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Climate-driven changes in lakes from the Peruvian Andes

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Abstract

The consequences of recent warming in the Andes have been dramatic, most iconically visualized by the rapid retreat of tropical mountain glaciers. Of all the ecosystems in the tropical Andes, lakes have received amongst the least research attention. We examined subfossil diatom and chrysophyte assemblages to chronicle recent (past ~150 years) ecological change in lakes from the Peruvian Andes. We recorded abrupt increases in planktonic diatoms and scaled chrysophytes beginning in the early 1900s. These changes are consistent with enhanced periods of thermal stratification, brought on by rising temperatures that have been documented throughout the Andes. These data indicate that ecological and likely physical limnological changes associated with Anthropocene warming are already under way in tropical high mountain lakes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by NSERC Discovery Awards awarded to JPS and Alexander P Wolfe (Univ Alberta), and a NGS grant to CAC. We thank Mathias Vuille for providing us with the climate data. Pedro Tapia, Alejandro Chu, Alberto Reyes assisted with field work. Helpful comments were provided by Sheri Fritz and two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Neal Michelutti & John P. Smol

  2. Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, Government of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T5K 2M4, Canada

    Colin A. Cooke

  3. St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Science Museum of Minnesota, Marine on St. Croix, MN, 55047, USA

    William O. Hobbs

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  1. Neal Michelutti
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Correspondence to Neal Michelutti.

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Michelutti, N., Cooke, C.A., Hobbs, W.O. et al. Climate-driven changes in lakes from the Peruvian Andes. J Paleolimnol 54, 153–160 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-015-9843-5

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