A reference typology of low alkalinity lakes in the UK based on pre-acidification diatom assemblages from lake sediment cores

This paper has two aims: (1) to show for the first time how a natural typology can be established using palaeoecological methods; and (2) to show how it can be used in lake restoration studies with respect to the definition of recovery targets for acidified lakes. By defining the characteristic reference assemblages for low alkalinity site types rather than for a specific site it allows success to be measured more broadly, unconstrained by the specific composition of the pre-acidification flora. We analyse statistically the pre-acidification diatom assemblages of sediment cores from 121 low alkalinity lakes in the UK in order to assess whether a reference typology for such lakes can be defined on the basis of their diatom floras. We use samples dating to ~1850 AD to represent pre-acidification conditions. The results show that three main clusters can be identified, two dominated by benthic taxa (Clusters 1 and 3) and one dominated by planktonic taxa (Cluster 2). Cluster 1 is characterised by taxa such as Brachysira vitrea, Cymbella microcephala and Fragilaria spp., Cluster 2 by Cyclotella comensis, C. radiosa, Asterionella formosa, Aulacoseira subarctica and Achnanthes minutissima and Cluster 3 by Eunotia incisa, Frustulia rhomboides var. saxonica, Fragilaria virescens var. exigua, and Cymbella perpusilla. Although environmental data for 1850 AD are not available it is apparent from the contemporary distribution of the taxa in the different clusters that Cluster 2 represents the most alkaline pre-acidification conditions. Some sites in this cluster have been acidified, but some, especially the larger, deeper lakes have been enriched. Cluster 1 includes sites that contain diatoms with relatively high pH optima (pH 6.4–7.4) whereas Cluster 3 sites contain diatoms with the lowest pre-acidification pH conditions in the data-set. Sites in this cluster also have the lowest base cation concentrations at the present day and include the sites in the UK that have been most affected by acid deposition.     

Reconstructing lake and drainage basin history using terrestrial sediment layers: analysis of cores from a post-glacial lake in New England, USA

Four sediment cores and twenty-five ¹⁴C ages from Ritterbush Pond in northern Vermont provide a detailed and continuous temporal record of Holocene lake and watershed dynamics. Using visual logs, carbon content, magnetic susceptibility, stable isotope signatures, and X-radiography, all measured at 1-cm scale, we identify and date discrete layers of terrestrially-derived sediment in the organic-rich, lacustrine gyttja. These inorganic layers range in thickness from <1 mm to >10 cm and range in grain size and sorting from homogeneous silt to graded sand. AMS radiocarbon ages both from macrofossils within the thickest layers, and gyttja bracketing these layers, provide the basis for correlation among the cores, the dating of 52 basin-wide sedimentation events, and the development of a detailed sedimentation chronology for the Holocene.Physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses suggest the inorganic layers are terrestrially derived and result from hydrologic events large enough to erode and transport sediment from the watershed into the pond. The temporal and spatial distribution of the inorganic layers suggests changing basin-wide sedimentation and thus erosion dynamics since deglaciation over 12,000 years ago. Specifically, for intervals lasting 400 to 1000 years, during the early (>8600 cal yBP), middle (6400 to 6800 cal yBP) and late Holocene (1800 to 2600 cal yBP), the Ritterbush Pond watershed eroded more rapidly than at other times and terrestrially derived material poured into the pond. Analysis of Ritterbush Pond sediments demonstrates the potential for North American lakes to preserve a record of drainage basin dynamics.     

Spatial pattern of recent sediment and diatom accumulation in a small,monomictic, eutrophic lake

Spatial variability of sediment and diatom deposition was assessed in a small monomictic, eutrophic lake in Northern Ireland (Lough Augher, Co. Tyrone) using measurements from 17 sediment cores. Loss-onignition profiles in water depths >6 m showed good repeatability, while littoral cores were more variable with localised profiles. Dry mass accumulation rates, derived by biostratigraphic correlation to a ²¹⁰Pb dated master core, were variable and not correlated with water depth. Basin mean dry mass accumulation rate was 0.068 g cm^-2 yr^-1 (range 0.036–0.09) prior to 1900, and 0.19 g cm^-2 yr^-1 (range 0.11–0.3) after 1974. Post-1940 cumulative fluxes were estimated for dry mass (range 3.49–916 g cm^-2) and diatoms (range 16.9–113.8×10⁷ frustules cm^-2). Cumulative dry mass was inversely correlated (r=–0.64) with distance from the inflow, indicating its localised influence. No variable was correlated with water depth except frustules of planktonic diatoms (r=0.66). However, high cumulative fluxes of diatoms and dry mass away from the inflow suggest that the expansion of the littoral macrophyte community may be responsible for decreased resuspension in shallow water, and together with increased sediment trapping, has enhanced sediment accumulation in shallow water over recent time periods.     

On diatom concentrations in lake sediments: results from an inter-laboratory comparison and other tests performed on a uniform sample

The diatom concentration of a uniform lake sediment sample was estimated in 15 laboratories. Whilst 21 of 35 estimates were between 13 and 19 × 10⁷ valves g^-1, values ranged from 8.2 × 10⁶ to 2.0 × 10⁹ valves g^-1. However, counts from replicate sediment digestions, replicate slide preparations from a single digested slurry, and multiple counts from an individual slide all yielded internally consistent results, with acceptably low coefficients of variation (±4.5–6.3%). Without greater efforts towards harmonization, for example by calibrating techniques to a standard of known concentration, reported diatom concentration values, as well as derived data such as diatom accumulation rates, are not directly comparable between most laboratories. This sharply contrasts the strong reproducibility of diatom relative frequency data. A calibration exercise, using the Eucalyptus pollen spike technique to estimate a known concentration of Lycopodium spores, demonstrates that this method performs best when approximately equal proportions of microfossils and introduced markers are counted.     

Within-basin profile variability and cross-correlation of lake sediment cores using the spheroidal carbonaceous particle record

Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) from the high temperature combustion of fossil-fuels are stored in lake sediments and provide an unambiguous record of industrially derived atmospheric contamination. It has been assumed that a single sediment core provides an accurate representation of SCP accumulation but to date there have been no studies to determine within-lake variability of the SCP sediment record. This paper describes the SCP profiles of ten sediment cores taken from the deep water area of Loch Coire nan Arr, a remote lake in north-west Scotland, UK. Although each core shows the basic SCP profile used for sediment dating in the UK there is considerable variation between cores. The conversion of SCP concentrations to cumulative percentages resolves a great deal of this variation with the result that more accurate cross-correlation and hence date allocation is possible, especially in the post-1945 section of the cores. However, significant departures from the usual SCP profile still reduce the effectiveness of this approach. It is concluded that: (i) SCP profiles from single cores from the deepest areas of the lake usually provide an accurate representation of the historical record of atmospherically deposited pollutants and that inter-core variability or noise does not affect the temporal interpretation of that profile, and (ii) comparisons of total SCP inventories are a better way of comparing historical deposition between sites as the impact of temporary variability is considerably reduced.     

Assessment of drought over the past two millennia using near-shore sediment cores from a Canadian boreal lake

Lack of long-term studies on drought in the boreal region of northwest Ontario limits our ability to assess the vulnerability of this region to climate change. We investigated changes in diatoms, scaled chrysophytes, and sedimentary pigments in two near-shore cores from Gall Lake to infer limnological and water-level changes over the last two millennia. The two coring locations, at modern water depths of 7.5 and 11.5 m, were selected to contrast inferences for past lake level based on distance from the modern water-depth boundary between predominantly benthic and planktonic diatom assemblages in surface sediments (6.0 m). Diatom-inferred depth inferences were more variable in the core from 7.5-m water depth, consistent with the hypothesis that the greatest changes occurred at water depths closest to the benthic:planktonic boundary. Both sites revealed a pronounced drought from ~AD 950 to 1300, synchronous with the medieval climate anomaly (MCA). This finding suggests a northeast expansion of the arid MCA into northwest Ontario, extending the known spatial extent of this megadrought. Scaled chrysophytes and sedimentary pigments suggest a recent increase in thermal stratification. Our findings indicate this region is more susceptible to changes in moisture than was previously suspected based on the instrumental record for the past century.     

Field calibration and performance of sediment traps in a eutrophic holomictic lake

In wind-stressed and unstratified Lough Neagh low aspect ratio sediment traps, which allow for internal resuspension, collected sediment at a rate close to the natural sediment accumulation rate inferred from dated sediment cores. High aspect ratio traps grossly overestimated the natural rate of sediment accumulation as did, but to a lesser extent, burial rate measurements on an artificial stratigraphic marker. The former type of trap deployed over long exposure periods is therefore recommended as providing the best estimate of net downward particle flux in lakes such as Lough Neagh. However, it is emphasized that all sediment trap types, when operated in shallow turbulent lakes, will to a greater or lesser extent be contaminated by secondary or redeposited material and so will not provide a direct measure of primary sedimentation. Use of tube traps in lakes such as Lough Neagh should not, however, be discounted since they can provide a record of the quality of sedimenting material through time.     

Interpretation of210Pb profiles and verification of the CRS dating model in PIRLA project lake sediment cores

This paper reports results and analysis of²¹⁰Pb-activity measurements in 51 lake-sediment cores from 32 lakes in the four PIRLA (Paleoecological Investigations of Recent Lake Acidification) project regions (Adirondack Mountains [New York], Northern New England, Northern Florida, and the Northern Great Lakes States). General application of the Constant Rate of Supply (Constant Flux) model for²¹⁰Pb dating is valid for lakes in the PIRLA study, although application of the model is equivocal in a few lakes.²¹⁰Pb inventories and profiles are replicable among closely spaced cores within a lake. Specific²¹⁰Pb activity in surface sediments is negatively correlated with bulk sediment accumulation rate in seepage lakes, but not in drainage lakes. Drainage lakes with lower pH have lower unsupported²¹⁰Pb inventories in sediments, but the relationship does not occur in seepage lakes.²¹⁰Pb profiles in only seven of the cores, all from either the Adirondacks or the northern Great Lakes states, exhibit exponential decay curves. Deviations from an exponential profile include a flattening of the profile in the top few cm or excursions of one or a few measurements away from an exponential curve.²¹⁰Pb dates typically agree with other chronostratigraphic markers, most of which are subject to greater uncertainty. Several hypotheses, including sediment mixing, hydrologic regime, sediment focusing, and acidification, are proposed to explain variation of²¹⁰Pb distribution among lakes and regions. Hydrologic factors exert control on unsupported²¹⁰Pb inventories in PIRLA lakes, and there is a strong focusing effect in drainage lakes but a weak focusing effect in seepage lakes.This is the third of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

Inferring lake depth using diatom assemblages in the shallow,seasonally variable lakes of the Nebraska Sand Hills (USA): calibration,validation, and application of a 69-lake training set

The Nebraska Sand Hills are a distinctive eco-region in the semi-arid Great Plains of the western United States. The water table underlying the Sand Hills is part of the High Plains/Ogallala aquifer, an important water resource for the central Great Plains. Lake levels are affected directly by fluctuations in the water table, which is recharged primarily by local precipitation and responds quickly to climatically induced changes in regional water balance. Instrumental records are available for only 50–100 years, and paleolimnological data provide important insights into the extremes and variability in moisture balance over longer time scales. A set of 69 lakes from across Nebraska was used to establish a statistical relationship between diatom community composition and water depth. This relationship was then used to develop a diatom-based inference model for water depth using weighted averaging regression and calibration techniques. Development of the inference model was complicated by strong intra-seasonal variability in water depth and the linkages between depth and other limnologic characteristics, including alkalinity, water clarity and nutrient concentrations. Analysis of historical diatom communities from eight lakes allowed for the reconstruction of lake-level fluctuations over the past several thousand years. Comparisons of the more recent portion of these reconstructions with the instrumental Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) showed that sediment records may not faithfully reflect short-term fluctuations in water level, except where sedimentation rates are very high. However, large and persistent changes in moisture availability were discernible even in longer, low-resolution records. Thus, diatoms are a useful addition to the tools available for understanding past drought in the central Great Plains, especially when trajectories of change are constrained by data from multiple sites or other proxies.     

Tracking Holocene environmental changes in an alpine lake sediment core: application of regional diatom calibration, geochemistry, and pollen

Diatom abundances in the surface sediment samples of 41 mountain lakes in the central Austrian Alps (Niedere Tauern) were related to environmental variables using multi-variate techniques. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that the pH, date of autumn mixing (A _mix), mean August water temperature (T _Aug), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and relative water depth (Z _rel) made significant contributions to explain the diatom assemblage variation in the lakes of the training set. A weighted averaging partial least square regression and calibration model was used to establish Di-pH (R ² _boot= 0.72, RMSEP_boot= 0.131), and a thermistor measurements-based PLS model for A _mix (R ² _boot= 0.71, RMSEP_boot= 0.006 log₁₀ Julian days). The latter showed a better prediction than T _Aug, and was used in terms of climate change. These transfer functions, together with analyses of loss on ignition (LOI), the total carbon/nitrogen (C/N)-ratios, and selected pollen, were applied to an early to mid-Holocene (11.5–4 cal. ky BP) sediment core section from an Austrian Alpine treeline lake on crystalline bedrock. Additionally, passive sample scores in the CCA of the diatom training set were used to show trends in the variables DOC and Z _rel. During the early Holocene, diatoms indicative of increased pH, extended warm summers, and low water levels dominated. Between 10.2 and 7.6 cal. ky BP it was followed by diatom assemblages that indicated an increase in lake water depth and an earlier A _mix. The multi-proxy data suggest that the A _mix decline is the result of a series of snow-rich summer cool and wet climate fluctuations, which were divided by climate warming at ∼9 cal. ky BP. Increased A _mix, LOI and DOC, and the correspondent decline in the C/N-ratios, show subsequent climate warming between 7.3 and 6 cal. ky BP. The long-term trend in Di-pH indicates the impact of catchment-related processes during the early-Holocene, that were superimposed by climate.     

Unusual reaction of diatom assemblage on climate changes during the last millennium: a record from Spitsbergen lake

A sediment core from the Arctic Revvatnet (Hornsund area, SW Spitsbergen, Svalbard) provided data on environmental changes over the last 3100 years. Diatom analysis showing the domination of planktonic Cyclotella forms suggested good edaphic conditions until the middle of the nineteenth century, even during the Little Ice Age. A thermally stratified and relatively stable water column with good mixing allowed small, less heavily silicified Cyclotella sensu lato to develop during this time. The climate warming at the beginning of the twentieth century induced intensification of erosion processes in the catchment of the lake and caused an increase in the sedimentation rate. These processes have caused a lack of thermal stratification by disturbances in the water column and an increase of nutrients, consequently driving changes in the diatom species composition, which became dominated by benthic forms. In this period, almost all planktonic taxa disappeared or abruptly decreased in frequency. Higher temperatures accelerated the melting of nearby glaciers, which caused an increase in the activity of diatoms typical of running waters. Also a few Cladocera species appeared at the first time in the youngest samples.     

Importance of diffuse nutrient loading and lake level changes to the eutrophication of an originally oligotrophic boreal lake: a palaeolimnological diatom and chironomid analysis

The recent environmental history of Lake Lappajärvi in western Finland (63°00 N, 23°30 E, area 149 km²), a humic, brown water lake with an average phosphorus content of ca. 20 g l^–1, was studied from short core sediment samples taken from the two main basins of the lake. Based on the stratigraphy of diatoms and chironomids and the sediment quality it was possible to distinguish four developmental stages during the past century: (1) a pre-industrial stage covering the time up to about 1935; (2) a stage of increasing nutrient loading (ca. 1936–1960); (3) a stage of pronounced erosion from lake level regulation and extensive ditching of the catchment area (ca. 1960–1970); and (4) a meso-eutrophic stage from ca. 1970 onwards.Acidophilous Aulacoseira distans coll. and other species typical of dystrophic, nutrient-poor lakes characterized the diatom assemblages during the first stage, and the profundal zoobenthic assemblages, characterized by Heterotrissocladius subpilosus and Micropsectra, indicated good hypolimnetic oxygen conditions and a low sedimentation of organic matter (approx. less than 50 g m^–2 a^–1). The increased loading rapidly led to changes both in diatoms and chironomids (e.g., to an early extinction of H. subpilosus in the 1950s). The process finally led to eutrophication with a successive proliferation of diatom species such as Asterionella formosa followed by Aulacoseira ambigua, Fragilaria crotonensis, and finally Melosira varians. The relative proportion of alkaliphilous species reached a maximum in the final stage and the original profundal chironomid fauna was replaced by Chironomus anthracinus gr. and C. plumosus which are typical of profundal areas suffering from temporal oxygen deficit. It is notable that the considerable decrease in waste water loading from the point sources (80–86% ) during the past two decades has not led to a recovery in the lake. This highlights the importance of diffuse loading from agriculture, forestry and other human activities even to this comparatively large lake.     

A northwest North American training set: distribution of freshwater midges in relation to air temperature and lake depth

Freshwater midges, consisting of Chironomidae, Chaoboridae and Ceratopogonidae, were assessed as a biological proxy for palaeoclimate in eastern Beringia. The northwest North American training set consists of midge assemblages and data for 17 environmental variables collected from 145 lakes in Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and the Canadian Arctic Islands. Canonical correspondence analyses (CCA) revealed that mean July air temperature, lake depth, arctic tundra vegetation, alpine tundra vegetation, pH, dissolved organic carbon, lichen woodland vegetation and surface area contributed significantly to explaining midge distribution. Weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) was used to develop midge inference models for mean July air temperature (r _boot² = 0.818, RMSEP = 1.46°C), and transformed depth (ln (x+1); r _boot² = 0.38, and RMSEP = 0.58).     

Cladoceran and diatom evidence of lake-level fluctuations from a Finnish lake and the effect of acquatic-moss layers on microfossil assemblages

We studied Holocene lake-level fluctuations from a small lake, Iso Lehmälampi, southern Finland, utilizing cladoceran and diatom analyses. We report data from a sediment core (A) taken from the deepest part of the lake (8.1 m) where two layers of moss, mixed with gyttja, were found. These layers were formed in situ during the early Holocene (1. ca. 8100-7900, 2. ca. 7300 BP). Lake-level fluctuations were inferred also from another core C, which did not have moss layers. According to the ratio of planktonic/littoral Cladocera, the water level was high around 9000 BP and started to fall before 8000 BP. The lowering continued until 7000 BP and the moss layers were formed during this lowering. Water level was high again ca. 6000 BP and lowered towards ca. 4000 BP. The late Holocene is characterized by several rapid fluctuations of lake-level. The ratio of planktonic/littoral Cladocera and the diatom species composition in core A showed drastic changes between the moss layers and the non-moss gyttja sections of the core. We suggest that they reflect changes in sedimentary facies between the local moss environment and the pelagic bottom. Thus, cores which contain moss layers may lead to erroneous interpretations of lake-level fluctuations.     

Quantitative assessment of the reliability of chironomid remains in paleoecology: effects of count density and sample size

Random distributions for a wide range (1–100,000) of chironomid head capsules (HC) were simulated on a 1-m² surface. The number of HC found in circular surfaces equivalent to standard core diameters (90 and 63 mm) was estimated 1000 times, over the range of tested densities. For each number of HC found in the samples, the range of simulated densities was estimated using a threshold probability (p > 0.95). This enabled us to develop equations to infer HC density from sample counts. Because of the threshold probability for comparable sample counts, the equations yield higher estimated densities under a random distribution than for a regular distribution. The probability of sampling at least one HC was >0.95 for densities of 900 HC m^?2 for the 90-mm core and 1400 HC m^?2 for the 63-mm core. For a specific sample count, the range of actual densities was ~10 times higher for the 63-mm core than the 90-mm core. Comparison with field larval densities revealed that most densities were too low to be suitable for annually resolved reconstruction of a quantitative signal, using current corer sizes, although a large number of populations can support sub-decadal analyses. Nonetheless, some lakes exhibit population sizes large enough to reconstruct robust quantitative estimates of past chironomid abundances. This work provides guidance to reconstruct species dynamics and fine-scale time series analyses in paleoecology.     

农村劳动力转移就业的时空路径——以安徽省4个样本村为例

借鉴时间地理学理论与方法,提出农村劳动力转移就业时空路径概念。以安徽省4个样本村为例,使用ArcGIS、SPSS等软件进行数据分析,得出农村劳动力转移就业时空路径的基本类型与特征:① 农村劳动力依据时空路径特征可分为稳定型、逐步稳定型、漂泊不定型、回流型、逐步开拓型、断续型六种类型;② 4个样本村劳动力打工时空路径演化有明显的地域差异;③ 21世纪初期是农村劳动力全面接受打工就业方式的时期,就业行业主要集中在建筑业、制造业、服务业,“老家亲戚、朋友”是最重要的打工媒介;④ 农村劳动力在打工地和家乡间的流动节律有“春节型”、“节假日型”、“休息日型”、“每日型”四种类型;⑤ 农村劳动力转移就业具有明显的空间指向和粘性特征,家乡是重要的结点空间,社会经济地理位置是地域差异形成的重要原因。