Bimodality and alternative equilibria do not help explain long-term patterns in shallow lake chlorophyll-a
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Kuupäev
2023
Kättesaadav alates
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Kirjastaja
Springer Nature
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.
C.D.S. and T.A.D. would like to thank June and Derek Sayer for extraordinary support over many years. The authors of this work have been supported by a number of projects over the elephantine gestation period of this manuscript. These include support from the Poul Due Jensen Fonden, Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond Natur og Univers project GREENLAKES (No. 9040-00195B) and the UFM-funded project LTER_DK for Long Term Ecosystem Research in Denmark. In addition, support was provided by The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmes under grant agreement No 869296—The PONDERFUL Project”, TREICLAKE under grant agreement No 951963, and the AQUACOSM project and by the European Commission EU H2020- INFRAIA-project (No. 731065) and AQUACOSMplus (No. 871081). E.J. was also supported by the TÜBITAK outstanding researcher programme2232 (project 118C250) and AnaEE, Denmark. The work of D.G. was funded by the Fourth Period of Programme-oriented Funding, Helmholtz Association of German ResearchCentres, Research Field Earth and Environment.
C.D.S. and T.A.D. would like to thank June and Derek Sayer for extraordinary support over many years. The authors of this work have been supported by a number of projects over the elephantine gestation period of this manuscript. These include support from the Poul Due Jensen Fonden, Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond Natur og Univers project GREENLAKES (No. 9040-00195B) and the UFM-funded project LTER_DK for Long Term Ecosystem Research in Denmark. In addition, support was provided by The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmes under grant agreement No 869296—The PONDERFUL Project”, TREICLAKE under grant agreement No 951963, and the AQUACOSM project and by the European Commission EU H2020- INFRAIA-project (No. 731065) and AQUACOSMplus (No. 871081). E.J. was also supported by the TÜBITAK outstanding researcher programme2232 (project 118C250) and AnaEE, Denmark. The work of D.G. was funded by the Fourth Period of Programme-oriented Funding, Helmholtz Association of German ResearchCentres, Research Field Earth and Environment.
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Märksõnad
ecosystem ecology, limnology, articles