Patterns of spatial and temporal variability of UV transparency in Lake Tahoe, California‐Nevada

Abstract

Lake Tahoe is an ultra‐oligotrophic subalpine lake that is renowned for its clarity. The region experiences little cloud cover and is one of the most UV transparent lakes in the world. As such, it is an ideal environment to study the role of UV radiation in aquatic ecosystems. Long‐term trends in Secchi depths showed that water transparency to visible light has decreased in recent decades, but limited data are available on the UV transparency of the lake. Here we examine how ultraviolet radiation varies relative to longer‐wavelength photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400–700 nm, visible wavelengths) horizontally along inshore‐offshore transects in the lake and vertically within the water column as well as temporally throughout 2007. UV transparency was more variable than PAR transparency horizontally across the lake and throughout the year. Seasonal patterns of Secchi transparency differed from both UV and PAR, indicating that different substances may be responsible for controlling transparency to UV, PAR, and Secchi. In surface waters, UVA (380 nm) often attenuated more slowly than PAR, a pattern visible in only exceptionally transparent waters with very low dissolved organic carbon. On many sampling dates, UV transparency decreased progressively with depth suggesting surface photobleaching, reductions in particulate matter, increasing chlorophyll a, or some combination of these increased during summer months. Combining these patterns of UV transparency with data on visible light provides a more comprehensive understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and effects of environmental change in highly transparent alpine and subalpine lakes such as Tahoe.