Factors affecting occurrence and bloom formation of the nuisance flagellate Gonyostomum semen in boreal lakes

We examined changes in G. semen occurrence and bloom incidence in 146 boreal lakes in Sweden sampled at least once between 1992 and 2010, and used a time-by-space model to assess the environmental variables that best explain patterns in G. semen distribution and bloom formation.We showed that G. semen has become more common, although there were no significant shifts in its geographical distribution during the study period. In particular, G. semen was spreading into new lakes in the Central Plains ecoregion (southern Sweden), whereas its occurrence and biomass usually remained low in the Borealic Upland and Fennoscandian Shield ecoregions.G. semen biomass and the incidence of blooms did not increase significantly during the study period, but fluctuated among years and reached a maximum in 2003. The occurrence of G. semen was mainly explained by temperature and the length of the growing season, whilst local-scale variables, such as pH and water color, were the best predictors of blooms.Analysis of bloom formation at three different levels of G. semen dominance: G. semen >50%, >75%, and >90% of total phytoplankton biomass revealed a wide range of responses to environmental variation. For example, pH, water color and to a lesser extent temperature explained bloom formation at the 50% level, whereas lake morphometry was important at the 90% level.These results suggest that with ongoing brownification and climate warming boreal systems will likely become more susceptible to invasions of G. semen.     

Analysis of candidate gene expression patterns of adult male <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrobrachium rosenbergii</Emphasis> morphotypes in response to a social dominance hierarchy

Because phytoplankton communities exhibit seasonal patterns driven by changes in physical factors, grazing pressure, and nutrient limitations, climate change, in combination with local phosphorus management policies are expected to impact phytoplankton annual dynamic. We used long-term monitoring data from Lake Geneva (from 1974 to 2010) to test if changes in phytoplankton seasonal succession across years is related to re-oligotrophication, inter-annual variability in thermal conditions, and Daphnia sp. density. We used a Bayesian method to identify species assemblages and wavelet analysis to detect transient dynamics in seasonal periodicity. A decrease in phosphorus concentrations appeared to play a major role in the inter-annual replacement of species assemblages. Furthermore, some species assemblages exhibited a change in their seasonal periodicity that was most likely induced by changes in Daphnia sp. density. Finally, we demonstrated that flexibility in the pattern of phytoplankton seasonal successions played a stabilizing role at the community level. The results suggest that phenology and inter-annual changes in seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton assemblages are important components to consider for explaining long-term variability in phytoplankton community.     

Effects of glaciers on nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton in lakes within the Northern Cascades Mountains (USA)

We compared nitrate concentrations, phytoplankton biomass, and phytoplankton community structure in lakes fed by glacier melt and snowmelt (GSF lakes) and by snowmelt only (SF lakes) within North Cascades National Park (NOCA) in Washington State, USA. In the U.S. Rocky Mountains, glacier melting has greatly increased nitrate concentrations in GSF lakes (52–236 µg NO₃–N L^?1) relative to SF lakes (1–14 µg NO₃–N L^?1) and thereby stimulated phytoplankton changes in GSF lakes. Considering NOCA contains approximately one-third of the glaciers in the continental U.S., and many mountain lakes that receive glacier meltwater inputs, we hypothesized that NOCA GSF lakes would have greater nitrate concentrations, greater phytoplankton biomass, and greater abundance of nitrogen-sensitive diatom species than NOCA SF lakes. However, at NOCA nitrate concentrations were much lower and differences between lake types were small compared to the Rockies. At NOCA, nitrate concentrations averaged 13 and 5 µg NO₃–N L^?1 in GSF and SF lakes, respectively, and a nitrate difference was not detectable in several individual years. There also was no difference in phytoplankton biomass or abundance of nitrogen-sensitive diatoms between lake types at NOCA. In contrast to the Rockies, there also was not a significant positive relationship between watershed percent glacier area and lake nitrate at NOCA. Results demonstrate that biogeochemical responses to global change in Western U.S. mountain lake watersheds may vary regionally. Regional differences may be affected by differing nitrogen deposition, climate, geology, or microbial processes within glacier environments, and merit further investigation.     

The Absorption of Light in Lakes: Negative Impact of Dissolved Organic Carbon on Primary Productivity

Colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorbs a substantial fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in boreal lakes. However, few studies have systematically estimated how this light absorption influences pelagic primary productivity. In this study, 75 boreal lakes spanning wide and orthogonal gradients in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total phosphorus (TP) were sampled during a synoptic survey. We measured absorption spectra of phytoplankton pigments, CDOM, and non-algal particles to quantify the vertical fate of photons in the PAR region. Area-specific rates of gross primary productivity (PP_A) were estimated using a bio-optical approach based on phytoplankton in vivo light absorption and the light-dependent quantum yield of photochemistry in PSII measured by a PAM fluorometer. Subsequently, we calculated the effects of CDOM, DOC, and TP concentration on PP_A. CDOM absorbed the largest fraction of PAR in the majority of lakes (mean 56.3%, range 36.9–76.2%), phytoplankton pigments captured a comparatively minor fraction (mean 6.6%, range 2.2–28.2%). PP_A estimates spanned from 45 to 993 mg C m^?2 day^?1 (median 286 mg C m^?2 day^?1). We found contrasting effects of CDOM (negative) and TP (positive) on PP_A. The use of DOC or CDOM as predictors gave very similar results and the negative effect of these variables on PP_A can probably be attributed to shading. A future scenario of increased DOC, which is highly correlated with CDOM in these lakes, might impose negative effects on areal primary productivity in boreal lakes.     

Fishing-induced changes in predation pressure by perch (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Perca fluviatilis</Emphasis>) regulate littoral benthic macroinvertebrate biomass,density, and community structure

We aimed to study whether the varying changes in predation pressure by perch (Perca fluviatilis) reflect the biomass, density, and community structure of the benthic macroinvertebrates. Prey preference is size-dependent, and overall predation pressure is density dependent, and thus the size structure of the P. fluviatilis population should affect the structure of the macroinvertebrate community, and the population density of P. fluviatilis should reflect the overall density of benthic macroinvertebrates. We sampled the littoral benthic community in a boreal lake that had been divided into two parts that were subjected to two different fishing procedures during 2007–2012 period and analyzed the macroinvertebrate diet of fish. The benthic macroinvertebrate community reflected the predation pressure. Total macroinvertebrate biomass increased during the study period in the lake division with a non-size-selective fishing procedure (NSF), i.e., all invertivorous perch size-classes targeted, but decreased in the section with negatively size-selective fishing procedure (SSF), i.e., large invertivorous individuals ≥ 16 cm were not targeted. This difference was a result of the increase in large-sized species, such as Odonata, for the NSF procedure and decrease in the SSF procedure. In contrast to total biomass, total macroinvertebrate density did not show a response to predator size structure but rather total macroinvertebrate density decreased with increasing fish density. The study demonstrates the effect of predation pressure of P. fluviatilis on benthic communities, thus highlighting the keystone predator role of the species in boreal lakes and gives more insight on the multiple effects of fish predation on littoral benthic communities.     

Late Holocene changes in the humic state of a boreal lake and their associations with organic matter transport and climate dynamics

An important factor in the ontogeny of boreal lakes is the development of their humic state through terrigenous input of organic matter (carbon) that affects strongly the functioning and structure of these ecosystems. The long-term dynamics and role of humic substances for these systems in relation to climate are not clear. In this study, a boreal lake from southern Finland was investigated using paleolimnological methods, including diatom, chironomid and geochemical analyses, for Late Holocene changes in the humic state. The aim was to examine the relationship between sediment biogeochemistry and climate variation. Consistent trends were found in diatom-inferred total lake-water organic carbon (TOC) and in the ratio of humic/oligohumic chironomids. Sediment geochemistry provided further evidence for the limnological development of the lake and related long-term climate trends in the region. The results indicated three distinct phases with differing humic state; the beginning of the record at ca. 4,500 cal year BP was characterized by extremely humic conditions coinciding with warm and dry climatic conditions, a meso-oligohumic period between ca. 3,000–500 cal year BP with increasing allochthonous organic matter transport and cooler and wetter climate, and recent period with polyhumic (TOC >10 mg L^?1) lake status and warming climate. This study shows that instead of straightforward linear development, boreal lakes evolve through dynamic humic stages related to climate and lake-catchment coupling processes. As the changes in the humic state are ultimately climate-driven, the ongoing climate change probably has a major influence on boreal lakes through direct and indirect effects on organic carbon transport, utilization and accumulation.     

Identifying resilience mechanisms to recurrent ecosystem perturbations

The complex nature of ecological systems limits the unambiguous determination of mechanisms that drive resilience to natural disturbance or anthropogenic stress. Using eight-year time series data from boreal lakes with and without bloom formation of an invasive alga (Gonyostomum semen, Raphidophyceae), we studied resilience of phytoplankton communities in relation to recurring bloom impacts. We first characterized phytoplankton community dynamics in both lake types using univariate metrics of community structure (evenness, species richness, biovolume and Simpson diversity). All metrics, except species richness, were substantially altered and showed an inherent stronger variability in bloom lakes relative to reference lakes. We assessed resilience mechanisms using a multivariate time series modelling technique. The models captured clear successional dynamics of the phytoplankton communities in all lakes, whereby different groups of species were substituted sequentially over the ice-free period. The models also identified that G. semen impacts in bloom lakes were only manifested within a single species group, not across species groups, highlighting the rapid renewal of the phytoplankton communities upon bloom collapse. These results provide empirical support of the cross-scale resilience model. Cross-scale resilience could provide an explanation for the paradox that similar species richnesses are seen in bloom-forming lakes and reference lakes despite the clear difference between the community features of the two different sets of lakes investigated.     

楚科奇海和白令海网采浮游植物群聚的多元分析

根据1999年夏季(7~8月)我国首次北极科学考察期间“雪龙”号考察船在楚科奇海(66°0.3'~75°18.6' N, 153°36.5'~174°59.5' W)和白令海(55°59.8'~66°0.3' N,173°21.1' E~175°53.9' W)49个站采集的样品研究了该区网采浮游植物的分布特征。结果显示,两个调查区的浮游植物多样性指数和均匀度平均值几乎相等且都较低,分别变动在1.88~1.90和0.43~0.45之间。然而,两个区存在明显的空间异质性。就丰富度和种类组成而言,楚科奇海的细胞密度和物种总数量远高于白令海,前者为9 122.56×10⁴ cells·m^-3 和103种,而后者为161.78×10⁴ cells·m^-3和71种。上述生态学指标不同站点间的变异也大。用多元分析方法对浮游植物群聚的分布异质性加以讨论。主成分分析(PCA)结果表明,解析调查区浮游植物分布方差的33.0%的两个最主要成分(即主要物种变量)分别是北极-北方浅海群落(泛北极群落)和北方大洋群落的主要种群。前者包括某些圆心硅藻,如旋链角毛藻 (Chaetoceros curvisetus)、柔弱角毛藻(C. debilis)、聚生角毛藻(C. socialis)、叉尖角毛藻(C.furcellatus)等多种寡色体类角毛藻以及冷淡劳德藻 (Lauderia glacialis)、丹麦细柱藻 (Leptocylindrus danicus)、诺登海链藻(Thalassiosira nordenskioldii)和脆杆链藻(Bacteriosira fragilis)等;后者主要有小环毛藻 (Corethron criophilum)、平截鼻状藻 (Proboscia truncata)、无刺鼻状藻 (P. inermis)、西氏细齿状藻(Dentecula seminae)和一些多色暗角毛类角毛藻,如大西洋角毛藻(Chaetoceros atlanticus)等。泛北极群落主要分布于楚科奇海南部和中部,而北方大洋群落的主要分布区在白令海调查区的西南部。通过聚类分析还辨认出7个包含不同群落的主要网采浮游植物分布区,但是由于不同水系的不同程度影响,以及极具不确定性的浮冰的位置及其物理状态(聚集、开裂和消融等)也会在短时间内给调查区生物过程导入变异性,从而使得这些分布区的归类复杂化,尤其在楚科奇海。     

The plankton community of Lake Matano: factors regulating plankton composition and relative abundance in an ancient,tropical lake of Indonesia

Recent evidence reveals that food webs within the Malili Lakes, Sulawesi, Indonesia, support community assemblages that are made up primarily of endemic species. It has been suggested that many of the species radiations, as well as the paucity of cosmopolitan species in the lakes, are related to resource limitation. In order to substantiate the possibility that resource limitation is playing such an important role, a study of the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities of Lake Matano was implemented between 2000 and 2004. We determined species diversity, relative abundances, size ranges, and total biomass for the phytoplankton and zooplankton, including the distribution of ovigerous individuals throughout the epilimnion of Lake Matano in three field seasons. The phytoplankton community exhibited very low biomass (<15 μg l^?1) and species richness was depressed. The zooplankton assemblage was also limited in biomass (2.5 mg l^?1) and consisted only of three taxa including the endemic calanoid Eodiaptomus wolterecki var. matanensis, the endemic cyclopoid, Tropocyclops matanensis and the rotifer Horaella brehmi. Zooplankton were very small (<600 μm body length), and spatial habitat partitioning was observed, with Tropocylops being confined to below 80 m, while rotifer and calanoid species were consistently observed above 80 m. Less than 0.1% of the calanoid copepods in each year were egg-bearing, suggesting very low population turnover rates. It was concluded that chemical factors as opposed to physical or biological processes were regulating the observed very low standing crops of phytoplankton which in turn supports a very minimal zooplankton community restricted in both species composition and abundance. As chemical factors are a function of the catchment basin of Lake Matano, it is predicted that resource limitation has long played an important role in shaping the unique endemic assemblages currently observed in the food web of the lake.     

Local Climate Forces Instability in Long-Term Productivity of a Mediterranean Oak Along Climatic Gradients

Forests modify their productivity, composition, and distribution in response to global change. We studied the radial growth trends of the Western Mediterranean oak Quercus pyrenaica over the last two centuries to analyze whether trees exhibited instability in productivity in response to climatic changes. Trees were sampled to build annual growth chronologies following climatic gradients of increasing moisture availability and decreasing temperature with altitude and latitude. The species’ response to climate showed high variability linked to local climatic conditions. The strength in the positive response of trees to moisture availability was inversely related to precipitation (that is, enhanced by higher water stress) whereas high temperature in the growing season was positive for tree-growth only at cold sites. The oldest ages of trees expanded back to the late 1500 s. These old-growth trees were located at the coldest sites and exhibited a long-term increase in productivity starting 150 years ago which could express a dominant positive effect of warming temperatures since the mid 1800 s at cold-humid sites. Conversely, trees at dry sites exhibited negative growth trends. Particularly low elevation stands located at latitudes below 40° displayed enhanced growth constraints with the increase in water stress around 1970, which suggests vulnerability of Quercus pyrenaica at the sampled altitudinal dry edge. The response of trees to future changes in climate should be monitored, particularly in threatened transitional zones.     

Changes in phytoplankton,benthic invertebrate and fish assemblages of boreal lakes following invasion by Gonyostomum semen

1. During recent decades, Gonyostomum semen populations have spread in northern temperate regions forming dense blooms that may dominate the phytoplankton assemblage for extended periods. In this study, we investigate the effects of G. semen blooms in boreal brown water lakes with special emphasis on phytoplankton, fish and benthic invertebrate assemblages using data from 10 boreal lakes sampled annually over a 10‐year period. 2. Significant differences in phytoplankton and benthic invertebrate assemblages were found between lakes with high (3.01 mm³ L^?1; >80% phytoplankton biomass) and lakes with low G. semen biomass (0.03 mm³ L^?1; <5% phytoplankton biomass). In particular, high G. semen lakes had lower biomass of smaller, edible phytoplankton and a higher abundance and biomass of benthic invertebrates, especially Chaoborus flavicans, and perch than low G. semen lakes. 3. The length distribution of fish also suggested a tendency towards large and older fish and a lower recruitment success in high G. semen lakes, as denoted by lower abundances of fish shorter than 10 cm and higher biomass and abundance of fish longer than 15 cm in high G. semen lakes. 4. This study shows that high G. semen lakes are characterised by less edible phytoplankton, dominance by a few species and enhanced benthic secondary and fish production. Hence, the conjecture that high biomasses of G. semen create a bottleneck in the energy transfer to higher trophic levels seems less likely in boreal lakes.     

Lake Chapo: a baseline study of a deep, oligotrophic North Patagonian lake prior to its use for hydroelectricity generation: II. Biological properties

The present paper focuses on the biological properties of Lake Chapo prior to the installation of a hydroelectric power station. Most of the biological parameters indicate that the lake is oligotrophic, i.e., it has very low values of chlorophyll a and primary production. The phytoplankton community of 73 species shows a predominance of only a few species in terms of density and biomass. The zooplankton community is poor in species, with one of the lowest densities measured in the North Patagonian lakes. The fish community is dominated by two introduced salmonid species. Comparison with other North Patagonian lakes reveals that Lake Chapo is the most oligotrophic.     

Estimation of reference conditions for phytoplankton in a naturally eutrophic shallow lake

Classification of waters using biological quality elements and determination of the degree of deviation from reference levels is a key issue in the Water Framework Directive of EU. Lakes in reference conditions with sufficient biological data are available for several boreal lake types with the exception of naturally eutrophic lakes. An empirical approach is one alternative for estimating the reference conditions of such lakes. We used the water transparency of the naturally eutrophic Lake Tuusulanjärvi recorded in August in the early 1910s to estimate reference values for phytoplankton biomass and chlorophyll a concentrations. Three phytoplankton samples during August 2000–2001 corresponded to the estimated reference values for total biomass (<5.6 mg l^?1) and chlorophyll a (<28 μg l^?1), as did the simultaneous Secchi depths. The phytoplankton assemblage in these samples with 24 eutrophy indicators (17% of the total taxa number) corresponded in general the species list from the early 1900s, which as such could be regarded as reference assemblage. Furthermore, in August 2000, 3 years after intensive fish removal a prominent decrease in cyanobacterial biomass and toxin concentration was observed. The costs of the measures and studies in Lake Tuusulanjärvi during 1989–2003 have been approximately 2.5 million euros.     

Picophytoplankton predominance in hypersaline lakes (Transylvanian Basin,Romania)

The occurrence and importance of photoautotrophic picoplankton (PPP, cells with a diameter <2 μm) was studied along a trophic and salinity gradient in hypersaline lakes of the Transylvanian Basin (Romania). The studied lakes were found to be rich in PPP, with abundances (maximum 7.6 × 10⁶ cells mL^?1) higher than in freshwater and marine environments of similar trophic conditions. The contribution of PPP to the total phytoplankton biovolume did not decrease with increasing trophic state as it was generally found in other aquatic environments. Regardless of the trophic conditions, the contribution of PPP could reach 90–100 % in these hypersaline lakes. We hypothesized that the PPP predominance might be the result of the low grazing pressure, since heterotrophic nanoflagellates (the main grazers of PPP) were absent in the studied samples. There were significant differences in community composition among the lakes along the salinity gradient. CyPPP predominated in less saline waters (mainly below 5 %), while EuPPP were present along the entire salinity range (up to 18.7 %), dominating the phytoplankton between 3 and 13 % salinity. Above 13 % salinity, the phytoplankton was composed mainly of Dunaliella species.     

High variability in iron-bound organic carbon among five boreal lake sediments

Being both stable carbon sinks and greenhouse gas sources, boreal lake sediments represent significant players in carbon (C) cycling. The release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into anoxic water is a widespread phenomenon in boreal lakes with impact on sediment C budgets. The association of OC with iron (Fe) is assumed to play an important role for this anoxic OC release via the dissimilatory reduction of Fe, but also to influence the stabilization of OC in sediments. To investigate the role of Fe–OC association for OC dynamics in different boreal lake sediments, we compared the content of Fe-bound OC [Fe–OC, defined as citrate bicarbonate dithionite (CBD) extractable OC] and the extent of reductive dissolution of solid-phase Fe and OC at anoxia. We found high among-lake variability in Fe–OC content, and while the amount of Fe–OC was high in three of the lakes (980–1920 µmol g^?1), the overall contribution of Fe–OC to the sediment OC pool in all study lakes was not higher than 11%. No linkages between the amount of the Fe–OC pool and lake or sediment characteristics (e.g., pH, DOC concentration, sediment OC content, C:N ratio) could be identified. The observed release of OC from anoxic sediment may be derived from dissolution of Fe–OC in the lake sediments with high Fe–OC, but in other lake sediments, OC release during anoxia exceeded the sediment Fe–OC pool, indicating low contribution of reductive Fe dissolution to OC release from these lake sediments. The range of the investigated boreal lakes reflects the high variability in the size of the sediment Fe–OC pool (0–1920 µmol g^?1) and CBD-extractable Fe (123–4050 µmol g^?1), which was not mirrored in the extent of reductive dissolution of Fe (18.9–84.6 µmol g^?1) and OC (1080–1700 µmol g^?1) during anoxia, suggesting that Fe-bound OC may play a minor role for sediment OC release in boreal lakes. However, studies of redox-related OC cycling in boreal lake sediments should consider that the amount of Fe–OC can be high in some lakes.     

First records of primary producers of epiglacial and supraglacial lakes in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Epiglacial and supraglacial lakes are characteristic lake types in Antarctica, and regardless of their mostly seasonal existence and ultraoligotrophy, some lakes have a relatively diverse microbial community. The results of water chemistry and phytoplankton, based on basic limnological methods, from five epiglacial and two supraglacial seasonal lakes are presented from western Dronning Maud Land, an area where only physical studies have been previously carried out. Electric conductivity varied mostly between 0.1 and 10 mS m^?1 (25 °C), phosphorus concentration was <5 mg m^?3, and nitrogen concentration was <300 mg m^?3 except in some shore areas, and water pH ranged from 6 to 11. Low phytoplankton biomasses (in most cases <10 mg m^?3) supported the ultraoligotrophic status of the lakes. Phytoplankton was found from both types of lakes, but less was found from supraglacial lakes. The charophyte Mesotaenium cf. berggrenii dominated the supraglacial lakes, while cyanoprokaryotes such as Gloeocapsopsis cf. magma, Planktothrix prolifica/rubescens, Nostoc cf. sphaericum, Cyanothece sp. and Phormidium sp. dominated the biomass in some epiglacial lakes. Chrysophytes (e.g. Pseudopedinella-type flagellates) were observed in both types of lakes, and they were occasionally dominant. The green alga Botryococcus braunii, some diatoms (Cyclotella sp., Diatoma tenuis, Luticola muticopsis), and non-planktonic microalgal colonies visible to the eye (incl. the cyanoprokaryote Nostoc commune) were also found. Signs of a living ecosystem with a food web were observed in one epiglacial lake, but not elsewhere, which indicates extreme circumstances in the Antarctic seasonal lakes. Altogether, only some 25 taxa were discovered.     

Food web modelling on the structure and functioning of a Mediterranean lentic system

A number of modelling results suggested thermocline shifts as a consequence of global climate change in stratifying lakes. Abundance and composition of the phytoplankton assemblage is strongly affected by the stratification patterns, and therefore, change in the thermocline position might have a substantial effect on this community or even on the whole lake ecosystem. In this study, thermocline depths in large mesocosms installed in Lake Stechlin (Germany) were deepened by 2 meters and phytoplankton changes were analysed by comparing changes to untreated mesocosms. Higher amounts of SRP were registered in the hypolimnion of treatment mesocosms than in the controls, and there were no differences in the epilimnion. Small but significant changes were observed on the phytoplankton community composition related to the effect of deepening the thermocline; however, it was weaker than the yearly successional changes. The most remarkable differences were caused by Planktothrix rubescens and by chlorophytes. P. rubescens became strongly dominant at the end of the experiment in the mesocosms, and in the open lake as well. The results of the experiment cannot clearly support the proliferation of cyanobacteria in general; however, the deepened thermocline can modify the behaviour of some species, as was observed in case of P. rubescens.     

Phenological Sensitivity of Early and Late Flowering Species Under Seasonal Warming and Altered Precipitation in a Seminatural Temperate Grassland Ecosystem

Shifts in flowering phenology of plants are indicators of climate change. The great majority of existing phenological studies refer solely to gradual warming. However, knowledge on how flowering phenology responds to changes in seasonal variation of warming and precipitation regimes is missing. We report the onset of 22 early (flowering before/within May) and 23 late flowering (flowering after May) species in response to manipulated seasonal warming (equal to + 1.2°C; last 100-year summer/winter warming), additional winter rainfall, and modified precipitation variability (including a 1000-year extreme drought event followed by heavy rainfall) over the growing season in two consecutive years for a species-rich temperate grassland ecosystem. The average onset of flowering (over 2 years) was significantly advanced 3.1 days by winter warming and 1.5 days by summer warming compared to control. Early flowering species responded to seasonal warming in both years, while late-flowering species responded in only 1 year to summer warming. The average onset of early flowering species was significantly advanced, 4.9 days by winter warming and 2.3 days by summer warming. Species-specific analysis showed that even within the early flowering community there were divergences. A positive correlation between plant height and shift in flowering onset was detected under winter warming (R² = 0.20, p = 0.005). The average onsets of early and late flowering community were affected by neither winter rain nor growing season precipitation variability. Seasonal differences in warming, and particularly winter warming, might alter community dynamics among early and late flowering species which can cause shifts in the seasonal performances of temperate ecosystems.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Elodea canadensis</Emphasis> (Michx.) in Polish lakes: a non-aggressive addition to native flora

Non-indigenous invasive aquatic plants affect macrophyte community composition, structure and abundance, and are recognised as one of the major causes of biodiversity loss in aquatic ecosystem. Their mass development poses serious ecological, sociological and economical threats in many countries. We investigated biological, physicochemical, hydromorphological and geographical data from 447 Polish lowland lakes to recognise the phenomenon of invasive macrophyte species and to identify environmental factors that determine their occurrence and abundance. We focused on Elodea canadensis (EC) as the most common and widespread alien hydrophyte in Poland. Phytocoenoses of EC were present in 40 % of analysed lakes. The area occupied by EC ranged from 2.3 to 5.5 % of the total vegetated area per year, on average, with a maximum of 37.8 %. A comparison between two sub-periods (2005–2009 and 2010–2013) revealed a lack of increase in EC mean abundance within the analysed period. Likewise, no evidence of EC effects on the native flora, its richness and diversity and no effects on the ecological status of the lakes were found. In the analysed period, EC did not demonstrate invasive character in Polish lakes. The habitat preference of EC was biased towards larger and deeper lakes located at higher altitudes, with longer water retention times, better water quality and better ecological status based on macrophytes compared with non-invaded lakes. We found altitude and water quality as the main determinants of EC occurrence within the sampled area. We suggest that both climate warming and accelerated eutrophication may contribute to reducing EC spread in Europe observed during recent decades.     

Better up,worse down: bidirectional consequences of three decades of climate change on a relict population of Erebia cassioides

Orophilous species are often unable to escape the consequences of climate change because mountains are surrounded by unsuitable habitats. Among them, several endemic species belonging to the genus Erebia Dalman (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) can be considered as key species to assess the risk of biodiversity loss of mountain habitats. The aim of this paper is to measure changes that have occurred in the altitudinal distribution of Erebia cassioides on the Pollino Massif (Southern Italy) during the last 37 years. Sixteen sites sampled in 1975 have been resampled after about three decades (2004, 2012). In 1975 56 % of the sampled population inhabited sites above and 44 % sites below the treeline, while in 2004 and 2012 99 % of the population were observed above the treeline. Furthermore, we observed an uphill shift of 180 m in the barycentre altitude of the species distribution and an unexpected increased density of the population above the treeline which led to a range reduction coupled to population increase of E. cassioides. This pattern contrasts with the usually observed one that couples habitat reduction to population decreasing. The reason for the observed pattern is unclear, but the implication for conservation strategies could be important if confirmed for other species. In fact, during coming decades local extinctions as a consequence of climate change might be fewer and more delayed than expected, and relict populations of cold adapted species could be preserved for a longer time span within optimal habitat refugia.