Browsing by Subject "palaeolimnology"
Now showing items 1-2 of 2
-
(2021)Aims of this study. Previous studies have shown cyanobacterial dominance and harmful cyanobacterial blooms to increase due to recent climate warming. The increase of aggressively blooming species and toxin-producing strains of cyanobacteria has been predicted to further increase in the future. However, information on the response of cyanobacteria communities to environmental forcing in the Arctic region – which is experiencing warming at over twice the rate compared to the global average – has been insufficient. Thus, it is crucial to study how algal and cyanobacterial communities have developed after industrialization to better understand and predict future trends of subarctic algal communities as well as changes within cyanobacteria communities experiencing environmental forcing. This study aims to provide information on the effect of recent climate warming and lake browning on algal communities in subarctic lakes, with a special focus on cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins. Materials and methods. Modern and historical primary producer group abundances of 23 subarctic lakes located on an ideal temperature and vegetation gradient were studied using sedimentary algal pigments as a proxy. The top-bottom method was used to study both changes within algal communities during the last ca. 150 years and the broader trends in algal communities of subarctic lakes. Pigment data was analyzed together with environmental data using ordination analyses (principal component analysis (PCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA)) as well as other statistical analyses in order to determine possible trends of change and to reveal the environmental variables that have the strongest impact on cyanobacterial abundance. Results and conclusions. Algal communities have changed during the last ca. 150 years and show a general trend of increased primary production as well as lake browning in the spruce, pine and birch (SPB) vegetation zone. Siliceous algae generally dominate modern algal communities, and relative abundances of cyanobacteria have declined throughout the vegetation gradient. Within the Barren (Ba)- and mountain birch woodland (MBW) vegetation zones, cyanobacteria communities show a marked decline in the abundance of assumed benthic species based on pigment data, and low abundances of planktic picocyanobacteria. However, due to climate warming and lake browning, abundances of cyanobacteria have increased in several sites within the SPB vegetation zone and are suspected to indicate an increase of harmful planktic species. The most significant environmental variables controlling the abundance of cyanobacteria were total phosphorus, temperature and the amount of organic matter. The results highlight the urgent need to mitigate climate warming in order to preserve the unique biota and characteristics of Arctic and subarctic lake ecosystems, and to prevent the possible harmful increase of cyanotoxins in these sensitive ecosystems.
-
(2021)The changes in lake diatom assemblages as a response to climate warming over the past three decades were examined in 26 lakes across Northwestern Finnish Lapland using multivariate statistical techniques. The lakes are distributed along a steep climatic and vegetational gradient, covering three distinct vegetation zones spanning boreal coniferous forest, mountain birch woodland, and treeless tundra. Lakes were selected following a study realised by Weckström and Korhola in 2001, who had sampled the same lakes for surface-sediment diatom assemblages, physical, and chemical limnological variables. Climate data from the past 30 years was retrieved, showing a slow and steady yearly increase in temperature, with strong seasonal fluctuation and fall months experiencing the strongest warming. Surface sediment samples were taken from the lakes and their diatom communities analysed. A total of 185 diatom taxa representing 27 genera were recorded. Ordination techniques (DCA, CCA) at the genus and species level were performed to identify the main patterns of variation between diatom data from the original data set and the current study, and their relationship to environmental variables. Strong changes were recorded in four of the lakes with major shifts in dominant diatom species. Moderate changes were recorded in eight lakes, where dominance changes were recorded for a few species while the majority remained unchanged. The remaining 14 lakes did not show noticeable changes over the 30-year period. Changes observed in the studied lakes did not follow a widely observed pattern in northern Hemisphere lakes. The results indicate that while climate change is a driving factor behind changing lake dynamics with increasing temperatures and decreasing lake ice cover duration, it cannot be the only force responsible.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2