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Seasonal ecosystem variability in remote mountain lakes: implications for detecting climatic signals in sediment records

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Abstract

Weather variation and climate fluctuations are the main sources of ecosystem variability in remote mountain lakes. Here we describe the main patterns of seasonal variability in the ecosystems of nine lakes in Europe, and discuss the implications for recording climatic features in their sediments. Despite the diversity in latitude and size, the lakes showed a number of common features. They were ice-covered between 5–9 months, and all but one were dimictic. This particular lake was long and shallow, and wind action episodically mixed the water column throughout the ice-free period. All lakes showed characteristic oxygen depletion during the ice-covered-period, which was greater in the most productive lakes. Two types of lakes were distinguished according to the number of production peaks during the ice-free season. Lakes with longer summer stratification tended to have two productive periods: one at the onset of stratification, and the other during the autumn overturn. Lakes with shorter stratification had a single peak during the ice-free period. All lakes presented deep chlorophyll maxima during summer stratification, and subsurface chlorophyll maxima beneath the ice. Phosphorus limitation was common to all lakes, since nitrogen compounds were significantly more abundant than the requirements for the primary production observed. The major chemical components present in the lakes showed a short but extreme dilution during thawing. Certain lake features may favour the recording of particular climatic fluctuations, for instance: lakes with two distinct productive periods, climatic fluctuations in spring or autumn (e.g., through chrysophycean cysts); lakes with higher oxygen consumption, climatic factors affecting the duration of the ice-cover (e.g., through low-oxygen tolerant chironomids); lakes with higher water retention time; changes in atmospheric deposition (e.g., through carbon or pigment burial); lakes with longer stratification, air temperature changes during summer and autumn (e.g., through all epilimnetic species).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 645, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Catalan, M. Ventura, T. Buchaca & L. Camarero

  2. National Institute of Biology, Vecna pot 111, Sl 1000, Ljubliana, Slovenia

    A. Brancelj & M. Šiško

  3. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049, Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain

    I. Granados & M. Toro

  4. Institut für Zoologie und Limnologie, Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    H. Thies

  5. Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, A- 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    U. Nickus

  6. Department of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Hydrology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 17, Helsinki, FIN-00014, Finland

    A. Korhola, M. Rautio & S. Sorvari

  7. Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    A.F. Lotter

  8. Dipartimento del Territorio, SPAA Laboratorio di Studi Ambientali, Riva Paradisco 15, 6900, Lugano-Paradiso, Switzerland

    A. Barbieri

  9. Department of Hydrobiology, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    E. Stuchlík & O. Strunecký

  10. NIVA, Post Box 173, Kjelsås, 0411 Oslo, Norway

    L. Lien

  11. Department of General Ecology, Technical University, Masarykova 24, Zvolen, Slovakia

    P. Bitušík

  12. Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, EAWAG, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600, Düdendorf, Switzerland

    G.H. Goudsmit, G. Lemcke, D.M. Livingstone & B. Müller

  13. Hydrological Institute, AS CR, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    J. Kopáćek

  14. Department of Hydrobiology, Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, SK-942 06, Bratislava, Slovakia

    F. Šporka

  15. CEAB-CSIC, Accés Cala St. Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain

    J. Catalan

Authors
  1. J. Catalan
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  2. M. Ventura
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  3. A. Brancelj
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  4. I. Granados
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  5. H. Thies
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  6. U. Nickus
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  7. A. Korhola
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  8. A.F. Lotter
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  9. A. Barbieri
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  10. E. Stuchlík
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  11. L. Lien
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  12. P. Bitušík
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  13. T. Buchaca
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  14. L. Camarero
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  15. G.H. Goudsmit
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  16. J. Kopáćek
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  17. G. Lemcke
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  18. D.M. Livingstone
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  19. B. Müller
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  20. M. Rautio
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  21. M. Šiško
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  22. S. Sorvari
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  23. F. Šporka
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  24. O. Strunecký
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  25. M. Toro
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Catalan, J., Ventura, M., Brancelj, A. et al. Seasonal ecosystem variability in remote mountain lakes: implications for detecting climatic signals in sediment records. Journal of Paleolimnology 28, 25–46 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020315817235

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