Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake
Abstract The Tibetan Plateau has ∼1,200 lakes larger than 1 km 2 with a total area of ~46,000 km 2 . The annual mean air temperature of the Tibetan Plateau has increased 2.5°C over the past 60 years. Lakes in this region are extremely responsive to climate changes as a result of their low biodiversi...
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crwiley:10.1111/fwb.14070 2024-06-02T08:08:03+00:00 Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake Li, Yuan Zhao, Hui Sun, Mingjie Zhao, Yongtao Jeppesen, Erik The National Natural Science Foundation of China 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.14070 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/fwb.14070 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/fwb.14070 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Freshwater Biology volume 68, issue 5, page 860-869 ISSN 0046-5070 1365-2427 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.14070 2024-05-03T10:44:55Z Abstract The Tibetan Plateau has ∼1,200 lakes larger than 1 km 2 with a total area of ~46,000 km 2 . The annual mean air temperature of the Tibetan Plateau has increased 2.5°C over the past 60 years. Lakes in this region are extremely responsive to climate changes as a result of their low biodiversity and simple food webs. However, it is unclear whether the current anthropogenic warming will benefit or threaten the aquatic ecosystems in this region. We assessed patterns of change associated with climate change in a shallow, freshwater lake (Genggahai Lake) on the NE Tibetan Plateau over the past ~1,600 years based on diverse aquatic fossils (macrophytes, molluscs, cladocerans and diatoms), total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) of a sediment core. The abundances of macrophytes, molluscs and cladocerans, and the concentrations of TOC and TN in the sediments were high during the Mediaeval Warm Period (MWP, ~940–1,410 CE) but low during the Dark Ages Cold Period (DACP, ~390–940 CE) and the Little Ice Age (LIA, ~1,410–1970 CE), suggesting that modest natural warming was associated with the biomass of macrophytes and consumers in the food web. By contrast, low abundance of macrophytes and high abundance of planktonic diatoms were recorded in the sediments during the Current Warm Period (CWP, ~1970–2020 CE). Current anthropogenic warming has resulted in significantly higher temperatures than during the MWP, associated with the development of planktonic algae rather than macrophytes. Our findings show that the current anthropogenic warming, coupled with increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition and activated nutrients from thawed permafrost, is associated with phytoplankton dominance in lakes on the Tibetan Plateau, and may lead to significant reductions in ecosystem services provided by the lakes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost Wiley Online Library Freshwater Biology 68 5 860 869 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
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Abstract The Tibetan Plateau has ∼1,200 lakes larger than 1 km 2 with a total area of ~46,000 km 2 . The annual mean air temperature of the Tibetan Plateau has increased 2.5°C over the past 60 years. Lakes in this region are extremely responsive to climate changes as a result of their low biodiversity and simple food webs. However, it is unclear whether the current anthropogenic warming will benefit or threaten the aquatic ecosystems in this region. We assessed patterns of change associated with climate change in a shallow, freshwater lake (Genggahai Lake) on the NE Tibetan Plateau over the past ~1,600 years based on diverse aquatic fossils (macrophytes, molluscs, cladocerans and diatoms), total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) of a sediment core. The abundances of macrophytes, molluscs and cladocerans, and the concentrations of TOC and TN in the sediments were high during the Mediaeval Warm Period (MWP, ~940–1,410 CE) but low during the Dark Ages Cold Period (DACP, ~390–940 CE) and the Little Ice Age (LIA, ~1,410–1970 CE), suggesting that modest natural warming was associated with the biomass of macrophytes and consumers in the food web. By contrast, low abundance of macrophytes and high abundance of planktonic diatoms were recorded in the sediments during the Current Warm Period (CWP, ~1970–2020 CE). Current anthropogenic warming has resulted in significantly higher temperatures than during the MWP, associated with the development of planktonic algae rather than macrophytes. Our findings show that the current anthropogenic warming, coupled with increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition and activated nutrients from thawed permafrost, is associated with phytoplankton dominance in lakes on the Tibetan Plateau, and may lead to significant reductions in ecosystem services provided by the lakes. |
author2 |
The National Natural Science Foundation of China |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Li, Yuan Zhao, Hui Sun, Mingjie Zhao, Yongtao Jeppesen, Erik |
spellingShingle |
Li, Yuan Zhao, Hui Sun, Mingjie Zhao, Yongtao Jeppesen, Erik Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake |
author_facet |
Li, Yuan Zhao, Hui Sun, Mingjie Zhao, Yongtao Jeppesen, Erik |
author_sort |
Li, Yuan |
title |
Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake |
title_short |
Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake |
title_full |
Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake |
title_fullStr |
Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake |
title_full_unstemmed |
Current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow Lake ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau: A palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in Genggahai Lake |
title_sort |
current anthropogenic warming threatens shallow lake ecosystems on the tibetan plateau: a palaeolimnological study covering the past 1,600 years in genggahai lake |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.14070 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/fwb.14070 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/fwb.14070 |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_source |
Freshwater Biology volume 68, issue 5, page 860-869 ISSN 0046-5070 1365-2427 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.14070 |
container_title |
Freshwater Biology |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
860 |
op_container_end_page |
869 |
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1800753216719159296 |