The role of organic nutrients in structuring freshwater phytoplankton communities in a rapidly changing world.

Hedonic Price Estimates of Lake Water Quality: Valued Attribute, Instrumental Variables, and Ecological-Economic Benefits

Globally, phytoplankton abundance is increasing in lakes as a result of climate change and land‐use change. The relative importance of climate and land‐use drivers has been examined primarily for mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes. However, oligotrophic lakes show different sensitivity to climate and land‐use drivers than mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes, necessitating further exploration of the relative contribution of the two drivers of change to increased phytoplankton abundance. Here, we investigated how air temperature (a driver related to climate change) and nutrient load (a driver related to land‐use and climate change) interact to alter water quality in oligotrophic Lake Sunapee, NewHampshire, USA.We used long‐term data and the one‐dimensional hydrodynamic General Lake Model (GLM) coupled with Aquatic EcoDyanmics (AED) modules to simulate water quality. Over the 31‐year simulation, summer median chlorophyll‐a concentration was positively associated with summer air temperature, whereas annual maximum chlorophyll‐a concentration was positively associated with the previous 3 years of external phosphorus load. Scenario testing demonstrated a 2°C increase in air temperature significantly increased summer median chlorophyll‐a concentration, but not annual maximum chlorophyll‐a concentration. For both maximum and median chlorophyll‐a concentration, doubling external nutrient loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus at the same time, or doubling phosphorus alone, resulted in a significant increase. This study highlights the importance of aligning lake measurements with the ecosystem metrics of interest, as maximum chlorophyll‐a concentration may be more uniquely sensitive to nutrient load and that typical summer chlorophyll‐a concentration may increase due to warming alone. Plain Language Summary Clear water lakes are experiencing more frequent water quality problems due to land development and climate change. However, it is challenging to identify how land development and climate change interact to alter water quality because their effects are complex and occurring at the same time. We used three decades of observational data combined with a lake ecosystem simulation model to explore the role of land development and climate change on water quality. Our water quality indicator of focus was phytoplankton, which are small photosynthesizing organisms in the water, often referred to as “algae.”We found that the effects of land use and climate depend on if we look at yearly maximum or average phytoplankton concentrations. Average phytoplankton concentrations during the summer (representing typical summer conditions) increase with either warmer air temperatures or higher nutrient pollution. However, annual maximum phytoplankton concentration (representing phytoplankton “blooms”) only increases with higher nutrient pollution. Typical summer phytoplankton concentrations will likely increase with warmer air temperatures due to climate change alone and increase even further when combined with higher nutrient pollution. To maintain clear water lakes, nutrient pollution should be reduced even more than previously thought to compensate for increasing phytoplankton in a warmer climate.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2020WR027296

Differential Responses of Maximum Versus Median Chlorophyll-a to Air Temperature and Nutrient Loads in an Oligotrophic Lake Over 31 Years

Microplastics are an emerging environmental pollutant, whose global ubiquity is becoming increasingly evident. Conventional wastewater treatment does not completely remove them, and there are growing concerns about microplastics in source water and post-treatment drinking water. Microplastics have been reported to alter the development, physiology, and behavior of various aquatic organisms; however, limited knowledge exists on their effect on natural phytoplankton communities. Many studies also use uniformly spherical plastic beads, while most scrub particles in consumer products and secondary microplastics in the environment have various shapes and sizes. We tested the effects of two types of microplastics, 50 µm polystyrene (PS) calibration beads and polylactic acid (PLA) plastic body wash scrub particles, and one type of plant-derived body wash scrub particle on a natural phytoplankton assemblage through a 7-day incubation experiment in a temperate, mesotrophic lake. The calibration beads and the plant-derived particles generally did not alter the taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton in the mesocosms, while the PLA body wash microplastics eliminated cryptophytes (p < 0.001) and increased chrysophytes (p = 0.041). Our findings demonstrate differential effects of irregularly shaped PLA body wash microplastics vs. PS calibration beads on lake phytoplankters and empirically support potential bottom-up alteration of the aquatic food web by secondary microplastics.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/9/2650/pdf

Lake Phytoplankton Assemblage Altered by Irregularly Shaped PLA Body Wash Microplastics but Not by PS Calibration Beads

Growth limitation status and its role in interpreting chlorophyll a response in large and shallow lakes: A case study in Lake Okeechobee

The limiting nutrient for freshwater phytoplankton productivity can vary within and between geographic regions. Understanding how local (i.e., lake and catchment) and regional (i.e., multiple catch...

Prevalence of phytoplankton limitation by both nitrogen and phosphorus related to nutrient stoichiometry, land use, and primary producer biomass across the northeastern United States

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Prevalence of phytoplankton limitation by both nitrogen and phosphorus related to nutrient stoichiometry, land use, and primary producer biomass across the northeastern United States