Journal article
The “Melosira years” of Lake Baikal: Winter environmental conditions at ice onset predict under‐ice algal blooms in spring
Limnology and oceanography, Vol.60(6), pp.1950-1964
11/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/109269
Abstract
Winter primary production in seasonally ice‐covered lakes historically has not been well studied, but it is increasingly recognized as an important component of lake metabolism. Lake Baikal in Siberia is not only the World's oldest, deepest, and most biologically diverse lake, but also where large under‐ice blooms of the diatom Aulacoseira baicalensis (formerly Melosira) occur in some years. The phenomenon of “Melosira years” is noteworthy both for the intensity of the diatom blooms, in which total under‐ice production can be a majority of total annual production, and for the enigmatic regularity of their occurrence every 3–4 yr. The degree to which these episodic blooms might be controlled by external forcing and endogenous lake processes has been debated for decades. We used a 50‐yr time series of phytoplankton observations to statistically model the occurrence of Aulacoseira blooms as a function of meteorological and climatological predictor variables. The results support the hypothesis that a confluence of meteorological conditions in the preceding fall season, which favor clear ice formation with minimal snow cover, also favor Aulacoseira blooms in the following spring. Further, we observe that this confluence of factors is related to relatively strong states of the Siberian High which, while not strictly periodic, do explain a significant fraction of the interannual bloom pattern. Finally, our analyses show that the timing of the peak abundance of A. baicalensis shifted 1.6 months later across the 50‐yr time series, corresponding with the delay in ice‐on timing that has been associated with climate change.
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Details
- Title
- The “Melosira years” of Lake Baikal: Winter environmental conditions at ice onset predict under‐ice algal blooms in spring
- Creators
- Stephen L Katz - School of the Environment, Washington State UniversityLyubov R Izmest'eva - 5th Armee Street, 46, 3Stephanie E Hampton - Washington State UniversityTed Ozersky - Scientific Research Institute of Biology, Irkutsk State UniversityKirill Shchapov - Institute of Biology, Irkutsk State UniversityMarianne V Moore - Wellesley CollegeSvetlana V Shimaraeva - Institute of Biology, Irkutsk State UniversityEugene A Silow - Institute of Biology, Irkutsk State University
- Publication Details
- Limnology and oceanography, Vol.60(6), pp.1950-1964
- Academic Unit
- Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach; Environment, School of the (CAS)
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- Faculty Awards Committee at Wellesley College National Science Foundation Dimensions of Biodiversity program (DEB‐1136637, DEB‐1136657) Russian Ministry of Education and Science (GR 01201461929 and R212‐IB‐001)
- Identifiers
- 99900547182101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article