Chemical and biological trends during lake evolution in recently deglaciated terrain
Engstrom D, Fritz S, Almendinger J, Juggins S. 2000. Chemical and biological trends during lake evolution in recently deglaciated terrain. Nature. 408(6809):161-166
As newly formed landscapes evolve, physical and biological changes occur that are collectively known as primary succession. Although succession is a fundamental concept in ecology, it is poorly understood in the context of aquatic environments. The prevailing view is that lakes become more enrished in nutrients as they age, leading to increased biological production. Here we report the opposite pattern of lake developmkent, ovserved from the water shemistry of lakes that formed at various tijmes withing the past 10,000 yrs during lacial retreat at Glacier Bay, Alaska. The lakes have grown more dilute and acidic with time, accumulated dissolved organic carbon and undergone a transient rise in nitrogen concentration, all as a result of successional changes in surrounding vegetation and soils. Similar trends are evident form fossil diatom stratigraphy of lake sediment cores. Thse results demonstrate a tight hydrologic coupling between terrestrial and aquatic environments during the colonization of newly deglaciated landscapes, and provide a conceptual basis for mechanisms of primary succession in boreal lake ecosystems.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Engstrom, Daniel; Fritz, Sherilyn; Almendinger, James; Juggins, Stephen
- Units
- GLBA
- Keywords
- Alaska, Algae, Aquatic Ecology, Biostratigraphy, Boreal, carbon [metabolism], Cenozoic, Chronosequences, Climate Change, Cores, Deglaciation, Diatoms, Ecology (Aquatic Marine Terrestrial), Ecosystem, Fresh Water, Geochemistry, geologic sediments, Glacial Geology, Glacier Bay, Glaciers, Holocene, Lacustrine Environment, lake sediments, Lakes, Nitrogen, Nutrients, organic carbon, Paleoclimatology, Phosphorus, Plantae, Plants, Productivity, Quaternary, Soil, Southeastern Alaska, Succession, Upper Holocene