Abstract
Lakes are important components for regulating carbon cycling within landscapes. Most lakes are regarded as CO2 sources to the atmosphere, except for a few eutrophic ones. Algal blooms are common phenomena in many eutrophic lakes and can cause many environmental stresses, yet their effects on the net exchange of CO2 (FCO2) at large spatial scales have not been adequately addressed. We integrated remote sensing and Eddy Covariance (EC) technologies to investigate the effects that algal blooms have on FCO2 in the western basin of Lake Erie—a large lake infamous for these blooms. Three years of long-term EC data (2012–2014) at two sites were analyzed. We found that at both sites: (1) daily FCO2 significantly correlated with daily temperature, light, and wind speed during the algal bloom periods; (2) monthly FCO2 was negatively correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration; and (3) the year with larger algal blooms was always associated with lower carbon emissions. We concluded that large algal blooms could reduce carbon emissions in the western basin of Lake Erie. However, considering the complexity of processes within large lakes, the weak relationship we found, and the potential uncertainties that remain in our estimations of FCO2 and chlorophyll-a, we argue that additional data and analyses are needed to validate our conclusion and examine the underlying regulatory mechanisms.
Highlights
Lakes are important regulators in regional and global carbon cycling [1,2,3,4,5]
This research was the first step towards understanding the effects of algal blooms on FCO2 in a large eutrophic lake—in this case, Lake Erie
We demonstrated the relationship between algal growth/blooms and FCO2 at a spatial scale larger than previous observational studies
Summary
Lakes are important regulators in regional and global carbon cycling [1,2,3,4,5]. Carbon produced within lakes or imported from upstream terrestrial ecosystems may be stored in the water, transported downstream, released to the atmosphere via outgassing, and/or deposited in sediments [6,7].Throughout terrestrial landscapes, most lakes are sources of CO2 [5,8]. Lakes are important regulators in regional and global carbon cycling [1,2,3,4,5]. When integrated into climate models correctly, they may shift the landscape-based predictions of a CO2 flux [4]. Failing to consider the contributions of lake components in remote sensing-based up-scaling efforts [9,10,11] could lead to Remote Sens. To effectively integrate lakes into up-scaled remote sensing products and climate models, it is necessary to understand the main carbon pools in lakes and the major fluxes to/from lakes, as well as the driving mechanisms for the changes in these pools and fluxes
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