 2021) until mixus in November 2021. Despite the reduced hypolimnetic nutrient concentrations, epilimnetic nutrient concentrations returned to (and in some cases exceeded) pre-hurricane levels following annual water column turnover in 2021. This response suggests that Lake Yojoa’s trophic state had only an ephemeral response to the disturbance imposed by the two hurricanes, likely due to internal input of sediment derived nutrients. These aseasonal storms acted as a large-scale experiment that resulted in nutrient dilution and demonstrated the resilience of Lake Yojoa’s trophic state to temporary nutrient reductions.

show abstract

Section: Samplingsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Trophic state resilience to hurricane disturbance of Lake Yojoa, Honduras

Fadum

Waters

Hall

2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conversely, Valle de Bravo Reservoir, Mexico, is N limited when the water column is stratified (Ramírez-Zierold et al, 2010;Figure 1a; Study 23) before transitioning to a state of P limitation when the water column is mixed (Merino-Ibarra et al, 2008;Figure 1a; Study 16). Depletion of reactive N in the water column during stratification, followed by subsequent introduction of hypolimnetic N during mixus that alleviates N limitation, has been documented in other tropical monomictic systems, such as Lake Titicaca (Vincent et al, 1984;Wurtsbaugh et al, 1985;Figure 1a; Studies 33 and 34, respectively) and Lake Yojoa (Fadum & Hall, 2022).…”

Section: Seasonalitymentioning

confidence: 87%

Nitrogen is unlikely to consistently limit primary productivity in most tropical lakes

Fadum

Hall

2023

Ecosphere

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite mounting evidence that tropical lakes may experience an array of phytoplankton nutrient limitation regimes, references to low‐latitude lakes being predominantly nitrogen limited remain common in the literature. To assess the current understanding of nutrient limitation regimes in tropical lakes, we performed a literature review with the following objectives: First, quantify and summarize observations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and colimitation in the collected studies. Second, identify common drivers of tropical nutrient limitation regimes. Third, provide literature‐informed recommendations for future research efforts into nutrient limitation of tropical lakes. We report that not only is N not the dominant limiting nutrient in the reviewed lakes, but tropical lakes exhibit a wide range of nutrient limitation regimes, and there is often considerable heterogeneity of the dominant limiting nutrient within an individual lake. This heterogeneity is driven largely by seasonal patterns of water column stratification and precipitation, land use and land cover (LULC), and the interaction of these system characteristics with lake morphology. To accurately characterize nutrient limitation in tropical aquatic ecosystems, assessments need to include sampling across space and time in order to capture within‐lake spatial heterogeneity and both inter‐ and intra‐annual temporal variation. Whenever possible, both inferential and experimental approaches should be used in concert to determine nutrient limitation due to methodological limitations.

show abstract