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Anoxia begets anoxia: A positive feedback to the deoxygenation of temperate lakes

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17046· OSTI ID:2228767
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [1];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13];  [14];  [15];  [16];  [15];  [17];  [18] more »;  [19];  [1] « less
  1. Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia USA
  2. Interdisciplinary Environmental Research Centre Technical University of Mining and Resources Freiberg Freiberg Germany
  3. Department of Natural Resources and the Environment and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Cornell University Ithaca New York USA
  4. Department of Biological Sciences Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York USA
  5. The Kinneret Limnological Laboratory Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Migdal Israel
  6. Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho Moscow Idaho USA
  7. Norwegian Institute of Water Research Oslo Norway
  8. Lake Ecosystems Group UK Centre for Ecology &, Hydrology Lancaster UK
  9. Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Stechlin Germany, Department of Biochemistry and Biology Potsdam University Potsdam Germany
  10. Prince Albert National Park Parks Canada Saskatchewan Canada
  11. Department of Civil Engineering Universidade da Coruña A Coruña Spain
  12. School of Natural Resources University of Missouri‐Columbia Columbia Missouri USA
  13. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research University of Colorado Boulder Colorado USA
  14. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge Tennessee USA
  15. New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Concord New Hampshire USA
  16. Department of Ecology Universität Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria
  17. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Wellington New Zealand
  18. 7 Lakes Alliance Belgrade Lakes Maine USA
  19. Department of Ecology and Genetics/Limnology Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden
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Abstract

Declining oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of lakes worldwide pose a pressing environmental and societal challenge. Existing theory suggests that low deep‐water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations could trigger a positive feedback through which anoxia (i.e., very low DO) during a given summer begets increasingly severe occurrences of anoxia in following summers. Specifically, anoxic conditions can promote nutrient release from sediments, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth, and subsequent phytoplankton decomposition can fuel heterotrophic respiration, resulting in increased spatial extent and duration of anoxia. However, while the individual relationships in this feedback are well established, to our knowledge, there has not been a systematic analysis within or across lakes that simultaneously demonstrates all of the mechanisms necessary to produce a positive feedback that reinforces anoxia. Here, we compiled data from 656 widespread temperate lakes and reservoirs to analyze the proposed anoxia begets anoxia feedback. Lakes in the dataset span a broad range of surface area (1–126,909 ha), maximum depth (6–370 m), and morphometry, with a median time‐series duration of 30 years at each lake. Using linear mixed models, we found support for each of the positive feedback relationships between anoxia, phosphorus concentrations, chlorophyll a concentrations, and oxygen demand across the 656‐lake dataset. Likewise, we found further support for these relationships by analyzing time‐series data from individual lakes. Our results indicate that the strength of these feedback relationships may vary with lake‐specific characteristics: For example, we found that surface phosphorus concentrations were more positively associated with chlorophyll a in high‐phosphorus lakes, and oxygen demand had a stronger influence on the extent of anoxia in deep lakes. Taken together, these results support the existence of a positive feedback that could magnify the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic pressures driving the development of anoxia in lakes around the world.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
2228767
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2229468
OSTI ID: 2282968
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology, Journal Name: Global Change Biology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 30; ISSN 1354-1013
Publisher:
Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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