Combining palaeolimnological and limnological approaches in assessing lake ecosystem response to nutrient reduction |
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| Authors: | RICHARD W BATTARBEE N JOHN ANDERSON ERIK JEPPESEN PETER R LEAVITT |
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| Institution: | Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London, U.K.; Department of Geography, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, U.K.; Department of Freshwater Ecology, National Environmental Research Institute, Vejlsøvej, Silkeborg, Denmark; Department of Plant Biology, University of Aarhus, Ole Worms Alle, Risskov, Denmark; Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada |
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| Abstract: | 1. Palaeolimnological data and limnological time‐series data are highly complementary. Sediment records extend time‐scales, integrate subannual variability and expand the range of sites that can be studied, but they suffer from taphonomic biases and occasionally from uncertain chronology. Observational time‐series data, on the other hand, are highly resolved but are very limited in extent both in space and time. 2. Palaeolimnological and observational data‐sets need to be combined in oligotrophication research to establish (i) the past and present status of lakes needed to identify reference conditions; (ii) changes in ecosystem state; (iii) responses to nutrient reduction; and (iv) the potential role of other factors (e.g. additional stressors, climate change) that might confound predictions of future state. |
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| Keywords: | eutrophication observations and monitoring oligotrophication palaeolimnology recovery sediment |
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