Lake States Research Articles

The Great Lakes Winter Grab: Limnological data from a multi‐institutional winter sampling campaign on the Laurentian Great Lakes

AbstractInterest in winter limnology is growing rapidly, but progress is hindered by a shortage of standardized multivariate datasets on winter conditions. Addressing the winter data gap will enhance our understanding of winter ecosystem function and of lake response to environmental change. Here, we describe a dataset generated by a multi‐institutional winter sampling campaign across all five Laurentian Great Lakes and some of their connecting waters (the Great Lakes Winter Grab). The objective of Winter Grab was to characterize mid‐winter limnological conditions in the Great Lakes using standard sample collection and analysis methods. Nineteen research groups sampled 49 locations varying widely in depth and trophic status, collecting a range of limnological data. This dataset includes physical, chemical, and biological measurements. These data can be used to examine diverse aspects of Great Lakes ecosystems or integrated with winter observations from other lakes to improve understanding of winter limnology across different aquatic systems.

Predicting lake chlorophyll from stream phosphorus concentrations

AbstractExcess nutrient loads from streams drive primary production in downstream lakes, and managing these loads is key to achieving desired conditions in lakes. However, quantifying nutrient loads requires intensive sampling of both nutrient concentrations and streamflow. Total phosphorus measurements collected during routine stream monitoring are broadly available, but these data are thought to provide little information on annual nutrient loads because they are typically collected during low, baseflow conditions. Here, we demonstrate that these routine phosphorus measurements are correlated with annual nutrient loads. We also show that the average of these routine measurements of stream phosphorus within a watershed predict the average lake chlorophyll concentration in that same watershed. These relationships can then be used to set targets for stream phosphorus concentrations to achieve desired conditions in lakes.

Indications of a changing winter through the lens of lake mixing in Earth’s largest freshwater system

Abstract Global surface freshwater primarily resides in lakes, with the overwhelming majority found in Earth’s largest lakes, thus understanding potential climate change effects in these large lakes is critical. In dimictic lakes, climate change has extended the duration of summer thermal stratification and reduced the length of the ice season. These changes are relatively straightforward to evaluate in smaller, inland lakes. However in large lakes, such as the North American Great Lakes, temporally intermittent and spatially heterogeneous ice cover, and spatial thermal heterogeneity limit the utility of simple ice on-off or mixing classifications; therefore, assessing how climate change is impacting winter conditions in large lakes is challenging. Here, we use in-situ and satellite-derived surface water temperature observations from the North American Great Lakes to overcome these limitations and show that warming air temperatures are driving reductions in the number of winter days, collectively those with either ice cover or inverse thermal stratification, in favor of increases in isothermal conditions for the period 1995 to 2023. We find that on average the Great Lakes are experiencing a loss of 14 winter days per decade. Our results demonstrate how climate change has yielded disproportionate changes in the annual thermal cycle and mixing conditions of Earth’s largest freshwater system and signals the potential for fundamental ecosystem shifts due to a loss of winter.

Prickly postglacial pioneers: freshwater plankton community composition influences fatty acid desaturase (FADS2) copy number in southern Greenland threespine sticklebacks

The adaptation of marine fish to freshwater environments includes prodigious examples of rapid evolution.Given the scarcity of ω‐3 long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFA) in freshwater, we expect selection to be strong on fish transitioning to freshwater habitats and yet the underlying ecological causes of genomic and phenotypic differentiation are poorly understood for traits associated with lipid content and composition. Threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus have repeatedly colonized, and adapted to, freshwater habitats across the Northern Hemisphere. These freshwater populations often show elevated copy number of the fatty acid desaturase 2 gene (FADS2), which increases the biosynthetic capacity of LC‐PUFA. The starkly lower content of LC‐PUFA in freshwater compared to marine prey, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), likely imposes strong positive selection on freshwater fish for either increased biosynthesis or greater dietary acquisition of LC‐PUFA. The recently colonized and relatively undisturbed threespine stickleback populations in postglacial coastal lakes of southern Greenland offer an exceptional opportunity to study how variation in the copy number of FADS2 is related to abiotic and biotic conditions of lakes and their morphometry. As expected, given its position on the stickleback X chromosome, we found strong sexual dimorphism in FADS2 copy number in all populations (19 freshwater, 1 marine and 1 brackish), and an increased dimorphism in some freshwater populations. We also found that FADS2 copy number was negatively correlated, for both males and females, with the abundance of copepods, which are a DHA‐rich food source in the zooplankton community. Overall, our results suggest that the prey community context of lakes might influence the process of metabolic adaptation of marine fish colonizing freshwater ecosystems.

On the factors and the degree of their effect on subglacial melt and changes in the state of Antarctic subglacial lakes

ABSTRACT This study presents the results of mathematical modeling of the degree of effects of various characteristics on basal conditions in Antarctica. The model is based on the numerical solution of the one-dimensional Stefan problem. Five factors determining the nature of subglacial processes have been studied: ice thickness, snow-firn thickness, surface mass balance, air temperature, and geothermal heat flux. It was found that on the Antarctic plateau, slope, and coast, the geothermal heat flux has the greatest influence on the basal conditions. It is the heat flux that is responsible for the transition of most Antarctic lakes from a stable state to an active one (except for the ice stream regions). In areas where the ice sheet is thinner than 1,500 m, air temperature is the second most important factor affecting subglacial conditions. In areas where the glacier is thicker, the ice thickness begins to have a greater effect. The snow-firn thickness and snow accumulation have little effect on subglacial melt in most parts of Antarctica. Calculations over a 100-year period show that if meltwater accumulates on the bedrock rather than being completely channeled, it leads to a decrease in the average rate of subglacial melting by approximately 10 times.

Predictive Model for O3 in Shanghai Based on the KZ Filtering Technique and LSTM

In this study, a Kolmogorov-Zurbenko （KZ） filter was proposed to decompose the original ozone （O3） sequence to improve the accuracy of ozone long-term series prediction and select relevant meteorological features. Furthermore, the enhanced maximal minimal redundancy （mRMR） feature selection technique was combined with the support vector regression （SVR） approach to select the most illuminating meteorological features. Subsequently, from May to August 2023, during high ozone concentration periods, a long short-term memory network （LSTM） was utilized to assess and predict high ozone concentration periods at the monitoring stations of Jingan （urban area）, Pudong-Chuansha （suburban area）, and Dianshan Lake （suburban area） in Shanghai. The results showed that pressure, temperature, humidity, boundary layer height, and wind direction were the best combinations of O3 baseline and short-term components, as chosen by feature screening. The R2 values for Jingan Station, Pudong-Chuansha Station, and Dianshan Lake Station were 0.86, 0.83, and 0.85, respectively. The RMSE values were 18.26, 18.74, and 20.02 μg·m-3, respectively. These findings suggest that decomposing the original O3 sequence improved the prediction accuracy of ozone concentrations. Additionally, as indicated by the R2 and RMSE values found for every monitoring station, feature screening preserved the model's predictive performance.

60 years of studying sedimentary diatoms in Lake Ladoga. What new can be reported about the evolution and the current state of the largest European lake?

60 years of studying sedimentary diatoms in Lake Ladoga. What new can be reported about the evolution and the current state of the largest European lake?

Hydromorphological pressure explains the status of macrophytes and phytoplankton less effectively than eutrophication but contributes to water quality deterioration

Hydromorphological alterations are among the human-induced pressures that must be considered when assessing the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. We investigated the effects of hydromorphological pressures on the ecological status of lowland lakes in Poland, focusing particularly on macrophyte and phytoplankton conditions. The analysis was based on biological, hydromorphological, and physicochemical data collected from 30 lowland lakes. Almost all biological and physicochemical indices correlated significantly (Spearman's |R|>0.5) with the hydromorphological index LHMS_PL. Using the variation partitioning method, we found that hydromorphological pressures explained only a small proportion (5.5%) of the variability in ecological status assessed using macrophytes. These pressures had no direct effects on the ecological status assessed using phytoplankton. The shared effects of physicochemistry and hydromorphology explained a large proportion of the variability in ecological status indices based on both phytoplankton and macrophytes. The results demonstrated that in the analysed lakes, hydromorphological alterations were usually accompanied by increased nutrient concentrations. This finding indicates that physical alterations may affect lake biological assemblages not only directly but also indirectly by reducing the ecosystem's natural buffering capacity, thereby promoting the eutrophication process.

Ecological impacts of vermiculite and submerged macrophytes on sediment enzyme activity in lake restoration: Insights from the mesocosm study

The combination of vermiculite and submerged macrophytes is gradually applied in lake restoration. However, the combined effects on the sediment microenvironment remain unclear. This study conducted indoor ecological experiments using vermiculite doses (0 %, 10 %, 20 %, and 30 %) and types of submerged macrophytes (Vallisneria natans, Hydrilla verticillata, and Potamogeton lucens) as control variables. The study explored the variation in sediment enzyme activity under different combinations of vermiculite and submerged macrophytes, quantifying the driving forces of sediment properties affecting enzyme activity changes. The results showed that the individual and combined effects of vermiculite and submerged macrophytes influenced the variations in sediment enzyme activity. Notably, a 20 % dose of vermiculite combined with Potamogeton lucens significantly improved water environmental conditions, effectively reducing nutrient levels in the overlying water and sediment, while enhancing sediment enzyme activity. The P- acquiring enzyme increased by 0.81 times, while the C- acquiring enzyme improved by an average of 0.83 times. The most significant enhancement in N- acquiring enzyme, with an average increase of 4.93 times. This indicates that a 20 % dose of vermiculite directly enhanced the properties of sediments, promoted plant growth, and accelerated the secretion of microbial enzymes in plant roots. Sediment properties, such as pH, NO3-N, and SOC, are the main factors driving changes in enzyme activity, with average contributions to enzyme activity changes of 54.83 %, 45.59 %, and 47.82 %, respectively. Our study fills in the process of changing microecological conditions in lakes under the combined action of sediment amendment techniques and plants. We recommend using small doses of vermiculite in conjunction with Potamogeton lucens, as it can effectively promote nutrient cycling within lake sediments, offering an environmentally friendly method for managing lake eutrophication.

The global process of eutrophication and its features in Arctic lakes as a consequence of climate warming

An analysis of the problem of water bodies eutrophication as a global process is presented. The volumes increasing use of nitrogen and phosphorus on a planetary scale are shown, the dispersion of which leads to an increase in the content of nutrients in lakes and rivers. The results of original studies of remote lakes in the Arctic zone are presented, which showed an increase in the concentrations of nutrients in lakes in recent decades. A tendency has been revealed for an increase in the contents of nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as organic matter in lake waters, even in the absence of anthropogenic influence. It has been established that an increase in temperature and climate warming in the Arctic regions exert the main influence on the increase in the content of nutrients and the trophic status of lakes.

Developing a European aquatic macrophyte transfer function for reconstructing past lake-water chemistry

Quantitative paleoecological reconstructions using biological proxies, such as diatoms, Cladocera, and chironomids, have revolutionized paleolimnology and have greatly contributed to the understanding of the past local and regional environmental changes, as well as to nature conservation. While macrophytes are good ecological indicators, they have rarely been used to reconstruct past lake-water chemistry. The present study investigates which environmental variable best explains aquatic plant community composition in Finnish, Polish, and Swedish lakes for its further use in quantitative paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The method involved the creation of a modern macrophyte-environment calibration dataset, calculation of modern calibration functions using simple averaging regression, and final reconstruction of past environmental conditions in Lake Linówek (NE Poland) from a fossil assemblage using weighted averaging calibration. The data demonstrate that conductivity and alkalinity best explained macrophyte community composition in our dataset. Species “optima” for alkalinity were influenced by the presence/absence of carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs), enabling the utilization of HCO3− as a carbon source. Quantitative paleoenvironmental reconstruction indicates that past water conductivity and alkalinity fluctuated depending on internal lake processes and the supply of basic ions to the lake from the catchment related to climate and soil development in the watershed during the late Glacial (∼14,500–11,700 calibrated years before the present; cal BP) and the Holocene (11,700 cal BP–recent). We conclude that macrophytes can be successfully used for past lake-water chemistry reconstruction. Furthermore, calculated modern calibration functions for conductivity and alkalinity can be used in nature conservation for determining habitat requirements of numerous endangered macrophyte species as a basis for successful (re)introductions.

Seasonal Variations of Ice-Covered Lake Ecosystems in the Context of Climate Warming: A Review

The period of freezing is an important phenological characteristic of lakes in the Northern Hemisphere, exhibiting higher sensitivity to regional climate changes and aiding in the detection of Earth’s response to climate change. This review systematically examines 1141 articles on seasonal frozen lakes from 1991 to 2021, aiming to understand the seasonal variations and control conditions of ice-covered lakes. For the former, we discussed the physical structure and growth characteristics of seasonal ice cover, changes in water environmental conditions and primary production, accumulation and transformation of CO2 beneath the ice, and the role of winter lakes as carbon sources or sinks. We also proposed a concept of structural stratification based on the differences in physical properties of ice and solute content. The latter provided an overview of the ice-covered period (−1.2 d decade−1), lake evaporation (+16% by the end of the 21st century), the response of planktonic organisms (earlier spring blooming: 2.17 d year−1) to global climate change, the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on ice-free events, and the influence of individual characteristics such as depth, latitude, and elevation on the seasonal frozen lakes. Finally, future research directions for seasonally ice-covered lakes are discussed. Considering the limited and less systematic research conducted so far, this study aims to use bibliometric methods to synthesize and describe the trends and main research points of seasonal ice-covered lakes so as to lay an important foundation for scholars in this field to better understand the existing research progress and explore future research directions.

Development of a Macroinvertebrate Multimetric Index for the Evaluation of the Ecological Quality of Lake Nokoué

Nowadays, new tools for assessing the biotic integrity of aquatic environments are used. In Benin, the Macroinvertebrate MultiMetric Lake Index (M3LI) was designed to reveal the current state of Lake Nokoué. The inventory was carried out in eight seasonal data collection campaigns from 2019 to 2021 using an Eckman type grab and a trouble net. The composition, diversity and different metrics were calculated. Thirty-nine metrics grouped into five categories were defined and subjected to selection using a PCA in order to identify the relevant metrics for calculating the index. In the lake, 83 taxa divided into 25 orders and 54 families representing 32,770 specimens were determined. Insects, Molluscs, Crustaceans and Annelids constituted the essential macrofauna which was numerically dominated by Gastropods, Crustaceans, Bivalves and Insects. Of the 5 food functional groups obtained, crushers and collector-gatherers were dominant. Ten metrics relevant and well explained by environmental variables were used to calculate M3LI. The M3LI calculated varied from 6.44 at the station near Dantokpa to 3.38 at the Cotonou channel station with fluctuating water quality between poor quality and good quality. These results clearly explain the responses of the living communities of the lake faced with the various stresses due to daily marine intrusion, the role of receptacle of different continental waters and the various anthropogenic activities plunging the environment into a hypereutrophic state. It is therefore urgent to take measures to restoration of this environment to allow living species to regain their balance of life. This index is also a departure for the establishment of a biomonitoring program for the restoration of the lake.

The dual role of benthic fish: Effects on water quality in the presence and absence of submerged macrophytes

Rebuilding a clear-water state dominated by submerged macrophytes is essential for addressing eutrophication, yet the impact of benthic fish on water quality is complex. We conducted two experiments to explore the interaction of submerged plants and benthic fish on the water quality. Experiment I investigated the water clearing effects of submerged macrophytes with varying coverage (from 0% to 40%) before and after the removal of benthic fish. Experiment II explored the impacts of benthic fish at different densities on aquatic ecosystems with and without submerged macrophytes. The results showed that an increase in submerged macrophytes coverage significantly enhanced the reduction of some major water quality parameters. We assert that the coverage of submerged macrophytes should not be lower than 40% to establish and sustain a clear-water state in shallow lakes. However, benthic fish significantly weaken the ability of submerged macrophytes to improve water quality. Surprisingly, the presence or absence of macrophytes may reverse the role of benthic fish in freshwater ecosystems. When macrophytes are present, benthic fish can cause water quality to deteriorate. Conversely, when macrophytes are absent, benthic fish with a density of ≤ 10 g/m3 can restrict the growth of phytoplankton by directly consuming algae or by disturbing sediments to increase turbidity, thereby potentially improving water quality. But the detrimental effects of benthic fish with higher densities may gradually outweigh their benefits to water clarity. Therefore, the percentage of submerged macrophyte cover in combination with the density of benthic fish play crucial roles in shaping the ecological effects of benthic fish and overall ecosystem dynamics. These findings underscore the importance of understanding ecosystem interactions and have practical implications for the management of shallow lakes.

Environmental and ecological drivers of eye size variation in a freshwater predator: A trade‐off between foraging and predation risk

Abstract Variations in the size and shape of the eye have been observed in many species of fish. As eye size is positively related to visual acuity, larger eyes should favour foraging and detection of predators. However, few studies have examined the variation in eye morphology in relation to the complexity of lake conditions, including environmental perturbation and spatial variation in predation and competition. Such tests are especially important as the degrading of the visual climate is expected due to climate change, where browning, turbidity and variations in structural complexity should set different demands for visual acuity of foraging fish under predation risk. In this study, we tested the variation of the eye size among 667 individuals of an aquatic predator perch, Perca fluviatilis, from littoral and pelagic habitats of 14 lakes. We used Secchi depth to assess the effects of the visual climate of our lake systems, as fish foraging is highly related to visual conditions, and studied eye size variation in relation to the contribution of the pelagic resources to an individual's diet and the risk of predation. Secchi depth, the pelagic contribution to the diet and the percentage of piscivores had significant effects on eye size. These variable outcomes suggest that the lake environment in terms of visual climate, predation landscape and diet are major factors of eye size variation in this generalist predator. As many fish species trade off foraging against predation risk, future studies will show whether the complexity of intra‐ and interspecific interactions contribute to the variation in eye size in freshwater fish. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Study on lithium extraction from natural brine without additional energy consumption by photocatalytic technology

Extracting lithium from natural brine is the most efficient means to cater to the growing demand for lithium. The direct extraction of lithium from natural brine is a highly challenging process owing to the harsh natural conditions of most salt lakes. The high altitude, arid climate, and lack of energy greatly restrict the industrialization of lithium extraction from salt lakes. Therefore, lithium adsorption technology is combined with photocatalytic technology to investigate the natural brine lithium extraction method without additional energy consumption. In particular, we report an adsorbent that utilizes light for lithium adsorption in natural brine. Its unique lithium adsorption mechanism provides excellent lithium adsorption capacity and lithium selectivity in untreated natural brines, the adsorption capacity reached 32.17 mg/g for 24 h. Our findings provide a more economical and environmentally friendly strategy for the direct extraction of lithium directly from natural brines.

Determining the Ecological Status of the Dinaric Karst Natural Lakes in Croatia: Eight Natural Lakes, Seven Lake Types, and One Very Significant Equation

Determining the Ecological Status of the Dinaric Karst Natural Lakes in Croatia: Eight Natural Lakes, Seven Lake Types, and One Very Significant Equation

Assessment of the Condition of Lakes in Southeastern Transbaikalia by the Chlorophyll a Content

Assessment of the Condition of Lakes in Southeastern Transbaikalia by the Chlorophyll a Content

Rotifer functionality as a potentially useful indicator of lake browning

Lake browning is considered a severe water quality problem in lake ecosystems, but it has received considerably less attention in water protection than eutrophication. Current metrics used in lake surveillance monitoring programmes, including the European Union’s Water Framework Directive, do not reflect browning sufficiently. The aims of the study were to explore the potential role of the functionality of rotifers as browning indicators and to improve understanding of the environmental parameters driving the functionality and diversity of rotifers. Seasonal data on rotifer communities and water quality from seven lakes with differing water colour and trophic conditions were analysed. The feeding guilds of rotifers enabled differentiation between lakes in terms of their ecological conditions, and, in particular, eutrophic and brown-water lakes were clearly distinguished from other lakes. The guild ratio of rotifers was positively affected by water colour, but inversely related to total phosphorus concentration. Our results suggest that zooplankton functionality provides a potential tool to assess ecosystem dynamics, particularly when assessing lake browning. Thus, our results suggest that application of the guild ratio of rotifers is a promising method to estimate the general browning status of lakes and may complement the metrics used in Water Framework Directive.

Extremely acidic proteomes and metabolic flexibility in bacteria and highly diversified archaea thriving in geothermal chaotropic brines.

Few described archaeal, and fewer bacterial, lineages thrive under salt-saturating conditions, such as solar saltern crystallizers (salinity above 30% w/v). They accumulate molar K+ cytoplasmic concentrations to maintain osmotic balance ('salt-in' strategy) and have proteins adaptively enriched in negatively charged acidic amino acids. Here we analysed metagenomes and metagenome-assembled genomes from geothermally influenced hypersaline ecosystems with increasing chaotropicity in the Danakil Depression. Normalized abundances of universal single-copy genes confirmed that haloarchaea and Nanohaloarchaeota encompass 99% of microbial communities in the near-life-limiting conditions of the Western-Canyon Lakes. Danakil metagenome- and metagenome-assembled-genome-inferred proteomes, compared with those of freshwater, seawater and solar saltern ponds up to saturation (6-14-32% salinity), showed that Western-Canyon Lake archaea encode the most acidic proteomes ever observed (median protein isoelectric points ≤4.4). We identified previously undescribed haloarchaeal families as well as an Aenigmatarchaeota family and a bacterial phylum independently adapted to extreme halophily. Despite phylum-level diversity decreasing with increasing salinity-chaotropicity, and unlike in solar salterns, adapted archaea exceedingly diversified in Danakil ecosystems, challenging the notion of decreasing diversity under extreme conditions. Metabolic flexibility to utilize multiple energy and carbon resources generated by local hydrothermalism along feast-and-famine strategies seemingly shapes microbial diversity in these ecosystems near life limits.