Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain
As newly formed landscapes evolve, physical and biological changes occur that are collectively known as primary succession. Although succession is a fundamental concept in ecology, it is poorly understood in the context of aquatic environments. The prevailing view is that lakes become more enriched...
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2000
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:geosciencefacpub-1045 2023-11-12T04:17:24+01:00 Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain Engstrom, Daniel R. Fritz, Sherilyn C. Almendinger, James E. Juggins, Stephen 2000-11-09T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub/46 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/geosciencefacpub/article/1045/viewcontent/Fritz_NATURE_2000_Chemical__DC_VERSION.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub/46 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/geosciencefacpub/article/1045/viewcontent/Fritz_NATURE_2000_Chemical__DC_VERSION.pdf Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Earth Sciences text 2000 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T10:25:07Z As newly formed landscapes evolve, physical and biological changes occur that are collectively known as primary succession. Although succession is a fundamental concept in ecology, it is poorly understood in the context of aquatic environments. The prevailing view is that lakes become more enriched in nutrients as they age, leading to increased biological production. Here we report the opposite pattern of lake development, observed from the water chemistry of lakes that formed at various times within the past 10,000 years during glacial retreat at Glacier Bay, Alaska. The lakes have grown more dilute and acidic with time, accumulated dissolved organic carbon and undergone a transient rise in nitrogen concentration, all as a result of successional changes in surrounding vegetation and soils. Similar trends are evident from fossil diatom stratigraphy of lake sediment cores. These results demonstrate a tight hydrologic coupling between terrestrial and aquatic environments during the colonization of newly deglaciated landscapes, and provide a conceptual basis for mechanisms of primary succession in boreal lake ecosystems. Text glacier Alaska University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL Glacier Bay Boreal Lake ENVELOPE(-127.670,-127.670,58.802,58.802) |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnebraskali |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Engstrom, Daniel R. Fritz, Sherilyn C. Almendinger, James E. Juggins, Stephen Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences |
description |
As newly formed landscapes evolve, physical and biological changes occur that are collectively known as primary succession. Although succession is a fundamental concept in ecology, it is poorly understood in the context of aquatic environments. The prevailing view is that lakes become more enriched in nutrients as they age, leading to increased biological production. Here we report the opposite pattern of lake development, observed from the water chemistry of lakes that formed at various times within the past 10,000 years during glacial retreat at Glacier Bay, Alaska. The lakes have grown more dilute and acidic with time, accumulated dissolved organic carbon and undergone a transient rise in nitrogen concentration, all as a result of successional changes in surrounding vegetation and soils. Similar trends are evident from fossil diatom stratigraphy of lake sediment cores. These results demonstrate a tight hydrologic coupling between terrestrial and aquatic environments during the colonization of newly deglaciated landscapes, and provide a conceptual basis for mechanisms of primary succession in boreal lake ecosystems. |
format |
Text |
author |
Engstrom, Daniel R. Fritz, Sherilyn C. Almendinger, James E. Juggins, Stephen |
author_facet |
Engstrom, Daniel R. Fritz, Sherilyn C. Almendinger, James E. Juggins, Stephen |
author_sort |
Engstrom, Daniel R. |
title |
Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain |
title_short |
Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain |
title_full |
Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain |
title_fullStr |
Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain |
title_full_unstemmed |
Chemical and Biological Trends during Lake Evolution in Recently Deglaciated Terrain |
title_sort |
chemical and biological trends during lake evolution in recently deglaciated terrain |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub/46 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/geosciencefacpub/article/1045/viewcontent/Fritz_NATURE_2000_Chemical__DC_VERSION.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-127.670,-127.670,58.802,58.802) |
geographic |
Glacier Bay Boreal Lake |
geographic_facet |
Glacier Bay Boreal Lake |
genre |
glacier Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier Alaska |
op_source |
Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub/46 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/geosciencefacpub/article/1045/viewcontent/Fritz_NATURE_2000_Chemical__DC_VERSION.pdf |
_version_ |
1782334313557131264 |