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Changes in diatom assemblages since pre-industrial times in 40 reference lakes from the Experimental Lakes Area (northwestern Ontario, Canada)

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Abstract

Diatom assemblages in recent versus pre-industrial sediments were examined in 40 relatively undisturbed lakes from the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). The ELA region of northwestern Ontario receives low amounts of acidic deposition and the lakes have been minimally disturbed by watershed development or other human activities. Consequently, this region represents an important location to detect possible changes in lakes due to climate change. In over half of the lakes, planktonic taxa (especially Discostella stelligera) increased between 10 and 40% since pre-industrial times. Changes in diatom assemblages are consistent with taxa that would benefit from enhanced stratification and a longer ice-free season. We hypothesized that there should be a relationship between stratification and measured chemical and physical characteristics of the study lakes. Multiple correlation analysis was undertaken to see the relationship between planktonic taxa and D. stelligera since pre-industrial times and the physical and chemical characteristics of the study lakes. Lake depth was consistently identified as an important variable. The timing of the increase in planktonic taxa within cores from these lakes will be needed to rule out other possible regional changes that may also be occurring in the ELA region.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the assistance of Christina Clarke, Chris Lorenz, Erin MacMillan, and Shelley Wilkinson for providing assistance with logistics and coring. This manuscript was improved with comments from Drs. K. Laird and K. Rühland. Funding for analyses and some of the fieldwork was provided by a grant to BFC under the Best in Science program of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, with additional funding for fieldwork provided by a NSERC Discovery Grant to BFC.

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  1. Mihaela D. Enache

    Present address: The Academy of Natural Sciences, Patrick Center for Environmental Research, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL), Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Mihaela D. Enache & Brian F. Cumming

  2. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Dorset Environmental Science Centre, 1026 Bellwood Acres Road, P.O. Box 39, Dorset, ON, P0A 1EO, Canada

    Andrew M. Paterson

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  1. Mihaela D. Enache
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Correspondence to Mihaela D. Enache.

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Enache, M.D., Paterson, A.M. & Cumming, B.F. Changes in diatom assemblages since pre-industrial times in 40 reference lakes from the Experimental Lakes Area (northwestern Ontario, Canada). J Paleolimnol 46, 1–15 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9504-2

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