Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes
Benthic diatoms are commonly used for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in Arctic regions, but interpretation of their ecology remains challenging. We studied epilithic diatom assemblages from the shallow margins of 19 lakes from three areas (coast-inland-ice sheet margin) along a climate gradient...
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ftucl:oai:eprints.ucl.ac.uk.OAI2:10025193 2023-12-24T10:13:52+01:00 Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes McGowan, S Gunn, HV Whiteford, EJ John Anderson, N Jones, VJ Law, AC 2017-06-09 text https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/1/10.1007%252Fs10933-017-9968-9.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/ eng eng https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/1/10.1007%252Fs10933-017-9968-9.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/ open Journal of Paleolimnology (2017) (In press). Arctic Biofilm Climate Taphonomy Nitrogen-limitation Seasons Snowmelt Article 2017 ftucl 2023-11-27T13:07:26Z Benthic diatoms are commonly used for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in Arctic regions, but interpretation of their ecology remains challenging. We studied epilithic diatom assemblages from the shallow margins of 19 lakes from three areas (coast-inland-ice sheet margin) along a climate gradient in Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland during two periods; shortly after ice-off (spring) and in the middle of the growth season (summer). We aimed to understand the distribution of Arctic epilithic diatoms in relation to water chemistry gradients during the two seasons, to investigate their incorporation into lake sediments and to assess their applicability as palaeoenvironmental indicators. Diatoms were correlated with nutrients in the spring and alkalinity/major ions in the summer, when nutrients were depleted; approximately half of the variance explained was independent of spatial factors. When categorised by functional attributes, diatom seasonal succession differed among regions with the most obvious changes in inland lakes where summer temperatures are warmer, organic nutrient processing is prevalent and silicate is limiting. These conditions led to small, motile and adnate diatoms being abundant in inland lakes during the summer (Nitzschia spp., Encyonopsis microcephala), as these functional attributes are suited to living within complex mats of non-siliceous microbial biofilms. Seasonal succession in silica-rich lakes at the coast was less pronounced and assemblages included Tabellaria flocculosa (indicating more acidic conditions) and Hannaea arcus (indicating input from inflowing rivers). The nitrogen-fixing diatom Epithemia sorex increased from the coast to the ice sheet, negatively correlating with a gradient of reactive nitrogen. The presence of this diatom in Holocene sediment records alongside cyanobacterial carotenoids during arid periods of low nitrogen delivery, suggests that it is a useful indicator of nitrogen limitation. Nitzschia species appear to be associated with high concentrations of organic ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet Kangerlussuaq University College London: UCL Discovery Arctic Greenland Kangerlussuaq ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University College London: UCL Discovery |
op_collection_id |
ftucl |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Biofilm Climate Taphonomy Nitrogen-limitation Seasons Snowmelt |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Biofilm Climate Taphonomy Nitrogen-limitation Seasons Snowmelt McGowan, S Gunn, HV Whiteford, EJ John Anderson, N Jones, VJ Law, AC Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes |
topic_facet |
Arctic Biofilm Climate Taphonomy Nitrogen-limitation Seasons Snowmelt |
description |
Benthic diatoms are commonly used for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in Arctic regions, but interpretation of their ecology remains challenging. We studied epilithic diatom assemblages from the shallow margins of 19 lakes from three areas (coast-inland-ice sheet margin) along a climate gradient in Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland during two periods; shortly after ice-off (spring) and in the middle of the growth season (summer). We aimed to understand the distribution of Arctic epilithic diatoms in relation to water chemistry gradients during the two seasons, to investigate their incorporation into lake sediments and to assess their applicability as palaeoenvironmental indicators. Diatoms were correlated with nutrients in the spring and alkalinity/major ions in the summer, when nutrients were depleted; approximately half of the variance explained was independent of spatial factors. When categorised by functional attributes, diatom seasonal succession differed among regions with the most obvious changes in inland lakes where summer temperatures are warmer, organic nutrient processing is prevalent and silicate is limiting. These conditions led to small, motile and adnate diatoms being abundant in inland lakes during the summer (Nitzschia spp., Encyonopsis microcephala), as these functional attributes are suited to living within complex mats of non-siliceous microbial biofilms. Seasonal succession in silica-rich lakes at the coast was less pronounced and assemblages included Tabellaria flocculosa (indicating more acidic conditions) and Hannaea arcus (indicating input from inflowing rivers). The nitrogen-fixing diatom Epithemia sorex increased from the coast to the ice sheet, negatively correlating with a gradient of reactive nitrogen. The presence of this diatom in Holocene sediment records alongside cyanobacterial carotenoids during arid periods of low nitrogen delivery, suggests that it is a useful indicator of nitrogen limitation. Nitzschia species appear to be associated with high concentrations of organic ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McGowan, S Gunn, HV Whiteford, EJ John Anderson, N Jones, VJ Law, AC |
author_facet |
McGowan, S Gunn, HV Whiteford, EJ John Anderson, N Jones, VJ Law, AC |
author_sort |
McGowan, S |
title |
Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes |
title_short |
Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes |
title_full |
Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes |
title_fullStr |
Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in South-West Greenland lakes |
title_sort |
functional attributes of epilithic diatoms for palaeoenvironmental interpretations in south-west greenland lakes |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/1/10.1007%252Fs10933-017-9968-9.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet Kangerlussuaq |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet Kangerlussuaq |
op_source |
Journal of Paleolimnology (2017) (In press). |
op_relation |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/1/10.1007%252Fs10933-017-9968-9.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025193/ |
op_rights |
open |
_version_ |
1786186827255775232 |