Lake Group Research Articles

The Jurassic Laberge Group in the Whitehorse Trough of the Canadian Cordillera: Using Detrital Mineral Geochronology and Thermochronology to Investigate Tectonic Evolution

The Laberge Group is an Early to Middle Jurassic sequence of mostly siliciclastic sedimentary rocks that were deposited in a marginal marine environment in the northern Canadian Cordillera. It forms a long narrow belt with a total thickness of 3–4 km extending for more than 600 km across southern Yukon and northwestern British Columbia. These sedimentary rocks overlap the Yukon-Tanana, Stikinia and Cache Creek terranes that form the main components of the Intermontane superterrane. The Laberge Group contains a record of the erosion of some of these terranes, and also offers some constraints on the timing of their amalgamation and accretion to the Laurentian margin. The Laberge Group was deposited with local unconformity on the Late Triassic Stuhini Group (in British Columbia) and correlative Lewes River Group (in Yukon), both of which are volcanic-rich, and assigned to the Stikinia terrane. The Laberge Group is in turn overlain by Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous clastic rocks, including the Bowser Lake Group in BC and the Tantalus Formation in Yukon. Clast compositions and detrital zircon populations within the Laberge Group and between it and these bounding units indicate major shifts in depositional environment, basin extent and detrital sources from Late Triassic to Late Jurassic. During the Early Jurassic clast compositions in the Laberge Group shifted from sediment- and volcanic-dominated to plutonic-dominated, and detrital zircon populations are dominated by grains that yield ages that approach or overlap their inferred depositional ages. This pattern is consistent with progressive dissection and unroofing of (an) active arc(s) to eventually expose Triassic to Jurassic plutonic suites. Detrital rutile and muscovite data from the Laberge Group indicate rapid cooling and then exhumation of adjoining metamorphic rocks during the Early Jurassic, allowing these to contribute detritus on a more local scale. The most likely source for such metamorphic detritus is within the Yukon-Tanana terrane, and its presence in the Laberge Group may constrain the timing of amalgamation and accretion of the Yukon-Tanana and Stikinia terranes. Thermochronological data also provide new insights into the evolution of the Laberge Group basin. Results from the U–Th/(He) method on detrital apatite suggest that most areas experienced post-depositional heating to 60°C or more, whereas U–Th/(He) results from detrital zircon show that heating to more than 200°C occurred on a more local scale. In detail, Laberge Group cooling and exhumation was at least in part structurally controlled, with more strongly heated areas situated in the footwall of an important regional fault system. The thermochronological data are preliminary, but they suggest potential to eventually constrain the kinematics and timing of inversion across the Laberge Group basin and may also have implications for its energy prospectivity. In summary, the Laberge Group is a complex package of sedimentary rocks developed in an active, evolving tectonic realm, and many questions remain about the details of its sources and evolution. Nevertheless, the available information demonstrates the potential of combined geochronological and thermochronological methods applied to detrital minerals to unravel links between regional tectonics, basin development and clastic sedimentation.

Interpretative Machine Learning as a Key in Recognizing the Variability of Lakes Trophy Patterns

Abstract The paper presents an application of interpretative machine learning to identify groups of lakes not with similar features but with similar potential factors influencing the content of total phosphorus – P tot. The method was developed on a sample of 60 lakes from North-Eastern Poland and used 25 external explanatory variables. Selected variables are stable over a long time, first group includes morphometric parameters of lakes and the second group encompass watershed geometry geology and land use. Our method involves building a regression model, creating an explainer, finding a set of mapping functions describing how each variable influences the outcome, and finally clustering objects by ’the influence’. The influence is a non-linear and non-parametric transformation of the explanatory variables into a form describing a given variable impact on the modeled feature. Such a transformation makes group data on the functional relations between the explanatory variables and the explained variable possible. The study reveals that there are five clusters where the concentration of P tot is shaped similarly. We compared our method with other numerical analyses and showed that it provides new information on the catchment area and lake trophy relationship.

Development of remote sensing algorithm for total phosphorus concentration in eutrophic lakes: Conventional or machine learning?

Phosphorus is a limiting nutrient in freshwater ecosystems. Therefore, the estimation of total phosphorus (TP) concentration in eutrophic water using remote sensing technology is of great significance for lake environmental management. However, there is no TP remote sensing model for lake groups, and thus far, specific models have been used for specific lakes. To address this issue, this study proposes a framework for TP estimation. First, three algorithm development frameworks were compared and applied to the development of an algorithm for Lake Taihu, which has complex water environment characteristics and is a representative of eutrophic lakes. An Extremely Gradient Boosting (BST) machine learning framework was proposed for developing the Taihu TP algorithm. The machine learning algorithm could mine the relationship between FAI and TP in Lake Taihu, where the optical properties of the water body are dominated by phytoplankton. The algorithm exhibited robust performance with an R2 value of 0.6 (RMSE = 0.07 mg/L, MRE = 43.33%). Then, a general TP algorithm (R2 = 0.64, RMSE = 0.06 mg/L, MRE = 34.13%) was developed using the proposed framework and tested in seven other lakes using synchronous image data. The algorithm accuracy was found to be affected by aquatic vegetation and enclosure aquaculture. Third, compared with field investigations in other studies on Lake Taihu, the Taihu TP algorithm showed good performance for long-term TP estimation. Therefore, the machine learning framework developed in this study has application potential in large-scale spatio-temporal TP estimation in eutrophic lakes.

Using the Diversity, Taxonomic and Functional Attributes of a Zooplankton Community to Determine Lake Environmental Typology in the Natural Southern Boreal Lakes (Québec, Canada)

Herein, we used zooplankton as a study model for determining how biodiversity components as well as taxonomic and functional attributes reflect lake typology in the natural southern boreal lakes. We estimated the regional and local variation in zooplankton diversity and the community structure across a set of fourteen lakes within a national park. Regional diversity (γ diversity) accounted for 40 species including 20 rotifers, 10 cladocerans and 8 copepods. Local diversity (α diversity) averaged 15 species per lake. Spatial variation in β diversity was inversely related to spatial variation in α diversity. Inter-lake variation in zooplankton communities based on taxonomy, functional traits and biotic indices was explained by two major limnological gradients: namely lake trophic status and fish community. The community structure reflected a gradient of rotifer to calanoid copepod dominance in response to trophic status. Several key species of rotifers (Kellicottia longispina and Conochilus unicornis) and of small (Bosmina and Diaphanosoma birgei) or large (Daphnia catawba and Holopedium gibberum cf glacialis) cladocerans were good indicators of lake zooplankton typology, as in other boreal lakes. We distinguished two main groups of lakes: (1) oligotrophic lakes inhabited by brook trout and dominated by the calanoid copepods and (2) mesotrophic lakes inhabited by northern pike and dominated by rotifers. Overall, our study can help managers better define monitoring and conservation strategies for lake ecosystems in natural parks.

Environmental stressors alter multiple determinants of individual reproductive output in the acid‐tolerant mayfly Leptophlebia vespertina

Abstract1. Environmental stressors such as acidification modify community composition in freshwater habitats through their direct and indirect effects on individuals. However, the effect of acidification on various aspects of individual fitness is poorly known in aquatic insects, a key group in many freshwater habitats.2. Here, the influence of acidification (acidity and Al toxicity), food quality and habitat properties on the reproduction of an acid‐tolerant mayfly Leptophlebia vespertina (Linnaeus, 1758) in a group of Central European lakes is explored. The focus is on last‐instar larvae as the short‐lived, semelparous adults cannot mitigate stress experienced by the larvae.3. It is shown that the environment affects multiple determinants of individual reproductive output both directly by affecting body size and fecundity in last‐instar larvae, and indirectly by releasing the larvae from density dependence. Populations tended to be denser in more acidic sites and individuals in denser populations were substantially smaller and had lower size‐dependent fecundity and reproductive effort. All else being equal, larvae from colder sites were larger, suggesting an important role of the temperature‐size rule in this species. Size‐dependent fecundity and reproductive effort increased with better food conditions as expected, but neither reproductive measure was affected by acidity or temperature. Finally, a weak egg size‐number trade‐off with slightly smaller eggs in more fecund females was detected.4. These results imply that indirect ecological feedbacks and food quality, rather than the direct effects of stressful environment, may dominate the effects of environmental stressors on the reproductive output of acid‐tolerant species such as L. vespertina.

Anatomy of a Neoarchean continental arc-backarc system in the Cross Lake-Pipestone Lake region, northwestern Superior Province, Canada

The Neoarchean Cross Lake-Pipestone Lake terrain, northwestern Superior Province, consists of the Cross Lake greenstone belt, the Pipestone Lake anorthosite complex, and multiple generations of granitoids. The Cross Lake greenstone belt includes an assemblage of basalt, picrite, gabbro, and sedimentary rocks (Pipestone Lake Group) that formed between 2790 Ma and 2760 Ma, and an assemblage of polymictic conglomerate, sandstone, and siltstone (Cross Lake Group) that were deposited between 2704 Ma and 2691 Ma. The Pipestone Lake anorthosite complex is composed of gabbro, megacrystic anorthosite and leucogabbro, and mafic dykes. The Pipestone Lake Group and the Pipestone Lake anorthosite complex are intruded by ca 2760 Ma and younger granitoids. The trace element systematics of the granitoids suggest that they originated in a volcanic-arc to syn-collisional tectonic setting, whereas the trace element signatures of the basalt, picrite, gabbro, anorthosite and leucogabbro association are consistent with a back-arc setting. Whole-rock initial εNd values, zircon initial εHf values and 207Pb/206Pb zircon ages for the granitoids and the anorthosite complex are consistent with long-term depleted mantle sources and variable degrees of crustal contamination during their interaction with Mesoarchean to Paleoarchean continental crust. Zircon trace element data indicate that the granodiorite and the anorthosite complex formed in a continental crust to oceanic crust transition zone at an arc-related setting. On the basis of the field relationships, and trace element and isotopic data, we suggest that the Pipestone Lake anorthosite complex and the spatially and temporally associated Pipestone Lake Group formed in a continental back-arc setting. During and after the closure of the back-arc basin, both the Pipestone Lake Group and the anorthosite complex were intruded by arc-derived granitoids. Accordingly, we interpret the association of the Pipestone Lake Group and Pipestone Lake anorthosite complex as a Neoarchean suture zone. Following the collision and closure of the back-arc basin, the region was dissected by strike-slip faults resulting in the formation of pull-apart basins and deposition of the Cross Lake Group as Timiskaming-type sedimentary rocks.

Seasonal Amplitude of Water Storage Variations of the Yangtze–Huai Plain Lake Group: Implicaion for Floodwater Storage Capacity

Lakes are of significant importance in regulating floods and providing water sources. The seasonal water storage variations for the plain lake group in the Yangtze–Huai River Basin (YHRB) are significant for alleviating flood pressure and regulating runoff. However, to date, the seasonal amplitude of lake water storage variations and its capacity of buffering floodwater in the YHRB is not quantified well and remains to be investigated comprehensively. To advance the understanding of such a critical scientific issue, the water level data of the plain lake group (area>100 km2, 29 lakes) in the YHRB is collected from multi-source data between 1990 and 2020. Using lake inundation area obtained from Global Surface Water and water level variations, water storage dynamics for the plain lake group are quantified. Furthermore, this study also uses the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) products to analyze the terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) in the whole basin. The results indicate that the seasonal amplitude of water level change and water storage variation of the plain lake group are 2.80 ± 0.71 m and 37.38 ± 14.19 Gt, respectively. Poyang and Dongting Lakes, two lakes that maintain the natural connection with the Yangtze River, have the most substantial seasonal amplitude in the hydrological situation. The amplitude in water level and water storage in Poyang Lake is 9.53 ± 2.02 m and 14.13 ± 5.54 Gt respectively, and that in Dongting Lake is 7.39 ± 1.29 m and 7.31 ± 3.42 Gt respectively. The contribution of seasonal variation of water storage for large plain lakes to TWSA in the YHRB is approximately 33.25%, fully reflecting these lake’s imperative position in the YHRB. This study is expected to enhance the scientific understanding of the seasonal hydrologic regime for the large lakes in the YHRB and contribute to the management of flood risks and water resources in East China.

Spatial and temporal patterns of heavy metals and potential human impacts in Central Yangtze lakes, China

Lakes in the central Yangtze River basin have experienced increasing levels of human disturbance during the past several decades, yet large-scale environmental patterns in these lakes and their driving factors remain unclear. Herein we examined spatial and temporal patterns of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and seven other heavy metals from 16 lakes experiencing a gradient of human disturbance. These lakes were divided among six groups: suburban reservoirs (SR), suburban high-aquaculture lakes (SH), suburban low-aquaculture lakes (SL), suburban no-aquaculture lakes (SN), urban aquaculture lakes (UA) and urban no-aquaculture lakes (UN). Spatially, water-column concentrations of Cd, Ni, Co, Mn, Fe, and Al, and sediment concentrations of Ni were significantly lower in SR compared to other lake groups. Except for Al, heavy metal concentrations did not differ between SN and SL lakes in the water-column or sediments. SH lakes exhibited significantly greater concentrations of Cu, Co, Cr, Mn, and Al in the water-column and Zn in sediments compared to SN lakes. UA lakes contained significantly lower concentrations of Zn, Cd, and Al in sediment compared to UN lakes, though no significant differences were detected within water-column samples. Temporally, with all lake groups combined, summer water-column concentrations of Cd, Pb, Co, Mn, and Al were lower compared to spring and autumn. Additionally, summer sediment concentrations of Zn, As, Co, Fe also were lower compared to autumn. Further results indicated that low-density fish stockings without external feed inputs appeared to have little impact on heavy metals in both suburban and urban lakes. However, high-density fish stockings with external feed inputs were associated with increased heavy-metal concentrations across all lakes. Overall, urbanization has great potential to increase sediment heavy-metal ecological risks. These findings are crucial for developing heavy-metal pollution control and management strategies for freshwater lakes.

Optimal Linear Estimation (OLE) Modeling Supports Early Holocene (9000–8000 RCYBP) Copper Tool Production in North America

The discovery and development of metal as a tool medium is a topic of global interest. A fundamental research goal involves establishing the timing of human experimentation with naturally occurring copper ore, which is commonly associated with sedentary, agrarian-based societies. However, in North America, there is well-documented millennia-scale exploitation of copper as tool media by small, seasonally mobile hunter-gatherer groups in the western Great Lakes. Archaeologists have suggested that Late Paleoindian groups may have begun using copper as a tool medium almost immediately after they entered the Lake Superior basin. However, only a few radiocarbon dates support such early use of copper. Here, we use optimal linear estimation modeling to infer the origin date for copper tool production in North America. Our results show that the invention of copper as a tool media likely occurred shortly after the first pioneering populations encountered copper ore during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The origin dates modeled here (ca. 8100 RCYBP) reveal several important features about the behavior of pioneering hunter-gatherer populations. Moreover, our results suggest that this phenomenon represents the earliest known use of metal for utilitarian copper tool production.

ОЦЕНКА ДОСТУПНОСТИ ОБЪЕКТОВ НАУЧНОГО МОНИТОРИНГА НА ПРИМЕРЕ ОЗЕР И ЛЕДНИКОВ ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОГО АЛТАЯ

Most objects of scientific monitoring in mountainous and remote areas have a low degree of accessibility. This explains the complexity of organizing and conducting large-scale field studies that require thorough preparation. One aspect of ensuring successful work in scientific expeditions is spatially valid logistics of the routes. Field study of scientific objects located in mountainous regions is difficult to organize due to their inaccessibility. The purpose of this paper is to develop methodological approaches to assessing the accessibility of scientific monitoring objects in mountain areas on the basis of a comprehensive system of selected criteria. The criteria are indicators that characterize both the remoteness of objects, the complexity of geomorphological conditions, the development and quality of the road network and infrastructure, and the features of the natural and climatic conditions in the highlands. The methodology was applied to scientifically significant lakes and glaciers of the Central Altai. The ongoing processes of transformation of high-altitude landscape structures there arouse scientific and practical interest and require a systematic monitoring. As a result of the analysis, several groups of lakes and glaciers with different degrees of accessibility have been identified, and the contribution of the most significant factors affecting the complex component for each object of monitoring is shown. In general, a multi-factor assessment of the accessibility of natural objects in mountain areas makes it possible to optimize the organization of field research, take into account infrastructural and climatic factors when determining the route complexity and duration, and plan the sequence of research activities in order of priority.

To the Etymology of Names in And(om)- in the Toponyms of the European North of Russia

The paper discusses a number of issues related to the origin of the stem And(om) that occurs in substrate toponyms of the European North of Russia, e.g. Andozero, Andoma, Andomozero, Andoba (historical Andoma), etc. The first section dives into the history of studying this element, covering the existing etymologies, their benefits and limitations. In the second section, the author sets out her own hypothesis, according to which, at least the toponyms featuring the extended stem Andom- can be consistently interpreted as a combination of the attribute An- ~ Saam. ænȃ ‘big’ and the determinant -dom ‘mountain, settlement,’ now found very locally on a small territory between Central and Northern Russia. Unlike previous explanations, this one assumes the stem should be split into An- and -dom components, and not into And- and -om, as suggested earlier. The author notes that the determinant -dom has not been distinguished before because of the homonymous toponymic final -dom(a), formed as a combination of the final consonant of the stem -d with the formant -om(a). Accordingly, it is assumed that the range of the determinant -dom should be wider than the identified small zone, reaching out further to the north where it overlaps with toponyms with the stem Andom-. The hypothesis is substantiated by some statistical data, as well as information about the physical and geographical characteristics of a number of places named with toponyms in Andom-: Andoma mountain in the Vologda region, a group of Andoma lakes at the base of the mountain range on the Kola Peninsula, Andoma river in the Kostroma region and three rivers Andanga : *Andom(n)ga in the basin of the river Yug having characteristically high and steep sections of the coast.

Trophic Status and Phytoplankton Community Structure of Four Small Lakes in Ciliwung Watershed, Indonesia

Small lakes are critical freshwater resources to support the quality of human life. Small lakes in the watershed are becoming threatened ecosystems because of increasing land-use changes and anthropogenic activity. We determine the trophic status, phytoplankton community, and environmental factors in Lake Telaga Warna, Lake Cikaret, Lake Sunter, and Lake Cincin. The data was collected from primary and secondary data in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2016, and 2021. There are two groups of lakes based on water quality and trophic status. Lake Telaga Warna and Lake Cikaret, located at the upper and middle watershed, are eutrophic characterized by lower nutrient temperature, pH, conductivity, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). Lake Sunter and Lake Cincin, located at lower watersheds, are hypereutrophic characterized by higher nutrients, temperature, pH, conductivity, and TDS. Cyanobacteria dominance was recorded in Lake Telaga Warna and Lake Sunter, where Microcystis aeruginosa; Cylindrospermosis raciborskii; and Planktotrhix agardhii are the dominant species. Hypereutrophic status in Lake Sunter was characterized by the bloom of Planktothrix agardhii with total abundance (1,038x103 individualL-1 x 103), chlorophyll-a (431 µgL-1), low diversity index and species richness index. Cyanobacteria dominance in Lake Telaga Warna was under phosphorous limitation, while Cyanobacteria bloom in Lake Sunter was under nitrogen limitation.

Physical-Chemical Characteristic and Trophic Status of Some Small Lakes in Ciliwung Watershed, West Java Indonesia

Small lakes are important freshwater resources to support the quality of human life. However, small lakes in the watershed are becoming threatened ecosystems because of increasing land-use changes and anthropogenic activity. The study aimed to determine characteristic physical-chemical parameters and trophic status some small lake in Ciliwung Watershed to support the sustainable management of small lakes in the Ciliwung watershed in preventing eutrophication effects. The data was collected in April and June 2021. Measurement and analysis of water quality parameters were conducted by insitu and Laboratory. Some parameters were not in accordance with the Government Regulation number 22/2021 for class II water quality criteria (WQC), including TSS (>50 mg.L-1)., TP (>0.03 mg.L-1), COD (>25 mg.L-1) and DO (<3 mg.L-1), especially for Lake Sunter and Lake Cincin.There are two groups of lakes based on water quality and trophic status. Lake Telaga Warna Lake Cikaret, and Lake Cilodong were classified as eutrophic while lake Sunter and Lake Cincin were classified as hypereutrophic lake Lake Telaga Warna, Lake Cikaret, and Lake Cilodong, located at the upper and middle watershed, are eutrophic, characterized by deeper bottom and higher Secchi depth. At the lower watershed, Lake Sunter and Lake Cincin are hypereutrophic characterized by higher nutrients (TN and TP), COD, temperature, conductivity, salinity, and TDS. The downstream area was a densely populated area that contributed high pollution from upstream and middle of Ciliwung watershed.

GRUBOŚĆ POKRYWY LODOWEJ WYBRANYCH JEZIOR O GENEZIE EOLICZNEJ, KRASOWEJ I RZECZNEJ W WOJEWÓDZTWIE ŚWIĘTOKRZYSKIM

The research covered three genetic groups of lakes (karst, aeolian, and riverine) which occur in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Depending on the specific group, the lakes have different morphometric parameters of the lake basin and the water catchment area as well as physical and chemical properties of the water. In winter 2021, after a wave of severe frost, the thickness of the ice was measured on a selected number of lakes. The results of the tests indicate a diverse thickness of the ice caps. Karst lakes had the thickest ice caps. Riverine and aeolian lakes, on the other hand, featured similar thickness of the ice. However, it was noticed that in the case of riverine lakes, the ice cap on shores with prevailing reed was thinner than in the central parts of the lake.

Use of water isotopes and chemistry to infer the type and degree of exchange between groundwater and lakes in an esker complex of northeastern Ontario, Canada

Abstract. While interactions between groundwater and lake-water influence water chemistry, water balance, aquatic organisms, biochemical cycles and contamination levels, they remain a poorly studied component of lake hydrology. Identifying the controls of groundwater and lake-water interactions at the landscape level and classifying lakes into categories based on their degree of interaction with the groundwater can provide insights into a lake's sensitivity and vulnerability to environmental stressors. Such information can also provide baseline conditions for comparison to future changes that are important for water management and conservation. To this end, water chemistry and water isotopic composition were investigated in a set of 50 boreal lakes located at different elevations in an esker system near Timmins, Ontario. Analyses focused on stable isotopic ratios of hydrogen and oxygen and specific conductance as indicators of the position of a lake with respect to the influence of groundwater. Both isotopic composition and specific conductance distinguished higher-elevation groundwater-recharge lakes from lower-elevation groundwater-discharge lakes. Groundwater-recharge lakes were high-elevation lakes characterized by enriched isotopic values and low values of specific conductance. In contrast, groundwater-discharge lakes were isotopically depleted and had higher values of specific conductance and occurred at lower elevations. An intermediate group of lakes was also defined (termed seepage lakes) and had intermediate isotopic and water-chemistry characteristics compared to recharge and discharge lakes. Differences in water geochemistry between field campaigns revealed that upland groundwater-recharge lakes showed evidence of evaporative drawdown, indicating sensitivity to short-term changes in climate, whereas the lower-elevation groundwater-discharge lakes showed little variation between seasonal samples and consequently would likely be affected only by hydroclimatological changes of greater duration and magnitude.

Contribution of Lake-Dune Patterning to the Dune Height of Mega-Dunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea, Northern China

Mega-dunes in the lake group area of the Badain Jaran Sand Sea, China, are generally taller than dunes in the non-lake group area. This spatial distribution of dune heights may provide a new perspective on the controversy regarding the dunes’ formation mechanism. In this study, we calculated the relative heights and slopes of individual dunes based on a digital elevation model, and we confirmed the height distribution of abnormally tall dunes in the lake group area of the sand sea. It was also found that slopes of more than 10° in the lake group area are more common than those in the non-lake group area. Based on meteorological observations, coupled with the measurement of water content in the sand layers, we propose a conceptual model demonstrating that moisture exchange between the lakes and soil via non-rainfall water will humidify dune slopes and form a more favorable accumulation environment for aeolian sand, thus increasing dune heights. Although long-term observations are yet to be carried out, the present study can be used as evidence for understanding the basis of dune formation in the lake group area and assessing groundwater utilization in deserts.

Comparison of Hydrological Patterns between Glacier-Fed and Non-Glacier-Fed Lakes on the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau have experienced variations over the last several decades, and the delineation of lake dynamics is favorable for the regional water cycle and can serve as important information for plateau environmental research. This study focused on 57 lakes near the Tanggula Mountains on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Yearly inundations of the lakes in 1989–2019 and altimeter data available for 2003–2020 were integrated to illustrate the changing patterns of glacier-fed and non-glacier-fed lakes. These two groups of lakes presented very similar evolution stages. They both increased in 1989–1992, decreased in 1992–1996, increased rapidly in 1998–2005, and had batch-wise fluctuations since 2005, with respective areas of around 5305.28 and 1636.79 km2 in the last decade. The non-glacier-fed lakes were more sensitive to precipitation variation, and glacier-fed lakes were more sensitive to temperature changes. Based on lakes with obvious changes in water level, the whole water storage variations of the studied lakes were 1.90 Gt/y in 2003–2009, including 1.80 Gt/y for glacier-fed lakes and 0.10 Gt/y for non-glacier-fed lakes. The contribution from glacier melting in 2003–2009 amounted to 16.11% of the whole lake volume increase. In 2010–2020, water mass changes were 0.42 Gt/y for glacier-fed lakes and −0.14 Gt/y for non-glacier-fed lakes, respectively. The volume increase of glacier-fed lakes in 2010–2020 was mainly due to the expansion of Selin Co. Selin Co experienced a water increase of about 0.46 Gt/y, and the other glacier-fed lakes experienced a decreasing volume of −0.04 Gt/y. In 2010–2020, 99.43% of the glacier contribution supplied Selin Co.

Effects of river-lake disconnection and eutrophication on freshwater mollusc assemblages in floodplain lakes: Loss of congeneric species leads to changes in both assemblage composition and taxonomic relatedness

River floodplain ecosystems host one of the highest freshwater molluscan biodiversity on Earth. However, multiple human disturbances, such as loss of hydrological connectivity and deterioration of water quality, are seriously threatening most floodplain lakes throughout the world. Given the high imperilment rate of freshwater molluscs but the scarcity of studies examining the anthropogenic effects on this fauna, we test the response of mollusc assemblages to river-lake disconnection and eutrophication in 30 lakes in the Yangtze River floodplain, China. The species richness of entire Mollusca, Gastropoda and Bivalvia and 6 dominant families were all much lower at disconnected lakes than that in connected lakes, and decreased with increasing water eutrophication. The assemblage structure differed significantly among four lake groups for datasets based on entire Mollusca, Gastropoda and Bivalvia, indicating the serious impacts of hydrological disconnection and eutrophication. Moreover, the connected lakes showed significantly lower values of average taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) but higher values of variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ+) than disconnected lakes. Such variations were triggered by the extirpation of congeneric and endemic species (mainly from families Unionidae and Viviparidae), which giving a waring of the loss of mollusc endemism in this region. In general, the present study showed that river-lake disconnection and deterioration of water quality resulted in serious biodiversity declines of both gastropods and bivalves in the Yangtze River floodplain lakes. A systematic approach including restoration of river-lake connectivity and habitats and improvement of water quality should be implemented in the conservation planning in this large river floodplain.

Abiotic factors influence species co-occurrence patterns of lake fishes.

Abiotic factors are recognized for their strong influence on community structure. Habitat diversity is related to resource availability that influences species richness and abundance. In lakes, surface area and depth have been used as measures of the size and diversity of habitat, and have strong effects on the structure of entire communities. We tested whether abiotic variables, related to habitat size, influence co-occurrence patterns of species pairs of fishes by analysing groups of lakes within a specific area and depth categories in two regions in Ontario, Canada. We used null models to obtain co-occurrence patterns and standard effect sizes for each species pair within each area and depth category. We estimated standard effect sizes relative to lake area or depth and determined whether species co-occurrence patterns change systematically as these measures of habitat increase. We evaluated groups of species where factors such as predation and habitat filtering have been shown to structure those assemblages, and we tested whether area and depth alter the species associations and our interpretation of these relationships. We found significant differences between the observed and expected distributions of regression slopes relating co-occurrences to area and depth in both regions across all species, which indicated the strong influence of both variables on the overall co-occurrence patterns. We observed a significant negative trend of the co-occurrence patterns across lake area categories for the predator-prey species, indicating that the effect of predation was stronger in smaller lakes, but it was reduced in larger lakes, possibly due to increased habitat and resource availability. We show that pooling results as done in standard community null models can lead to Type II errors due to the 'cancellation' of opposing ecological signals. Our results demonstrate the effect of environmental variables on species co-occurrence patterns, but the divergent results obtained between geographical regions suggest that such patterns are context-dependent. This study emphasizes the importance of considering abiotic factors in null models of species co-occurrence to obtain reliable and detailed information about the association patterns between species.

Improving biological condition assessment accuracy by multimetric index approach with microalgae in streams and lakes

<p indent="0mm">The multimetric index (MMI) approach is broadly used in ecological assessment because it integrates information of various ecologically related metrics of freshwater ecosystems and provides an easily understandable score for further evaluation and management. Accounting for natural variation and disentangling covariation between natural environmental and human disturbance factors is imperative for an accurate assessment. <italic>A priori</italic> classification of sites by regions or typologies, site-specific modeling of expected reference conditions, and varying metrics in site groups are three approaches that have been used to control natural variation in ecological assessments. Researchers have recently made a lot of progress in improving biological condition assessment accuracy by the MMI approach with microalgae in streams and lakes. All existing studies support that site-specific modeling can efficiently account for natural variation and generate an MMI with good performance. However, no strong evidence has shown that diatom/blue-algae typologies are better than regionalization frameworks in accounting for natural variation in lakes or streams. Separating the natural variation explained by site-specific modeling from that of varying metrics is necessary for a thorough and accurate evaluation of the valuableness of site-grouping by typologies. The different performances of varying metrics among site groups of streams and lakes are most probably caused by the lack of representativeness of diatom metrics on biological conditions rather than the complex multi-stressor gradients in streams and rivers. This study reviewed recent progress in defining the ecological condition of lakes and streams by the MMI approach with microalgae and some concerns in using statistical techniques to compare MMI performance.