Abstract
Human activities have increased atmospheric nitrogen and phosphorus deposition rates relative to pre-industrial background. In the Western U.S., anthropogenic nutrient deposition has increased nutrient concentrations and stimulated algal growth in at least some remote mountain lakes. The Georeferenced Lake Nutrient Chemistry (GLNC) Database was constructed to create a spatially-extensive lake chemistry database needed to assess atmospheric nutrient deposition effects on Western U.S. mountain lakes. The database includes nitrogen and phosphorus water chemistry data spanning 1964–2015, with 148,336 chemistry results from 51,048 samples collected across 3,602 lakes in the Western U.S. Data were obtained from public databases, government agencies, scientific literature, and researchers, and were formatted into a consistent table structure. All data are georeferenced to a modified version of the National Hydrography Dataset Plus version 2. The database is transparent and reproducible; R code and input files used to format data are provided in an appendix. The database will likely be useful to those assessing spatial patterns of lake nutrient chemistry associated with atmospheric deposition or other environmental stressors.
Highlights
Background & SummaryIn many temperate lakes, inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus strongly affect lake ecosystem structure and the capacity of lakes to provide ecosystem services to humans[1]
Because the primary motivation for constructing the Georeferenced Lake Nutrient Chemistry (GLNC) database was to support assessment of atmospheric nutrient deposition effects on mountain lakes, data acquisition efforts targeted studies assessing atmospheric deposition effects on mountain lakes and data collected within Western U.S federally protected lands
Data from other lake types were included in the GLNC database only if they were included in a targeted dataset along with mountain lake data
Summary
Inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus strongly affect lake ecosystem structure and the capacity of lakes to provide ecosystem services to humans[1]. In the Western U.S, there are thousands of lakes where anthropogenic atmospheric nutrient deposition has the potential to increase lake nutrient concentrations, stimulate algal growth, and cause eutrophication effects. Numerous university and government agency research projects have examined nitrogen and/or phosphorus deposition impacts within specific regions All of these data sources vary in terms of time span, sampling protocols, chemical species measured, documentation, data curation, and data accessibility, are stored in disparate locations, and have not previously been combined. The objective of this study was to combine existing Western U.S mountain lake nutrient chemistry datasets into a single database that can help assess deposition effects on mountain lakes and identify regional and national-scale data needs. The database was constructed to be transparent and reproducible: data input files and R code used to format and combine data sources are provided as an appendix to the database
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