Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day
Baseline and historical environmental data are sparse in high-altitude regions. Diatom assemblages preserved in lake sediment records can, however, provide proxy data of past environmental and biological conditions. Sediment cores were retrieved from 209 high altitude lakes from 11 countries in Euro...
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2005
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ftucl:oai:eprints.ucl.ac.uk.OAI2:78575 2023-05-15T17:46:45+02:00 Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day Clarke, G Kernan, M Marchetto, A Sorvari, S Catalan, J 2005-09 http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/78575/ unknown BIRKHAUSER VERLAG AG AQUAT SCI , 67 (3) 224 - 236. (2005) palaeolimnology pH change climate change PAST ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS CHRYSOPHYTE CYST ASSEMBLAGES QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS AIR-TEMPERATURE NORTHWEST-TERRITORIES WATER TEMPERATURE FINNISH LAPLAND ALPINE LAKES ICE-COVER PH Article 2005 ftucl 2016-10-20T22:17:26Z Baseline and historical environmental data are sparse in high-altitude regions. Diatom assemblages preserved in lake sediment records can, however, provide proxy data of past environmental and biological conditions. Sediment cores were retrieved from 209 high altitude lakes from 11 countries in Europe. Diatoms were extracted and counted from surface-sediment samples and sediments representing pre-industrial conditions. Regional changes in diatom assemblages covering at least the last c. 150 years are discussed and quantified using ordination techniques and dissimilarity indices. Distinct changes in diatom composition are identified and regional patterns highlighted, with two lake regions showing particularly large changes in diatom composition (Central Swiss Alps and the Pyrenees). Several driving mechanisms that might have caused the changes in the diatom community are discussed. Pre-industrial and present-day lake-water pH are inferred from the diatom assemblages and their prediction accuracy compared to contemporary water-chemistry measurements for each lake. Regional pH changes are minimal with no lake region exceeding 0.27 pH units of change in the period covering the last c. 150 years. The majority of lakes studied show an increase in planktonic diatom species over the period covering the past c. 150 years. We hypothesise that changes in the ratio of planktonic to non-planktonic diatoms within the study lake-regions are related to changes in climate and to associated changes in nutrients, ice-cover and erosion caused by climate warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories Lapland University College London: UCL Discovery Northwest Territories |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University College London: UCL Discovery |
op_collection_id |
ftucl |
language |
unknown |
topic |
palaeolimnology pH change climate change PAST ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS CHRYSOPHYTE CYST ASSEMBLAGES QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS AIR-TEMPERATURE NORTHWEST-TERRITORIES WATER TEMPERATURE FINNISH LAPLAND ALPINE LAKES ICE-COVER PH |
spellingShingle |
palaeolimnology pH change climate change PAST ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS CHRYSOPHYTE CYST ASSEMBLAGES QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS AIR-TEMPERATURE NORTHWEST-TERRITORIES WATER TEMPERATURE FINNISH LAPLAND ALPINE LAKES ICE-COVER PH Clarke, G Kernan, M Marchetto, A Sorvari, S Catalan, J Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
topic_facet |
palaeolimnology pH change climate change PAST ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS CHRYSOPHYTE CYST ASSEMBLAGES QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS AIR-TEMPERATURE NORTHWEST-TERRITORIES WATER TEMPERATURE FINNISH LAPLAND ALPINE LAKES ICE-COVER PH |
description |
Baseline and historical environmental data are sparse in high-altitude regions. Diatom assemblages preserved in lake sediment records can, however, provide proxy data of past environmental and biological conditions. Sediment cores were retrieved from 209 high altitude lakes from 11 countries in Europe. Diatoms were extracted and counted from surface-sediment samples and sediments representing pre-industrial conditions. Regional changes in diatom assemblages covering at least the last c. 150 years are discussed and quantified using ordination techniques and dissimilarity indices. Distinct changes in diatom composition are identified and regional patterns highlighted, with two lake regions showing particularly large changes in diatom composition (Central Swiss Alps and the Pyrenees). Several driving mechanisms that might have caused the changes in the diatom community are discussed. Pre-industrial and present-day lake-water pH are inferred from the diatom assemblages and their prediction accuracy compared to contemporary water-chemistry measurements for each lake. Regional pH changes are minimal with no lake region exceeding 0.27 pH units of change in the period covering the last c. 150 years. The majority of lakes studied show an increase in planktonic diatom species over the period covering the past c. 150 years. We hypothesise that changes in the ratio of planktonic to non-planktonic diatoms within the study lake-regions are related to changes in climate and to associated changes in nutrients, ice-cover and erosion caused by climate warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clarke, G Kernan, M Marchetto, A Sorvari, S Catalan, J |
author_facet |
Clarke, G Kernan, M Marchetto, A Sorvari, S Catalan, J |
author_sort |
Clarke, G |
title |
Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
title_short |
Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
title_full |
Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
title_fullStr |
Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude European lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
title_sort |
using diatoms to assess geographical patterns of change in high-altitude european lakes from pre-industrial times to the present day |
publisher |
BIRKHAUSER VERLAG AG |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/78575/ |
geographic |
Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories Lapland |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories Lapland |
op_source |
AQUAT SCI , 67 (3) 224 - 236. (2005) |
_version_ |
1766150582785015808 |