The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake
In ice-covered polar lakes, a narrow ice-free moat opens up in spring or early summer, and then persists at the edge of the lake until complete ice loss or refreezing. In this study, we analyzed the horizontal gradients in Ward Hunt Lake, located in the Canadian High Arctic, and addressed the hypoth...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2020-0026 2024-05-19T07:32:56+00:00 The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake Bégin, Paschale N. Rautio, Milla Tanabe, Yukiko Uchida, Masaki Culley, Alexander I. Vincent, Warwick F. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2020-0026 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2020-0026 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2020-0026 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Arctic Science volume 7, issue 1, page 158-181 ISSN 2368-7460 2368-7460 journal-article 2021 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2020-0026 2024-04-25T06:52:01Z In ice-covered polar lakes, a narrow ice-free moat opens up in spring or early summer, and then persists at the edge of the lake until complete ice loss or refreezing. In this study, we analyzed the horizontal gradients in Ward Hunt Lake, located in the Canadian High Arctic, and addressed the hypothesis that the transition from its nearshore open-water moat to offshore ice-covered waters is marked by discontinuous shifts in limnological properties. Consistent with this hypothesis, we observed an abrupt increase in below-ice concentrations of chlorophyll a beyond the ice margin, along with a sharp decrease in temperature and light availability and pronounced changes in benthic algal pigments and fatty acids. There were higher concentrations of rotifers and lower concentrations of viruses at the ice-free sampling sites, and contrasts in zooplankton fatty acid profiles that implied a greater importance of benthic phototrophs in their inshore diet. The observed patterns underscore the structuring role of ice cover in polar lakes. These ecosystems do not conform to the traditional definitions of littoral versus pelagic zones but instead may have distinct moat, ice-margin, and ice-covered zones. This zonation is likely to weaken with ongoing climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Climate change Zooplankton ice covered waters Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Science 7 1 158 181 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
In ice-covered polar lakes, a narrow ice-free moat opens up in spring or early summer, and then persists at the edge of the lake until complete ice loss or refreezing. In this study, we analyzed the horizontal gradients in Ward Hunt Lake, located in the Canadian High Arctic, and addressed the hypothesis that the transition from its nearshore open-water moat to offshore ice-covered waters is marked by discontinuous shifts in limnological properties. Consistent with this hypothesis, we observed an abrupt increase in below-ice concentrations of chlorophyll a beyond the ice margin, along with a sharp decrease in temperature and light availability and pronounced changes in benthic algal pigments and fatty acids. There were higher concentrations of rotifers and lower concentrations of viruses at the ice-free sampling sites, and contrasts in zooplankton fatty acid profiles that implied a greater importance of benthic phototrophs in their inshore diet. The observed patterns underscore the structuring role of ice cover in polar lakes. These ecosystems do not conform to the traditional definitions of littoral versus pelagic zones but instead may have distinct moat, ice-margin, and ice-covered zones. This zonation is likely to weaken with ongoing climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bégin, Paschale N. Rautio, Milla Tanabe, Yukiko Uchida, Masaki Culley, Alexander I. Vincent, Warwick F. |
spellingShingle |
Bégin, Paschale N. Rautio, Milla Tanabe, Yukiko Uchida, Masaki Culley, Alexander I. Vincent, Warwick F. The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake |
author_facet |
Bégin, Paschale N. Rautio, Milla Tanabe, Yukiko Uchida, Masaki Culley, Alexander I. Vincent, Warwick F. |
author_sort |
Bégin, Paschale N. |
title |
The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake |
title_short |
The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake |
title_full |
The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake |
title_fullStr |
The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake |
title_full_unstemmed |
The littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered High Arctic lake |
title_sort |
littoral zone of polar lakes: inshore–offshore contrasts in an ice-covered high arctic lake |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2020-0026 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2020-0026 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2020-0026 |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Zooplankton ice covered waters |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Zooplankton ice covered waters |
op_source |
Arctic Science volume 7, issue 1, page 158-181 ISSN 2368-7460 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2020-0026 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
158 |
op_container_end_page |
181 |
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1799471101952131072 |