Contrasting the ecological effects of decreasing ice cover versus accelerated glacial melt on the High Arctic's largest lake.

ABSTRACT: Lake Hazen, the High Arctic's largest lake, has received an approximately 10-fold increase in glacial meltwater since its catchment glaciers shifted from net mass gain to net mass loss in 2007 common era (CE), concurrent with recent warming. Increased glacial meltwater can alter the ecological functioning of recipient aquatic ecosystems via changes to nutrient budgets, turbidity and thermal regimes. Here, we examine a rare set of five high-resolution sediment cores collected in Lake Hazen between 1990 and 2017 CE to investigate the influence of increased glacial meltwater versus alterations to lake ice phenology on ecological change. Subfossil diatom assemblages in all cores show two major shifts over the past approximately 200 years including: (i) a proliferation of pioneering, benthic ta

SUBMITTER: Michelutti N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7329036 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature