Bimodality and alternative equilibria do not help explain long-term patterns in shallow lake chlorophyll-a.

Autor: Davidson TA; Lake Ecology, Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. thd@ecos.au.dk.; WATEC Aarhus University Centre for Water Technology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. thd@ecos.au.dk., Sayer CD; Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK., Jeppesen E; Lake Ecology, Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; WATEC Aarhus University Centre for Water Technology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.; Limnology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences and Centre for Ecosystem Research and implementation, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.; Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Erdemli-Mersin, Turkey., Søndergaard M; Lake Ecology, Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China., Lauridsen TL; Lake Ecology, Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; WATEC Aarhus University Centre for Water Technology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China., Johansson LS; Lake Ecology, Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Baker A; School of Health and Life Science, & National Horizons Centre, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, UK., Graeber D; Aquatic Ecosystem Analysis, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Brückstr. 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany. daniel.graeber@ufz.de.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2023 Jan 25; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 398. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 25.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36043-9
Abstrakt: Since its inception, the theory of alternative equilibria in shallow lakes has evolved and been applied to an ever wider range of ecological and socioecological systems. The theory posits the existence of two alternative stable states or equilibria, which in shallow lakes are characterised by either clear water with abundant plants or turbid water where phytoplankton dominate. Here, we used data simulations and real-world data sets from Denmark and north-eastern USA (902 lakes in total) to examine the relationship between shallow lake phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll-a) and nutrient concentrations across a range of timescales. The data simulations demonstrated that three diagnostic tests could reliably identify the presence or absence of alternative equilibria. The real-world data accorded with data simulations where alternative equilibria were absent. Crucially, it was only as the temporal scale of observation increased (>3 years) that a predictable linear relationship between nutrient concentration and chlorophyll-a was evident. Thus, when a longer term perspective is taken, the notion of alternative equilibria is not required to explain the response of chlorophyll-a to nutrient enrichment which questions the utility of the theory for explaining shallow lake response to, and recovery from, eutrophication.
(© 2023. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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