20th century acidification and warming as recorded in two alpine lakes in the Tatra Mountains (South Poland, Europe)

Abstract

Sediment profiles of two alpine lakes located in the Tatra Mountains, the Toporowy Staw Niżni (TSN) and the Zielony Staw Gąsienicowy (ZSG), were studied for their chronology, lithology, diatom and cladoceran remains. The sediment sequences, 50 cm long from TSN and 30 cm long from ZSG, were deposited during the last 1000 and 300 years, respectively. Vertical changes in lithology, diatom and Cladocera allow the reconstruction of three periods in the lakes' evolution: mild climatic conditions during Medieval Warm Period (MWP, only in TSN), severe conditions between the end of 14th and 19th centuries, identified as the Little Ice Age (LIA), and 20th century warming. The LIA was recorded in the sediments of both lakes in the form of intensified erosion and lower lake ecosystem productivity, as indicated by organic matter lower content, changes in diatom species composition, and decline in Daphnia. The 20th century was a time of acidification in both lakes. The scale of acidification was assessed based on the decline in diatom-inferred pH (DI-pH). DI-pH dropped by 1.2 pH units during the last century in TSN and by 0.4 pH unit in ZSG. The decline of DI-pH was noted in both lakes, but its intensity was clearly higher in TSN due to the lower acid neutralisation capacity (ANC) of this lake. The lower pH during the final decades of the 20th century was lethal to some water organisms while attracting others, such as Daphnia. The Daphnia population increased after the pH drop, probably due to the high food flexibility of this genus. A similar increase was not observed in ZSG, where planktonivorous fishes were introduced in the 1940s, which effectively limited the crustacean plankton density.