Divergent oxygen trends in ice-covered lakes driven by ice-cover decline and ecological memory.

ABSTRACT: Dissolved oxygen (DO) is an essential resource in ice-covered lakes, regulating water quality and biodiversity, including the survival of economically important fish species. Most of the world's lakes seasonally freeze, often resulting in oxygen depletion as ice cover inhibits water column ventilation and snow cover limits photosynthesis while respiration continues. Widespread shortening of ice-cover duration in a warmer world might improve winter oxygenation, but this hypothesis remains untested. Here, we performed a systematic analysis of 6.6 million physical and chemical observations from 19,645 lakes in the Northern Hemisphere during 1960 to 2022. Contrary to expectations, under-ice DO trends ranged from significantly negative in small lakes (A_surf <10 ha) (-0.14 ± 0.05 mg L

SUBMITTER: Jansen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12260399 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature