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Water quality of Loch Leven: responses to enrichment, restoration and climate change

  • LOCH LEVEN RESEARCH
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Book cover Loch Leven: 40 years of scientific research

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 218))

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Abstract

It is usually assumed that climate change will have negative impacts on water quality and hinder restoration efforts. The long-term monitoring at Loch Leven shows, however, that seasonal changes in temperature and rainfall may have positive and negative impacts on water quality. In response to reductions in external nutrient loading, there have been significant reductions in in-lake phosphorus concentrations. Annual measures of chlorophyll a have, however, shown little response to these reductions. Warmer spring temperatures appear to be having a positive effect on Daphnia densities and this may be the cause of reduced chlorophyll a concentrations in spring and an associated improvement in water clarity in May and June. The clearest climate impact was the negative relationship between summer rainfall and chlorophyll a concentrations. This is highlighted in extreme weather years, with the three wettest summers having very low chlorophyll a concentrations and the driest summers having high concentrations. To predict water quality impacts of future climate change, there is a need for more seasonal predictions from climate models and a greater recognition that water quality is the outcome of seasonal responses in different functional groups of phytoplankton and zooplankton to a range of environmental drivers.

Guest editors: L. May & B. M. Spears / Loch Leven: 40 years of scientific research

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Acknowledgements

Most of the sample collection and analysis for this research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council with additional support from the European Union (FP6 Integrated Project ‘Euro-limpacs: European project to evaluate impacts of global change on freshwater ecosystems’ GOCE-CT-2003-505540). The authors also gratefully acknowledge Kinross Estates for providing access to the loch and for assistance with fieldwork. Loch Leven is part of the UK Environmental Change Network (http://www.ecn.ac.uk/).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK

    L. Carvalho, B. M. Spears, I. D. M. Gunn, A. Kirika & L. May

  2. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QW, UK

    C. Miller

  3. Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    H. Bennion

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  1. L. Carvalho
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Correspondence to L. Carvalho .

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  1. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh Bush Estate, EH26 0QB, Penicuik, Midlothian, United Kingdom

    Linda May  & Bryan M. Spears  & 

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Carvalho, L. et al. (2011). Water quality of Loch Leven: responses to enrichment, restoration and climate change. In: May, L., Spears, B.M. (eds) Loch Leven: 40 years of scientific research. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 218. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4333-5_5

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