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Resource ratio and human impact: how diatom assemblages in Lake Maggiore responded to oligotrophication and climatic variability

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Phytoplankton responses to human impacts at different scales

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 221))

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Abstract

Diatoms have been often used to track trophic changes from sedimentary records: recent studies demonstrated that these organisms can even be valuable indicators of climatic variability, although it is often difficult to discriminate the role of trophic and climatic drivers. Moving from the hypothesis that oligotrophication and climate affected the composition of the diatom assemblages by changing the resource ratio, we analysed the vernal diatoms succession in Lake Maggiore, between 1984 and 2007, using multivariate techniques (cluster analysis, canonical correspondence analysis, multivariate regression trees), in order to single out the oligotrophication effects from those attributable to climatic variability. Our results point out that Si, TP, temperature and wind emerged as key explanatory variables in species selection, with a stronger link between trophic and climatic drivers after the lake reached a stable oligotrophic status. Peculiar climate-driven events (deep mixing and floods) affected the in-lake Si:P ratio, giving an advantage to diatoms that are excellent P, but poor Si competitors. The classical role of Fragilaria and Tabellaria as early-warning indicators of eutrophication should be reconsidered, taking into account that both can be useful indicators of climate change, when links between their physiological resource needs and environmental data coming from robust limnological investigations can be established.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR, Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi, Largo Tonolli 50, 28922, Verbania-Pallanza, Italy

    Giuseppe Morabito, Alessandro Oggioni & Martina Austoni

  2. Unità Organizzativa di Supporto, CNR – Istituto per il Rilevamento Elettromagnetico dell’Ambiente, Via Bassini 15, 20133 , Milano, Italy

    Alessandro Oggioni

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  1. Giuseppe Morabito
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  2. Alessandro Oggioni
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  3. Martina Austoni
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Morabito .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all'Adige, Department of Sustainable Agroecosystem, IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Via E. Mach 1, 38010, S. Michele all’Adige, Trento, Italy

    Nico Salmaso , Leonardo Cerasino  & Giovanna Flaim ,  & 

  2. Department of Environmental Biology and Department of Botanical Sciences, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 38, 90123, Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Luigi Naselli-Flores

  3. Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all'Adige, Department of Sustainable Agroecosystem, IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Via E. Mach 1, 13810, S. Michele all’Adige, Trento, Italy

    Monica Tolotti

  4. Institute of Environmental Science, Dept. of Limnology, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10, 8200, Veszprém, Hungary

    Judit Padisák

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Morabito, G., Oggioni, A., Austoni, M. (2012). Resource ratio and human impact: how diatom assemblages in Lake Maggiore responded to oligotrophication and climatic variability. In: Salmaso, N., Naselli-Flores, L., Cerasino, L., Flaim, G., Tolotti, M., Padisák, J. (eds) Phytoplankton responses to human impacts at different scales. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 221. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5790-5_5

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