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Citation
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HERO ID
4123292
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Nitrogen subsidies in glacial meltwaters have altered planktonic diatom communities in lakes of the US Rocky Mountains for at least a century
Author(s)
Slemmons, KEH; Rodgers, ML; Stone, JR; Saros, JE
Year
2017
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Hydrobiologia
ISSN:
0018-8158
EISSN:
1573-5117
Volume
800
Issue
1
Page Numbers
129-144
DOI
10.1007/s10750-017-3187-2
Web of Science Id
WOS:000406385800010
Abstract
We examined sedimentary diatom profiles from alpine lakes in the US Rocky Mountains to assess when glacially fed lakes started receiving nitrogen subsidies and whether that timing varies across regions. We focused on lake sediment cores from Glacier National Park and compared them to previously published work from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The only contemporary feature of these glacially fed lakes that differs from snowmelt-fed lakes is nitrate concentration, with glacially fed lakes having about 40 times higher nitrogen than snow-fed lakes; lake thermal structure and temperatures do not differ between lake types. Increases in Asterionella formosa, a strong indicator of nitrogen enrichment, occurred much earlier in glacially fed compared to snow-fed lakes across both regions. Responses to nitrogen enrichment in glacially fed lakes started at least a century ago, and in some cases, many centuries ago, whereas they occurred after 1970 in the snow-fed lakes. Furthermore, diatom assemblages in glacially fed lakes showed declines in species richness over time and greater community turnover compared to snow-fed lakes. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that throughout the late Holocene glacially fed lakes in both regions of the Rocky Mountains have followed different ecological trajectories than snow-fed lakes as a result of increasing nitrogen concentrations.
Keywords
Alpine lakes; Asterionella formosa; Nitrogen; Glaciers; Diatoms
Tags
IRIS
•
Nitrate/Nitrite
Broad LitSearch 2016/1/1 - 2017/12/5
Refs found by LitSearch but not ATSDR/IARC
WoS
Refs found only by 2017 LitSearch or Citation Mapping
Ref Types 12/2017
All Others
LitSearch Update 2016-2017
WoS
•
ISA NOxSOxPM Ecology (2018)
Cited in the Second Draft
Appendix 9
•
ISA NOxSOxPM Ecology (2020- Final Project Page)
Cited
Appendix 9
Appendix 16
16.5 Rocky Mountains
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