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HERO ID
4153938
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Unexpected stasis in a changing world: Lake nutrient and chlorophyll trends since 1990
Author(s)
Oliver, SK; Collins, SM; Soranno, PA; Wagner, T; Stanley, EH; Jones, JR; Stow, CA; Lottig, NR
Year
2017
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Global Change Biology
ISSN:
1354-1013
EISSN:
1365-2486
Volume
23
Issue
12
Page Numbers
5455-5467
Language
English
PMID
28834575
DOI
10.1111/gcb.13810
Web of Science Id
WOS:000414969000041
Relationship(s)
is supplemented by
4153939
: Supplemental materials
Abstract
The United States (U.S.) has faced major environmental changes in recent decades, including agricultural intensification and urban expansion, as well as changes in atmospheric deposition and climate-all of which may influence eutrophication of freshwaters. However, it is unclear whether or how water quality in lakes across diverse ecological settings has responded to environmental change. We quantified water quality trends in 2913 lakes using nutrient and chlorophyll (Chl) observations from the Lake Multi-Scaled Geospatial and Temporal Database of the Northeast U.S. (LAGOS-NE), a collection of preexisting lake data mostly from state agencies. LAGOS-NE was used to quantify whether lake water quality has changed from 1990 to 2013, and whether lake-specific or regional geophysical factors were related to the observed changes. We modeled change through time using hierarchical linear models for total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), stoichiometry (TN:TP), and Chl. Both the slopes (percent change per year) and intercepts (value in 1990) were allowed to vary by lake and region. Across all lakes, TN declined at a rate of 1.1% year(-1) , while TP, TN:TP, and Chl did not change. A minority (7%-16%) of individual lakes had changing nutrients, stoichiometry, or Chl. Of those lakes that changed, we found differences in the geospatial variables that were most related to the observed change in the response variables. For example, TN and TN:TP trends were related to region-level drivers associated with atmospheric deposition of N; TP trends were related to both lake and region-level drivers associated with climate and land use; and Chl trends were found in regions with high air temperature at the beginning of the study period. We conclude that despite large environmental change and management efforts over recent decades, water quality of lakes in the Midwest and Northeast U.S. has not overwhelmingly degraded or improved.
Keywords
eutrophication; hierarchical linear models; lakes; multiscaled drivers; nutrients; random forest; stoichiometry; water quality
Tags
•
ISA NOxSOxPM Ecology (2018)
Cited in the Second Draft
Appendix 7
•
ISA NOxSOxPM Ecology (2020- Final Project Page)
Cited
Appendix 7
•
Third Biofuels Report to Congress
50% to 100%
40% to 50%
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