Lakes In Siberia Research Articles

Sedimentary DNA identifies modern and past macrophyte diversity and its environmental drivers in high‐latitude and high‐elevation lakes in Siberia and China

AbstractArctic and alpine aquatic ecosystems are changing rapidly under recent global warming, threatening water resources by diminishing trophic status and changing biotic composition. Macrophytes play a key role in the ecology of freshwaters and we need to improve our understanding of long‐term macrophytes diversity and environmental change so far limited by the sporadic presence of macrofossils in sediments. In our study, we applied metabarcoding using the trnL P6 loop marker to retrieve macrophyte richness and composition from 179 surface‐sediment samples from arctic Siberian and alpine Chinese lakes and three representative lake cores. The surface‐sediment dataset suggests that macrophyte richness and composition are mostly affected by temperature and conductivity, with highest richness when mean July temperatures are higher than 12°C and conductivity ranges between 40 and 400 μS cm−1. Compositional turnover during the Late Pleistocene/Holocene is minor in Siberian cores and characterized by a less rich, but stable emergent macrophyte community. Richness decreases during the Last Glacial Maximum and rises during wetter and warmer climate in the Late‐glacial and Mid‐Holocene. In contrast, we detect a pronounced change from emergent to submerged taxa at 14 ka in the Tibetan alpine core, which can be explained by increasing temperature and conductivity due to glacial runoff and evaporation. Our study provides evidence for the suitability of the trnL marker to recover modern and past macrophyte diversity and its applicability for the response of macrophyte diversity to lake‐hydrochemical and climate variability predicting contrasting macrophyte changes in arctic and alpine lakes under intensified warming and human impact.

Microplastic Pollution in the Surface Waters from Plain and Mountainous Lakes in Siberia, Russia

Microplastics (MPs) contaminations of freshwater and marine environments has become a global issue. Lakes in southern Siberia provide a wide range of ecosystem services and are essential elements in the annual and interannual runoff distribution of the Great Siberian Rivers. However, the extent of their MPs pollution remains unknown. In this paper, for the first time, we analyze the concentrations, composition, and spatial distribution of MPs in six lakes in southern Siberia. The studied lakes are located both in the Altai mountains and the West Siberian plain. Some of them are significantly impacted by human activities, while others are located in protected areas with no permanent population. Nevertheless, MPs were detected in all of the studied lakes. MPs concentrations ranged from 4 to 26 MPs L−1. Comparing with other inland lakes, South Siberian lakes presented moderate MPs concentrations. Among the registered MPs forms, fragments and films were dominant, with a size range between 31 and 60 nm. The MPs’ sources depend on local human activities (fishing, transport, landfilling). Therefore, sufficiently high concentrations were observed even in remote lakes. The present study set a baseline that emphasizes the need for increased attention to waste management and sustainable water use in Siberian freshwater environments.

Plant diversity in sedimentary DNA obtained from high-latitude (Siberia) and high-elevation lakes (China).

BackgroundPlant diversity in the Arctic and at high altitudes strongly depends on and rebounds to climatic and environmental variability and is nowadays tremendously impacted by recent climate warming. Therefore, past changes in plant diversity in the high Arctic and high-altitude regions are used to infer climatic and environmental changes through time and allow future predictions. Sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) is an established proxy for the detection of local plant diversity in lake sediments, but still relationships between environmental conditions and preservation of the plant sedDNA proxy are far from being fully understood. Studying modern relationships between environmental conditions and plant sedDNA will improve our understanding under which conditions sedDNA is well-preserved helping to a.) evaluate suitable localities for sedDNA approaches, b.) provide analogues for preservation conditions and c.) conduct reconstruction of plant diversity and climate change. This study investigates modern plant diversity applying a plant-specific metabarcoding approach on sedimentary DNA of surface sediment samples from 262 lake localities covering a large geographical, climatic and ecological gradient. Latitude ranges between 25°N and 73°N and longitude between 81°E and 161°E, including lowland lakes and elevated lakes up to 5168 m a.s.l. Further, our sampling localities cover a climatic gradient ranging in mean annual temperature between -15°C and +18°C and in mean annual precipitation between 36­ and 935 mm. The localities in Siberia span over a large vegetational gradient including tundra, open woodland and boreal forest. Lake localities in China include alpine meadow, shrub, forest and steppe and also cultivated areas. The assessment of plant diversity in the underlying dataset was conducted by a specific plant metabarcoding approach.New informationWe provide a large dataset of genetic plant diversity retrieved from surface sedimentary DNA from lakes in Siberia and China spanning over a large environmental gradient. Our dataset encompasses sedDNA sequence data of 259 surface lake sediments and three soil samples originating from Siberian and Chinese lakes. We used the established chloroplastidal P6 loop trnL marker for plant diversity assessment. The merged, filtered and assigned dataset includes 15,692,944 read counts resulting in 623 unique plant DNA sequence types which have a 100% match to either the EMBL or to the specific Arctic plant reference database. The underlying dataset includes a taxonomic list of identified plants and results from PCR replicates, as well as extraction blanks (BLANKs) and PCR negative controls (NTCs), which were run along with the investigated lake samples. This collection of plant metabarcoding data from modern lake sediments is still ongoing and additional data will be released in the future.

Buried, eaten, sacrificed: Archaeological dog remains from Trans-Baikal, Siberia

Trans-Baikal, the interior region just to the east of Siberia's Lake Baikal, has a fairly extensive but largely unstudied archaeological record of human interaction with domestic dogs. This region's archaeological dog remains are documented for the first time in this paper. New radiocarbon dates indicate that dogs first appear in this region by at least 7900 years ago during the Siberian Early Neolithic period. These dogs lived with the region's foragers, particularly in the southern portions of Trans-Baikal, and were sometimes buried, indicating their unique status in these communities. Dogs during this period were likely involved in hunting and burden carrying, but there is no evidence they were eaten. For much of the Middle Holocene, dog remains appear to be absent in Trans-Baikal, a pattern similar to that seen in the Cis-Baikal region to the west. During the Iron Age, dogs become food sources in Trans-Baikal, being abundant in some sites occupied by pastoral and agricultural groups. This same period also witnesses some dog sacrifice. Overall, dogs were clearly widespread in Trans- and Cis-Baikal by ~8000 years ago, and in all likelihood were present in much of Siberia in smaller numbers far earlier than this.

Circumpolar Mapping of Ground-Fast Lake Ice

Shallow lakes are common across the entire Arctic. They play an important role as methane sources and wildlife habitats, and they are also associated with thermokarst processes which are characteristic of permafrost environments. Many lakes freeze to the ground along their rims and often over the entire extent during winter time. Knowledge on the spatial patterns of ground-fast and floating ice is important as it relates to methane release, talik formation and hydrological processes, but no circumpolar account of this phenomenon is currently available. Previous studies have shown that ground-fast ice can easily be detected using C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter intensity data acquired from satellites. A major challenge is that backscatter intensity varies across the satellite scenes due to incidence angle effects. Circumpolar application therefore requires the inclusion of incidence angle dependencies into the detection algorithm. An approach using ENVISAT ASAR Wide Swath data (approximately 120 m spatial resolution) has therefore been developed supported by bathymetric measurements for lakes in Siberia. This approach was then further applied across the entire Arctic for late winter 2008. Ground-fast ice fraction has been derived for (1) two million lake objects larger than 0.025 km² (post-processed GlobeLand30), (2) a 50 x 50 km grid and (3) within certain zones relevant for climate studies (permafrost type, last glacial maximum, Yedoma). Especially lakes smaller than approximately 0.1 km² may freeze completely to the ground. The proportion of ground-fast ice increases with increasing soil organic carbon content in the proximity of the lakes. This underlines the importance of such lakes for emission studies and the need to map the occurrence of ground-fast lake ice. Clusters of variable fractions of ground-fast ice occur especially in Yedoma regions of Eastern Siberia and Alaska. This reflects the nature of thaw lake dynamics. Analyses of lake depth measurements from several sites suggest that the used method yields the potential to utilize ground-fast lake ice information over larger areas with respect to landscape development, but results need to be treated with care, specifically for larger lakes and along river courses.

A 9,000 Year History of Seal Hunting on Lake Baikal, Siberia: The Zooarchaeology of Sagan-Zaba II.

Sagan-Zaba II, a habitation site on the shore of Siberia’s Lake Baikal, contains a record of seal hunting that spans much of the Holocene, making it one of the longest histories of seal use in North Asia. Zooarchaeological analyses of the 16,000 Baikal seal remains from this well-dated site clearly show that sealing began here at least 9000 calendar years ago. The use of these animals at Sagan-Zaba appears to have peaked in the Middle Holocene, when foragers used the site as a spring hunting and processing location for yearling and juvenile seals taken on the lake ice. After 4800 years ago, seal use declined at the site, while the relative importance of ungulate hunting and fishing increased. Pastoralists began occupying Sagan-Zaba at some point during the Late Holocene, and these groups too utilized the lake’s seals. Domesticated animals are increasingly common after about 2000 years ago, a pattern seen elsewhere in the region, but spring and some summer hunting of seals was still occurring. This use of seals by prehistoric herders mirrors patterns of seal use among the region’s historic and modern groups. Overall, the data presented in the paper demonstrate that Lake Baikal witnessed thousands of years of human use of aquatic resources.

People and Seals at Siberia's Lake Baikal

The seals inhabiting Eastern Siberia's Lake Baikal are involved in a suite of meaningful relationships with local people both in the present and in the distant past. Most people rarely see the seals in their natural habitat, but these animals nonetheless are considered icons of the region, particularly among tourists and the broader general public. Our recent interviews with Baikal seal hunters, most of whom are Buriat, revealed relationships of great depth and intimacy with these animals that involved, in part, knowing the animals based on their sounds, smells, taste, fur quality, appearance, and behavior. The hunters and their families maintain relationships with the animals by acting so as to stay in good standing with local spirits and through proper treatment of the animals' bodies after death. Further, Baikal seals have prominent roles in local cosmologies and legends, including the origin stories of some local groups. The region's archaeological record reveals that meaningful relationships with seals extend far back in time, including among ancient foraging groups, some of whom made representations of seals 7,000-8,000 years ago. Humans' long-standing relationships with seals at Lake Baikal cannot be viewed simply as interactions between predator and prey, or consumer and commodity.

鳥インフルエンザの正体とその克服法

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) causes lethal infection in gallinaceous poultry such as chickens. HPAIV is generated when a nonpathogenic virus brought in by migratory birds from nesting lakes in the north is transmitted to chickens via domestic ducks, geese, quails, etc. and acquires pathogenicity for chickens with repeated multiple infections in the chicken population. Now H5N1 HPAIV has spread to 62 countries in Eurasia and Africa. H5N1 HPAIVs were isolated from dead water birds in Mongolia and Hokkaido, Japan on the way back to their nesting lakes in Siberia in April to May 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. It is concerned that these HPAI viruses may perpetuate in the lakes where migratory water birds nest in summer. On 14th October in 2010, 2 H5N1 HPAIVs were isolated from fecal samples of ducks who flew from Siberia to Ohnuma Lake in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, Japan. Since then, 24 outbreaks of avian influenza due to infection with the H5N1 viruses closely related to the viruses isolated from fecal samples of ducks in Hokkaido in October 2010 have occurred in 9 different prefectures in Japan until the end of March 2011. The other serious concern is that 620 people have been infected with the H5N1 virus, 60% of whom died in 15 countries since 2004 (as of 15 February 2013). It is noted that most of the human cases (86%) are in China, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and Egypt where bird flu vaccines are used. It is strongly proposed to eradicate the H5N1 HPAIVs from Asia by stamping-out without misuse of vaccine through international collaboration under the umbrella of ”One World, One Health” concept.

Fish and Fishing in Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia: A Review

ABSTRACT Eastern Siberia's Lake Baikal and its tributaries are productive fisheries, and the region's Holocene archaeological sites confirm that this is a long-standing phenomenon. Recent zooarchaeological investigations of sites here allow Holocene fishing practices to be examined in more detail than was previously possible. Along much of the lake's coast, bathymetry is very steep and the water very cold; here fishing appears to have been supplemental to other subsistence practices such as sealing and ungulate hunting. In shallower areas, waters were warmer and supported very productive fisheries for littoral species, perhaps through the use of nets or traps. The region's rivers offered their own resident species but also were used as spawning grounds by some lake fishes. The lake's littoral fisheries, while productive, likely produced fish throughout the year and did not require complex labor organization to be effectively used. Some sections of the region's rivers, particularly those that were spawning grounds for some lake fishes, may have required more complex sociopolitical organization to be exploited efficiently. Such fish runs were short-lived and the best fishing places likely were spatially restricted. This potentially created the need for pools of labor, required organization of harvesting and processing, and generated surpluses that could be stored and manipulated.

Reintroduction of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus by migratory water birds, causing poultry outbreaks in the 2010–2011 winter season in Japan

H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) was reintroduced and caused outbreaks in chickens in the 2010-2011 winter season in Japan, which had been free from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) since 2007 when HPAI outbreaks occurred and were controlled. On 14 October 2010 at Lake Ohnuma, Wakkanai, the northernmost part of Hokkaido, Japan, H5N1 HPAIVs were isolated from faecal samples of ducks flying from their nesting lakes in Siberia. Since then, in Japan, H5N1 HPAIVs have been isolated from 63 wild birds in 17 prefectures and caused HPAI outbreaks in 24 chicken farms in nine prefectures by the end of March in 2011. Each of these isolates was genetically closely related to the HPAIV isolates at Lake Ohnuma, and those in China, Mongolia, Russia and Korea, belonging to genetic clade 2.3.2.1. In addition, these isolates were genetically classified into three groups, suggesting that the viruses were transmitted by migratory water birds through at least three different routes from their northern territory to Japan. These isolates were antigenic variants, which is consistent with selection in poultry under the immunological pressure induced by vaccination. To prevent the perpetuation of viruses in the lakes where water birds nest in summer in Siberia, prompt eradication of HPAIVs in poultry is urgently needed in Asian countries where HPAI has not been controlled.

Characterization of a non-pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus isolated from a migratory duck flying from Siberia in Hokkaido, Japan, in October 2009

BackgroundInfection with H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of domestic poultry and wild birds has spread to more than 60 countries in Eurasia and Africa. It is concerned that HPAIVs may be perpetuated in the lakes in Siberia where migratory water birds nest in summer. To monitor whether HPAIVs circulate in migratory water birds, intensive surveillance of avian influenza has been performed in Mongolia and Japan in autumn each year. Until 2008, there had not been any H5N1 viruses isolated from migratory water birds that flew from their nesting lakes in Siberia. In autumn 2009, A/mallard/Hokkaido/24/09 (H5N1) (Mal/Hok/24/09) was isolated from a fecal sample of a mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) that flew from Siberia to Hokkaido, Japan. The isolate was assessed for pathogenicity in chickens, domestic ducks, and quails and analyzed antigenically and phylogenetically.ResultsNo clinical signs were observed in chickens inoculated intravenously with Mal/Hok/24/09 (H5N1). There was no viral replication in chickens inoculated intranasally with the isolate. None of the domestic ducks and quails inoculated intranasally with the isolate showed any clinical signs. There were no multiple basic amino acid residues at the cleavage site of the hemagglutinin (HA) of the isolate. Each gene of Mal/Hok/24/09 (H5N1) is phylogenetically closely related to that of influenza viruses isolated from migratory water birds that flew from their nesting lakes in autumn. Additionally, the antigenicity of the HA of the isolate was similar to that of the viruses isolated from migratory water birds in Hokkaido that flew from their northern territory in autumn and different from those of HPAIVs isolated from birds found dead in China, Mongolia, and Japan on the way back to their northern territory in spring.ConclusionMal/Hok/24/09 (H5N1) is a non-pathogenic avian influenza virus for chickens, domestic ducks, and quails, and is antigenically and genetically distinct from the H5N1 HPAIVs prevailing in birds in Eurasia and Africa. H5 viruses with the HA gene of HPAIV had not been isolated from migratory water birds in the surveillance until 2009, indicating that H5N1 HPAIVs had not become dominant in their nesting lakes in Siberia until 2009.

Characterization of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus strains isolated from migratory waterfowl in Mongolia on the way back from the southern Asia to their northern territory

H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses were isolated from dead wild waterfowl at Khunt, Erkhel, Doityn Tsagaan, Doroo, and Ganga Lakes in Mongolia in July 2005, May 2006, May 2009, July 2009, and May 2010, respectively. The isolates in 2005 and 2006 were classified into genetic clade 2.2, and those in 2009 and 2010 into clade 2.3.2. A/whooper swan/Mongolia/6/2009 (H5N1) experimentally infected ducks and replicated systemically with higher mortality than that of the isolates in 2005 and 2006. Intensive surveillance of avian influenza in migratory waterfowl flying from their nesting lakes in Siberia to Mongolia in every autumn indicate that HPAI viruses have not perpetuated at their nesting lakes until 2009. The present results demonstrate that wild waterfowl were sporadically infected with H5N1 HPAI viruses prevailing in domestic poultry in the southern Asia and died in Mongolia on the way back to their northern territory in spring.

Russian Launches Baikal Petition

A Russian scientist at Iowa State University has started a petition to save Siberia's Lake Baikal. Evolutionary biologist Dennis Lavrov says he felt “an obligation to speak about it,” after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in January overturned a 2001 ban on disposing of toxic waste in the lake

Effect of winter conditions on distributions of anoxic phototrophic bacteria in two meromictic lakes in Siberia, Russia

The year-to-year variations of vertical distribution and biomass of anoxic phototrophic bacteria were studied during ice periods 2003–2005 and 2007–2008 in meromictic lakes Shira and Shunet (Southern Siberia, Russian Federation). The bacterial layers in chemocline of both lakes were sampled with a thin-layer hydraulic multi-syringe sampler. In winter, biomass of purple sulphur bacteria varied considerably depending on the amount of light penetrating into the chemocline through the ice and snow cover. In relatively weakly stratified, brackish Shira Lake, the depth of chemocline varied between winters, so that light intensity for purple sulphur bacteria inhabiting this zone differed. In Shira Lake, increased transparency of mixolimnion in winter, high chemocline position and absence of snow resulted in light intensity and biomass of purple sulphur bacteria exceeding the summer values in the chemocline of the lake. We could monitor snow cover at the lake surface using remote sensing and therefore estimate dynamics and amount of light under ice and its availability for phototrophic organisms. In Shunet Lake, the light intensities in the chemocline and biomasses of purple sulphur bacteria were always lower in winter than in summer, but the biomasses of green sulphur bacteria were similar.

Bulk composition of sedimentary organic matter used in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions: examples from the tropical belt of South America and Africa

Abstract The organic matter of lake sediments contains information that allows for the reconstruction of past environmental and climatic changes. The elemental composition and isotopic characteristics of sedimentary organic matter enable discrimination between allochthonous (vegetal matter from within the catchment) and autochthonous (phytoplanktonic and fixed algae) components. This approach makes it possible to distinguish between the inputs of organic matter from C 3 - vs. C 4 -type land plants. Sedimentary records from South America and Africa provide examples of applications of organic bulk composition in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The records from two African lakes show that, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the distribution of C org /N org – δ 13 C pairs indicates the dominance of organic material having a C 4 terrestrial origin. These inferences are supported by pollen analysis, which indicates opening up of the forest at both sites, consistent with drier climatic conditions than present. The record from Siberia Lake (Bolivia), ca. 3000 m altitude, shows that, during the LGM, the sedimentary organic matter is dominated by the phytoplanktonic fraction, as indicated by the C org /N org – δ 13 C pairs. The petrographic analyses show that this material is not well preserved, suggestive of drier conditions, consistent with interpretations from the pollen record. The beginning of the Holocene is marked by a shift from a scattered C 4 signal to one with a greater terrestrial C 3 and aquatic phytoplanktonic influence. These results indicate climatic amelioration towards more humid and warmer climatic conditions, leading to forest development in the lake catchment, together with increasing lake levels conducive to greater phytoplankton production. These conditions persisted during the Holocene, as shown by the C org /N org – δ 13 C pairs in all lakes, with a terrestrial C 3 signal predominating at the Carajas and Siberia lakes. Only Dom Helvecio Lake shows a different pattern during the beginning of the Holocene in the distribution of C org /N org – δ 13 C pairs. This pattern indicates that the sedimentary organic material is dominated by C 4 terrestrial material coming from savanna expansion in the lake catchment during a period of relative aridity in central Brazil.

Bulk composition of sedimentary organic matter used in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions: examples from the tropical belt of South America and Africa

The organic matter of lake sediments contains information that allows for the reconstruction of past environmental and climatic changes. The elemental composition and isotopic characteristics of sedimentary organic matter enable discrimination between allochthonous (vegetal matter from within the catchment) and autochthonous (phytoplanktonic and fixed algae) components. This approach makes it possible to distinguish between the inputs of organic matter from C 3- vs. C 4-type land plants. Sedimentary records from South America and Africa provide examples of applications of organic bulk composition in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The records from two African lakes show that, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the distribution of C org/N org– δ 13C pairs indicates the dominance of organic material having a C 4 terrestrial origin. These inferences are supported by pollen analysis, which indicates opening up of the forest at both sites, consistent with drier climatic conditions than present. The record from Siberia Lake (Bolivia), ca. 3000 m altitude, shows that, during the LGM, the sedimentary organic matter is dominated by the phytoplanktonic fraction, as indicated by the C org/N org– δ 13C pairs. The petrographic analyses show that this material is not well preserved, suggestive of drier conditions, consistent with interpretations from the pollen record. The beginning of the Holocene is marked by a shift from a scattered C 4 signal to one with a greater terrestrial C 3 and aquatic phytoplanktonic influence. These results indicate climatic amelioration towards more humid and warmer climatic conditions, leading to forest development in the lake catchment, together with increasing lake levels conducive to greater phytoplankton production. These conditions persisted during the Holocene, as shown by the C org/N org– δ 13C pairs in all lakes, with a terrestrial C 3 signal predominating at the Carajas and Siberia lakes. Only Dom Helvécio Lake shows a different pattern during the beginning of the Holocene in the distribution of C org/N org– δ 13C pairs. This pattern indicates that the sedimentary organic material is dominated by C 4 terrestrial material coming from savanna expansion in the lake catchment during a period of relative aridity in central Brazil.

Siberia's Lake Baikal: Aspects of its history, economy and ecology

(1976). Siberia's Lake Baikal: Aspects of its history, economy and ecology. Asian Affairs: Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 161-167.