Asynchronous multitrophic level regime shifts show resilience to lake browning
Asynchronous multitrophic level regime shifts show resilience to lake browning
Lake browning is widespread due to increased supply of dissolved organic carbon under climate warming and nitrogen deposition. However, multitrophic level responses to lake browning are poorly understood. Our study aims to explore such responses across multitrophic levels based on sedimentary records of diatoms, chrysophyte stomatocysts and chironomids in a remote headwater lake in the Three Gorges Reservoir region, central China. Although all biotic proxies were analysed in the same core, the timing of shifts in chironomids (1886 ± 18 CE) preceded that in chrysophyte stomatocysts (∼1914 ± 10 CE) and diatoms (∼1941 ± 6 CE). Shifts in biotic communities were closely linked to rising temperature, δ15N depletion (a proxy for nitrogen deposition), δ13C enrichment (a proxy for littoral moss expansion), as well as biotic interactions, whereas the relative importance of the driving forces varied among the three biotic groups. Our results suggest that the zoobenthos grazing effect might be more important than bottom-up pathways in humic environments. Additionally, the coexistence of benthic, littoral and pelagic algae after the 1950s suggested that mixotrophic chrysophytes could reduce lake browning through heterotrophic processes and sustain the ecological equilibrium between littoral, pelagic and benthic productivity. Therefore, lake browning ecosystem regime shifts require analyses of multiple trophic levels. Our results suggest that heterotrophy may become more important in lake ecosystem carbon cycling with water brownification in Mulong Lake, as well as similar montane lakes.
Chironomids, Chrysophytes, Diatoms, Grazing effect, Heterotrophic process, Montane lake
168798
Chen, Xu
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Bai, Xue
eef8d3ce-99bd-49aa-a999-629bb54f8651
Langdon, Peter G.
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Piątek, Jolanta
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Wołowski, Konrad
5e3775a2-cda4-4cb8-ac74-1c8274b44112
Peng, Jia
61325391-f625-4dce-b39b-180c6365e88d
Zheng, Ting
6f48e14f-533d-4904-9e28-2fcbbb67828d
Cao, Yanmin
7c296898-cf85-412c-b126-9e68f2b9063c
20 February 2024
Chen, Xu
b05875bd-6553-4ce9-8ed9-93485cacdaa4
Bai, Xue
eef8d3ce-99bd-49aa-a999-629bb54f8651
Langdon, Peter G.
95b97671-f9fe-4884-aca6-9aa3cd1a6d7f
Piątek, Jolanta
fe9fb627-5dd7-4d62-a73a-0048a2ca382d
Wołowski, Konrad
5e3775a2-cda4-4cb8-ac74-1c8274b44112
Peng, Jia
61325391-f625-4dce-b39b-180c6365e88d
Zheng, Ting
6f48e14f-533d-4904-9e28-2fcbbb67828d
Cao, Yanmin
7c296898-cf85-412c-b126-9e68f2b9063c
Chen, Xu, Bai, Xue, Langdon, Peter G., Piątek, Jolanta, Wołowski, Konrad, Peng, Jia, Zheng, Ting and Cao, Yanmin
(2024)
Asynchronous multitrophic level regime shifts show resilience to lake browning.
Science of the Total Environment, 912, , [168798].
(doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168798).
Abstract
Lake browning is widespread due to increased supply of dissolved organic carbon under climate warming and nitrogen deposition. However, multitrophic level responses to lake browning are poorly understood. Our study aims to explore such responses across multitrophic levels based on sedimentary records of diatoms, chrysophyte stomatocysts and chironomids in a remote headwater lake in the Three Gorges Reservoir region, central China. Although all biotic proxies were analysed in the same core, the timing of shifts in chironomids (1886 ± 18 CE) preceded that in chrysophyte stomatocysts (∼1914 ± 10 CE) and diatoms (∼1941 ± 6 CE). Shifts in biotic communities were closely linked to rising temperature, δ15N depletion (a proxy for nitrogen deposition), δ13C enrichment (a proxy for littoral moss expansion), as well as biotic interactions, whereas the relative importance of the driving forces varied among the three biotic groups. Our results suggest that the zoobenthos grazing effect might be more important than bottom-up pathways in humic environments. Additionally, the coexistence of benthic, littoral and pelagic algae after the 1950s suggested that mixotrophic chrysophytes could reduce lake browning through heterotrophic processes and sustain the ecological equilibrium between littoral, pelagic and benthic productivity. Therefore, lake browning ecosystem regime shifts require analyses of multiple trophic levels. Our results suggest that heterotrophy may become more important in lake ecosystem carbon cycling with water brownification in Mulong Lake, as well as similar montane lakes.
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Asynchronous multitrophic level regime shifts show resilience to lake browning
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Accepted/In Press date: 20 November 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 November 2023
Published date: 20 February 2024
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Funding Information:
We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. We acknowledge Zhang Zhou, Liang Jia, Lu Qiuli, Xia Weilan and Song Huyue for field and laboratory assistance. Drs. Wang Rong and Xu Min provide kind supports for regime shift analysis. This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 42171166 and U20A2094 ). Y. Cao and X. Chen were supported by China Scholarship Council (grant numbers 202008420139 and 202006415001 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords:
Chironomids, Chrysophytes, Diatoms, Grazing effect, Heterotrophic process, Montane lake
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Local EPrints ID: 486221
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486221
ISSN: 0048-9697
PURE UUID: 3e3f88e9-ddad-412c-8855-f8590102cbe0
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Date deposited: 15 Jan 2024 17:32
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:47
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Author:
Xu Chen
Author:
Xue Bai
Author:
Jolanta Piątek
Author:
Konrad Wołowski
Author:
Jia Peng
Author:
Ting Zheng
Author:
Yanmin Cao
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