Recent water quality trends and a comparison to sediment-core records for two riverine lakes of the Upper Mississippi River basin: Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin

Long-term water quality monitoring data from two riverine lakes in the Upper Mississippi River basin, Lakes St. Croix and Pepin, were analyzed to compare the long-term average water quality conditions and land use distributions, water quality trends and loads at lake inlets and outlets, trends from long-term versus short-term monitoring records, and the ability of paleolimnological cores to accurately infer lake water quality conditions. During the 1976–2004 period, the long-term average concentrations of nutrients, suspended solids, and chlorophyll-a were consistently lower at the Lake St. Croix inlet versus the Lake Pepin inlet, which drains a greater proportion of urban and agricultural runoff. Despite these differences, nutrient trends were similar at the inlets to both lakes; reductions in total phosphorus and ammonium concentrations were attributed to improvements in point source technologies, whereas increasing nitrate concentrations were attributed to both point source changes and nonpoint source increases. Despite improvements in several water quality variables, nitrate concentrations are increasing in both lakes, sediment trends indicate persistent nonpoint source inputs to Lake Pepin, and current total phosphorus concentrations remain well above pre-1950s levels in both lakes. Since urban development and agriculture are increasing in the Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin Watersheds, continued point source regulation and additional nonpoint source control efforts will be needed to further improve water quality in these lakes. The 1976–2004 trends for most water quality variables were similar at inlet versus outlet sites on Lake St. Croix. Trends at Lake Pepin inlet versus outlet sites were less similar, but data availability limited the comparison to the 1993–2003 period. While the truncated data record highlighted short-term trends in both lakes, the full data record was most useful for exploring general patterns in water quality. Length of monitoring record affected our ability to detect trends at the inlets to both lakes, and altered the magnitude of detected trends. During the two decades of the 1980s and 1990s, paleolimnological estimates of retained phosphorus loads were similar to those estimated from recent water quality monitoring. These similarities support the use of paleolimnological approaches to infer past water quality conditions in Lakes St. Croix and Pepin. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

青藏高原湖泊变化遥感监测及其对气候变化的响应研究进展

青藏高原位于中国西南部、亚洲中部,平均海拔高程大于4000 m,面积约300万km²,是“世界屋脊”,与周边地区一起常被称为地球的“第三极”。青藏高原分布着约1200个面积大于1 km²的湖泊,占中国湖泊数量与面积的一半;同时也是黄河、长江、恒河、印度河等大河的源头,被称为“亚洲水塔”。近几十年来,在全球变暖的背景下,青藏高原升温更加突出,其能量与水循环发生了显著变化,气候趋于暖湿化,冰川加速消融,湖面水位上升。湖泊是气候变化的重要指标,青藏高原湖泊分布密集、人为活动影响较小,多源遥感数据的广泛应用,为监测高原湖泊变化提供了难得的契机。本文依托国家自然科学基金青年项目“基于多源遥感的青藏高原内流区湖泊水量变化及水体相态转换研究(2000-2009年)”,主要研究进展为：初步查明了西藏高原的湖泊数量、面积及水位变化与时空格局,以及湖泊水量变化与水量平衡;探讨了湖泊变化对气候变化的响应。目前对青藏高原湖泊的变化及驱动因素虽有一些认识,但其定量的水量平衡及驱动机制还有待于进一步研究。这对了解世界第三极、一带一路国家和地区水资源状况与变化、生态文明和生态安全屏障建设具有重要的意义,同时也可为第三极国家公园的建立提供重要的科学基础。     

"富营养化湖泊治理及湖泊管理昆明国际讨论会"综述

湖泊富营养化是国际上普遍存在而倍受关注的问题。以国家列为“三河三湖”重点环保项目整治的滇池为首的云南九大高原湖泊中,有6个已富营养化。在云南省即将大规模开展湖泊治理工作之际,为借鉴国际湖泊治理及管理的方法及成功的经验,2001年11月召开了此次会议。有众多国际湖泊学权威在内的10个国家的163名专家出席会议。重点讨论了5个主题：湖泊治理及管理研究;湖泊环境变化的沉积记录;湖水氮、磷负荷与湖泊生态健康;湖泊污染与治理;湖泊富营养化过程。专家们对云南高原湖泊的治理提出了4个方面的建议：以改善、恢复湖泊生态系统结构的方法控制富营养化;清淤一定要慎重;加强湖泊富营养化过程与机制的研究;加强流域管理研究。会议最后发表了《昆明宣言》,建议建立云南高原湖泊国际研究中心。     

Use of sedimentary diatoms from multiple lakes to distinguish between past changes in trophic state and climate: evidence for climate change in northern Germany during the past 5,000 years

Fossil diatoms from lake sediments have been used to infer both past trophic state and climate conditions. In Europe, climate reconstructions focused on northern and alpine regions because these areas are climatically sensitive and anthropogenic impact was low. In contrast, anthropogenic impact was often high in the central European lowlands, such as northern Germany, beginning in the Neolithic Age, ~3700 BC. Since that time, trophic state change was the main factor that affected diatom assemblages in central European lowland lakes. Therefore, it was considered difficult or impossible to identify climate changes in the region using sedimented diatoms. We used diatom assemblage changes, diatom-inferred total phosphorus concentrations and the relative abundance of planktonic diatoms from sediments of three lakes that differ in their location, size, morphology, catchment area and current trophic state to test whether we could distinguish between trophic state and climate signals over the past 5,000 years in northern Germany. In this study, changes in trophic state and climate were well differentiated. In the study lakes, relative abundance of planktonic diatoms seems to be linked to the length of lake mixing phases. Planktonic diatom abundance decreased during years with shorter mixing duration, and these shorter mixing times probably reflect colder winters. The diatom-inferred periods of short mixing phases from 1000 BC to AD 500 and from AD 1300 to 1800 coincide well with two known cooling phases in Europe and the North Atlantic region.     

Alternate trajectories in historic trophic change from two lakes in the same catchment, Huayang Basin, middle reach of Yangtze River, China

In order to assess how best to manage impacted lake systems, one needs to understand the trophic functioning of the lake system and the recent states through which the lake may have transitioned. Lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze have been heavily impacted over recent decades. In order to understand recent changes in functional status, we examined sediment cores covering the last 120?years from two lakes in the same catchment with differing status: one algal-dominated (Taibai Lake) and the other macrophyte-dominated (Longgan Lake). Chironomid head capsules were identified from both sites and an expanded chironomid-total phosphorus (TP) transfer function (21 sites were added to the 30-lake model previously developed by Zhang et al. 2006) was used to assess the lakes?? response to recent anthropogenic change. Quantitative chironomid-inferred TP (CI-TP) reconstructions showed that Taibai Lake experienced clear changes in trophic status since the 1860s. Before the 1950s, the CI-TP concentration was relatively stable around 50?C80???g?L^?1, while it reached to 80?C130???g?L^?1 in the latter period. CI-TP for Longgan Lake, however, showed a relative decline from the range of 50?C75???g?L^?1 since the 1880s to 30?C40???g?L^?1 in recent years, accompanied by strong evidence from the chironomids for increased macrophyte biomass as TP levels declined. Both reconstructions agreed with diatom inferences of TP from the same lakes. The stark difference between these two sites is thought to reflect a function of macrophyte development, with Taibai Lake losing its plants through increased nutrient levels and internal recycling, whereas Longgan Lake, which is much bigger in area and hence potentially more resilient to change, was able to develop macrophyte communities over the same time period. The positive feedbacks associated with abundant macrophytes retained the clear water state of Longgan Lake, but a further increase in nutrients might lead to decrease in resilience of the relatively stable macrophyte state and loss of benthic pathways of primary production, which would push the lake towards eutrophication. Unless nutrient inputs to Longgan are controlled, Longgan Lake might lose macrophyte communities and follow a developmental pathway similar to that observed in Taibai Lake.     

Holocene climate change and carbon cycling in a groundwater-fed, boreal forest lake: Dune Lake, Alaska

We compared cladoceran assemblages in modern and pre-industrial sediments from cores taken in 48 softwater lakes located in four main regions of Nova Scotia (Canada) to evaluate the impacts of acidification and other recent environmental stressors. Lakes in Kejimkujik National Park showed significant increases in Holopedium relative abundances and significant decreases in Alona and other chydorids since pre-industrial times, which appear to be related to declines in pH and calcium (Ca) concentrations caused by acidic deposition. Lakes in Bridgewater also showed a significant decrease in Alona, as well as a significant increase in macrothricid (Acantholeberis and Ophryoxus) taxa that cannot be explained by declines in pH, although declines in [Ca] have been recorded. Lakes in Yarmouth did not show any significant regional changes in major cladoceran species groups. Still, pre-industrial assemblages in these lakes significantly differed from modern assemblages, with assemblage changes being lake-specific and likely related to interactions between local and regional stressors acting on individual lakes. Finally, lakes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, located on the taiga plateau, have received historically lower levels of sulphate deposition relative to other regions in the province, and recorded a significant decrease in Alona similar to Bridgewater lakes. The province-wide decrease in Alona across different acid deposition rates suggests that limnological changes related to climate warming may be responsible. Overall, this study shows that acidification history is an important predictor of cladoceran assemblage changes since pre-industrial times in Nova Scotia lakes, although multiple stressors result in complex Cladocera responses in some regions.     

Chrysophyte cysts as paleolimnological indicators of environmental change due to cottage development and acidic deposition in the Muskoka-Haliburton region, Ontario, Canada

Chrysophyte cysts preserved in recent and pre-industrial lake sediment samples from 54 Muskoka-Haliburton (Ontario) lakes were used in a paleolimnological study to determine the impact of acidic precipitation and cottage development on water quality. A total of 246 cyst morphotypes were identified. Ecological preferences of cyst morphotypes were determined using multivariate statistical analysis, cluster analysis, and species-environment correlations. Recent cyst assemblages were related to water chemistry and lake morphometric variables using Redundancy Analysis (RDA). The distribution of morphotypes was related to a gradient of acid neutralising capacity (ANC), expressed through the association of variables related to buffering (i.e. longitude, watershed area, and ionic concentration) with the first axis (₁ = 0.29). Cyst assemblages were also defined, to a lesser extent (₂ = 0.06), by a trophic status gradient, created through the combination of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), volume-weighted cottage density, and lake depth variables. The identification of lakewater pH and trophic status as important determinants of cyst assemblage structure allowed for the reconstruction of acidification and eutrophication related water chemistry changes using fossil cyst assemblages. The reconstruction of pre-industrial (pre-1850) water quality conditions with fossil cyst assemblages indicated that pH significantly decreased in 24.1% of the study lakes and increased in 16.7% of the lakes. Increases in pH in more alkaline drainage basins are attributed to alkalinity generation processes induced by acidic precipitation as has been shown in other studies. Total phosphorus (TP) concentrations significantly declined in 12.9% of the lakes and increased in 16.6% of lakes. Increases in [TP] were linked to cottage development. Decreases in trophic status may be due to landuse changes, the result of the acidification occurring in the area, or warmer and drier climates. A comparison of chrysophyte cyst and diatom water quality inferences show similar trends in pH changes. There is a good agreement between diatom and chrysophyte bioindicators with respect to [TP] changes in oligotrophic lakes (< 10 g/L); however, diatom inferences suggest that lakes with current [TP] values greater than 10 g/L have decreased in trophic status over time, while chrysophyte reconstructions suggest that these same lakes have become more productive systems.     

Evaluating diatom succession: some pecularities of the Great Lakes case

Succession of diatom communities in the Laurentian Great Lakes has several unusual aspects related to physical and chemical characteristics peculiar to these large systems and the constraints these conditions impose upon species which inhabit the Great Lakes. In such systems, paleolimnological reconstructions based on strict analogy to succession patterns in smaller lakes may be incomplete and, in some cases, positively misleading. In the Great Lakes, diatom accumulation rates appear to be regulated by interaction between concentration and supply rates of phosphorus and dissolved silicate. As phosphorus loadings increased historically, storage of diatom frustules in sediments was first increased, then limited, as concentrations of dissolved silica were reduced to levels limiting to diatom growth. Qualitative aspects of the diatom flora are also affected. Indigenous species adapted to growth in winter persist, while those with abundance maxima in summer are extirpated, presumably due to silica limitation in the summer epilimnion. Severe silica limitation also results in shifts to dominance by species whose growth strategies are particularly well adapted to sequestering dissolved silica. Because it is necessary to know the historical context in order to correctly interpret current changes in the Great Lakes diatom flora, paleolimnological studies have proven particularly valuable.     

内蒙古呼伦贝尔草原湖泊变化研究

内蒙古呼伦贝尔地区湖泊数量多,面积大,占内蒙古湖泊总面积的58％.近年来该地区湖泊趋于萎缩,但是已有研究主要关注大型湖泊,缺乏对该地区湖泊整体,尤其是小型湖泊(<1 km2)的研究.通过利用Landsat系列(TM、ETM+、OLI)卫星数据,参照该地区湖泊图集、湖泊名录以及Google Earth高清影像,分析了19...     

Cladocera as indicators of trophic state in Irish lakes

We examined the impact of lake trophic state on the taxonomic and functional structure of cladoceran communities and the role of nutrient loading in structuring both cladoceran and diatom communities. Surface sediment assemblages from 33 Irish lakes were analysed along a gradient of total phosphorus concentration (TP; 4.0–142.3 μg l⁻¹), using a variety of statistical approaches including ordination, calibration and variance partitioning. Ordination showed that the taxonomic structure of the cladoceran community displayed the strongest response to changes in lake trophic state, among 17 measured environmental variables. Trophic state variables chlorophyll-a and TP explained about 20% of the variance in both cladoceran and diatom assemblages from a set of 31 lakes. Procrustes analysis also showed significant concordance in the structure of cladoceran and diatom communities (P < 0.001). Thus, lake trophic state affects the taxonomic structure of both primary and secondary producers in our study lakes. We also found a significant decrease in relative abundance of taxa associated with both macrophytes and sediments, or sediments only, along the TP gradient (r = −0.49, P = 0.006, n = 30), as well as an increase in the proportion of the planktonic group (r = 0.43, P = 0.017, n = 30). This suggests that cladoceran community structure may also be shaped by lake trophic state indirectly, by affecting habitat properties. We found no relationship between lake trophic state and the relative abundance of each of three cladoceran groups that display different body size. We compared community structure between bottom and top sediment samples in cores from six Irish lakes. Results revealed similar trajectories of nutrient enrichment over time, as well as a strong shift in cladoceran functional structure in most systems. This study confirms that Cladocera remains in lake sediments are reliable indicators of lake trophic state. This study also highlights the fact that taxonomic and functional structure should both be considered to account for the multiple factors that shape cladoceran communities.     

Identifying sources of organic matter in sediments of shallow lakes using multiple geochemical variables

We analyzed ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment cores from four relatively shallow lakes (z_max < 10 m) in the Upper Ocklawaha River Basin, Florida, USA to compare primary producer community structure before and after anthropogenic impacts. We measured physical and chemical sediment variables including density, organic matter (OM), water-soluble phosphorus, polyphosphate (Poly-P), total P (TP), total carbon to total nitrogen mass ratios of OM (TC:TN), biogenic silica (diatoms, sponge spicules), total amorphous silica, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bulk OM. Principal component analysis showed that diatom biogenic silica, TC:TN, Poly-P and TP displayed discernible stratigraphic changes associated with the shift in the primary producer community. We applied k-means cluster analysis to these variables to identify macrophyte-derived, transitional, and phytoplankton-derived sediments. Our approach provides an objective method for identifying sediment sources that may be applied to shallow lakes in other regions. The four study lakes shifted from a macrophyte-dominated state to a transitional state before major anthropogenic disturbances, and became phytoplankton-dominated after ~1950.     

Paleoecological investigation of recent lake acidification in the northern Great Lakes states

Paleoecological analyses of sediments from nine northern Great Lakes states (NGLS) lakes reveal small pH changes in seven of these lakes since 1860, four of these being declines. The largest diatom-inferred (DI) pH declines of 0.5 pH units were found in Brown L. and Denton L., Wisconsin. Two other lakes with suspected total alkalinity declines (based on an acidification model and on historical water chemistry, respectively), McNearney L., Michigan, and Camp 12 L., Wisconsin, have not acidified recently according to diatom-inference techniques. Many of the observed trends of increasing pH are coincident with logging; floristic composition of diatom assemblages also changed coincident with fisheries manipulations in some lakes, but these floristic trends did not affect DI pH. Sediment core profiles of Pb, S, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons provide a record of atmospheric deposition of fossil fuel combustion products beginning around the turn of the century; onset is later and accumulation rates are smaller than for other northeastern study regions of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) Project. The response of diatom species to lakewater pH in the NGLS region is very strong and similar to response in other regions. Overall, there is little paleoecological evidence that acidic deposition has caused significant acidification of lakes in the NGLS region.This is the twelfth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D.F. Charles and D.R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.     

Moraine-dammed glacial lake changes during the recent 40 years in the Poiqu River Basin, Himalayas

Glacier retreat is not only a symbol of temperature and precipitation change, but a dominating factor of glacial lake changes in alpine regions, which are of wide concern for high risk of potential outburst floods. Of all types of glacial lakes, moraine-dammed lakes may be the most dangerous to local residents in mountain regions. Thus, we monitored the dynamics of 12 moraine-dammed glacial lakes from 1974 to 2014 in the Poiqu River Basin of central west Himalayas, as well as their associated glaciers with a combination of remote sensing, topographic maps and digital elevation models (DEMs). Our results indicate that all monitored moraine-dammed glacial lakes have expanded by 7.46 km² in total while the glaciers retreated by a total of 15.29 km² correspondingly. Meteorological analysis indicates a warming and drying trend in the Nyalam region from 1974 to 2014, which accelerated glacier retreat and then augmented the supply of moraine-dammed glacial lakes from glacier melt. Lake volume and water depth changed from 1974 to 2014 which indicates that lakes Kangxico, Galongco, and Youmojanco have a high potential for outburst floods and in urgent need for continuous monitoring or artificial excavation to release water due to the quick increase in water depths and storage capacities. Lakes Jialongco and Cirenmaco, with outburst floods in 1981 and 2002, have a high potential risk for outburst floods because of rapid lake growth and steep slope gradients surrounding them.     

Geochemical and biological consequences of groundwater augmentation in lakes of west-central Florida (USA)

We studied sediment cores from four Florida (USA) lakes that have received groundwater hydrologic supplements (augmentation) for >30 years to maintain lake stage. Top samples (0–4 cm) from sediment cores taken in Lakes Charles, Saddleback, Little Hobbs, and Crystal had ²²⁶Ra activities of 44.9, 17.5, 7.6, and 8.5 dpm g⁻¹, respectively, about an order of magnitude greater than values in deeper, older deposits. The surface sample from Lake Charles yielded the highest ²²⁶Ra activity yet reported from a Florida lake core. Several lines of evidence suggest that groundwater augmentation is responsible for the high ²²⁶Ra activities in recent sediments: (1) ²²⁶Ra activity in cores increased recently, (2) the Charles, Crystal, and Saddleback cores display ²²⁶Ra/²¹⁰Pb disequilibrium at several shallow depths, suggesting ²²⁶Ra entered the lakes in dissolved form, (3) cores show recent increases in Ca, which, like ²²⁶Ra, is abundant in augmentation groundwater, and (4) greater Sr concentrations are associated with higher ²²⁶Ra activities in recent Charles and Saddleback sediments. Sr concentrations in Eocene limestones of the deep Floridan Aquifer are high relative to Sr concentrations in surficial quartz sands around the lakes. Historical water quality inferences for the lakes were based on diatom assemblages in sediments. Recent alkalization in Lakes Charles, Saddleback, Little Hobbs, and Crystal was inferred from weighted-averaging calibration (WACALIB). The lakes also show recent trophic state increases based on WACALIB-derived estimates for limnetic total P. Although residential and agricultural sources might contribute to increased P loading, P in augmentation waters probably has had significant influence on eutrophication. Dystrophic diatoms were abundant in the early history of Lakes Saddleback, Little Hobbs, and Crystal, which suggests that these lakes contained more tannic waters during the past than at present, perhaps as a consequence of greater inflows from surrounding wetlands. Ionic content of lake waters increased, as indicated by diatom autecological analysis. Recent geochemical and biological changes detected in cores from these lakes probably are a result of deliberate groundwater augmentation, although inputs of groundwater pumped for agricultural and residential development in the watersheds also might have contributed to limnological changes.     

Reconstructing epilimnetic total phosphorus using diatoms: statistical and ecological constraints

Diatoms respond rapidly to eutrophication and diatom-based models for inferring total phosphorus (TP) have found wide application in palaeolimnology, especially in tracking trajectories of past and recent nutrient enrichment and in establishing pre-disturbance targets for restoration. Using new analysis of existing training sets and sediment-cores we examine the statistical and ecological constraints of diatom-inferred TP (DI-TP) models. Although the models show an apparently strong relationship between measured and inferred TP in the training sets, even under cross-validation, the models display three fundamental weaknesses, namely (1) the relationship between TP and diatom relative abundance is heavily confounded with secondary variables such as alkalinity and lake depth, (2) the models contain many taxa that are not significantly related to TP, and (3) comparison between different models shows poor or no spatial replicability. At some sites the sediment-core diatom assemblage change tracks the TP gradient in the training sets and DI-TP reconstructions are consistent with monitored TP data and known catchment histories for the recent past. At others diatom species turnover is apparently related to variables other than TP, and DI-TP fails to even reproduce plausible trends. Pre-disturbance DI-TP values are also questionable at most sites. We argue that these problems pervade many DI-TP models, particularly those where violations of the basic assumptions of the transfer function approach are ignored.     

南极大陆沿海湖泊生态结构研究

南极大陆沿海地带是南极海、陆、冰的交集带,它同时受到来自海洋、大陆冰以及人类活动的影响,因而成为南极生态环境最脆弱的环节。存在于该地带的许多湖泊,因其各自的地理环境和发育过程,以及所受诸多外部因子如气候、降水等的不同影响,不同湖泊中水体的理化因子差异很大,由此造成湖泊中生物种类分布和生态结构的显著不同。本文报道了对南极大陆沿海维斯特福尔德丘陵和拉斯曼丘陵等地湖泊中以浮游生物为主体,各类生物的组成分布和群落结构进行考察研究的结果,并分析讨论了不同类型湖泊的生物多样性、生物营养结构及其与环境的关系,为深入研究全球气候变化对南极区域环境的影响,和制订南极生态环境保护决策提供科学依据。     

西藏自治区洛扎县冰湖溃决危险度评价

西藏自治区湖泊星罗棋布,在高山极高山地区分布大量冰湖,受各种因素的影响,有时会产生冰湖溃决并形成灾害。本文根据最新TM遥感影像对西藏自治区洛扎县283个冰湖进行了初步评价。依据冰湖类型、规模、后方现代冰川与冰湖的距离及冰湖离居民地、公路等设施的距离等,将冰湖溃决分为高危险度、中危险度及低危险度。并针对高危险度的冰湖提出防护对策。     

Investigating changes in lake systems in the south-central Tibetan Plateau with multi-source remote sensing

Lakes in the Tibetan Plateau are considered sensitive responders to global warming. Variations in physical features of lake systems such as surface area and water level are very helpful in understanding regional responses to global warming in recent decades. In this study, multi-source remote sensing data were used to retrieve the surface area and water level time series of five inland lakes in the south-central part of the Tibetan Plateau over the past decades. Changes in water level and surface area of the lakes were investigated. The results showed that the water level of three lakes (Puma Yumco, Taro Co, Zhari Namco) increased, with expanding surface area, while the water levels of the other two lakes (Paiku Co, Mapam Yumco) fell, with shrinking area. The water levels of the lakes experienced remarkable changes in 2000–2012 as compared with 1976–1999. Spatially, lakes located at the southern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau showed consistency in water level changes, which was different from lakes in the central Tibetan Plateau.     

The ratio between chrysophycean cysts and diatoms in temperate,mountain lakes: some recommendations for its use in paleolimnology

The ratio between chrysophycean cysts and diatom valves (CD ratio) in lake sediments has been suggested as a useful indicator of changing trophic state conditions in oligotrophic lakes. Other environmental factors, however, may influence the CD ratio because chrysophycean cysts usually reflect conditions in the planktonic environment and diatoms reflect benthic conditions. We investigated the CD ratio in 76 mountain lakes in the Pyrenees to determine the environmental drivers that influence the ratio and assess its value for paleoenvironmental inference. The lakes surveyed included a broad range with respect to bedrock type, altitude and surface area, characteristics that cover much of the variability that can be found in cold, oligotrophic mountain lakes. Lake depth and Ca²⁺ concentration explain most of the variation in the CD ratio. Trophic state factors (e.g. total phosphorus, TP) play a secondary role. As a predictor, CD ratio performs primarily as a lake depth indicator. The predictive models can be improved if trophic state (i.e. TP) and chemical conditions (Ca²⁺) are known or can be estimated independently. Use of the CD ratio for inferring Ca²⁺ oscillations only makes sense in lakes with Ca²⁺ <200 µeq/L or in those that oscillate below and above this threshold through time. Other interpretations of the CD ratio (e.g. lake trophic state changes, ice-cover duration) make sense if complementary paleolimnological evidence indicates that neither water depth nor Ca²⁺ concentration changed significantly. Indeed, paleolimnological interpretation of the CD ratio requires considering the particular characteristics of the lake and may vary depending on the temporal scale considered. This study provides some guidelines for evaluating critically the use of the CD ratio.     

Reconstructing nutrient histories in the Norfolk Broads, UK: implications for the role of diatom-total phosphorus transfer functions in shallow lake management

The fossil diatom records preserved in radiometrically dated sediment cores from four shallow lakes in the Norfolk Broads, UK (Barton Broad, Rollesby Broad, Wroxham Broad and Upton Broad) were analysed. A weighted-averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) diatom-total phosphorus (TP) transfer function, based on a training set of 152 mostly shallow (maximum depth < 3 m) lakes in northwest Europe, was applied to the full diatom dataset for each core to reconstruct the past TP concentrations of the lakes. Owing to the dominance of non-planktonic Staurosira, Pseudostaurosira and Staurosirella spp. (formerly classified in the genus Fragilaria) throughout the diatom records, the quantitative diatom inferred TP (DI-TP) concentrations did not adequately reflect the changes that occurred in the lakes as indicated by shifts in the other diatom taxa, or as reported in the literature. This was most apparent at Barton Broad and Rollesby Broad, where there was a marked increase in the importance of planktonic taxa associated with highly nutrient-rich waters but no increase in DI-TP. The modern and fossil data were thus square-root transformed to downweight the dominant taxa and the new transfer function was applied to the cores. An improvement was seen only in the reconstruction for Barton Broad. Finally, the Staurosira, Pseudostaurosira and Staurosirella spp. were removed from the modern and fossil diatom data, and the transfer function was re-applied. The trends in DI-TP became less clear, particularly for Upton Broad and Barton Broad, owing to a paucity of data for calibration once these taxa were deleted from the counts data. The problems associated with reconstructing trophic status and determining TP targets for restoration from fossil diatom assemblages in these systems are discussed.