A conceptual model of climate-related effects on lake ecosystems

Climatic variation and change affect the dynamics of organisms and ecosystem processes. Many studies in the past have analyzed and discussed various climate-driven effects on different components of the lake ecosystem. Only a few synthesis papers have been published in this field. In this overview, a conceptual model has been developed to help explain why lakes respond individually to climate. The model consists of two main components, a so-called Landscape Filter comprising the features of geographical position, catchment characteristics and lake morphology, and a so-called Internal Lake Filter, comprising the features of lake history and biotic/abiotic interactions. The application of this conceptual model on published literature findings illustrates the strength in this encompassing perspective. An assessment of current climate research methods is presented with some perspectives given.