Abstract
Atmosphere-borne acidic pollutants constitute an important, potentially critical, risk to aquatic ecosystems. Long-time series datasets are a requirement in the assessment of the biological impacts of both increased and decreased loadings of acidic pollutants and allow for the anticipation of future pollution loadings and their effects that can be acted upon with some confidence. Little is known concerning levels of deposition of atmospheric pollutants and their effects on acid-sensitive aquatic ecosystems in Ireland. Moreover, unequivocal evidence of acidification by atmospheric deposition is limited. The objective of this study was to provide a preliminary assessment of pH response in three lake sites that are situated in acid-sensitive areas of Ireland, and to determine whether pH response tends to be uniform or differs due to variations in atmospheric loading and catchment properties. Levels of spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCP) deposition have been used as a general indicator of the timing and extent of atmospheric pollutant loading and ecosystem response has been assessed by estimating diatom-inferred pH with a weighted-averaging calibration model (72 lakes) developed specifically for the Irish ecoregion. Levels of diatom-inferred pH (DI-pH) appear to respond to increased and decreased levels of atmospheric pollution loads—as represented by SCPs—at two of the three sites examined in the east and west of Ireland. In contrast, the site situated in the southwest of Ireland showed a varying and less directional DI-pH response, possibly due to lower deposition pressures, large lake size, and more buffered edaphic geology.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aherne J, Curtis CJ (2003) Critical loads of acidity for Irish lakes. Aquat Sci 65:21–35
Aherne J, Farrell EP (2002) Deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and acidity in precipitation over Ireland: chemistry, spatial distribution and long-term trends. Atmos Environ 36:1379–1389
Appleby PG, Oldfield F (1978) The calculation of 210Pb dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported 210Pb to the sediment. Catena 5:1–8
Bashir W, McGovern F, Ryan M, Burke L, Paul B (2006) Long-term trends n atmospheric pollutants at Valentia Observatory, Ireland. Environmental Research Centre Report. EPA, Wexford
Battarbee RW, Jones VJ, Flower RJ, Cameron NG, Bennion H, Carvalho L, Juggins S (2001) Diatoms. In: Smol JP, Birks HJB, Last WM (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments vol. 3: terrestrial, algal, and siliceous indicators. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 155–202
Battarbee RW, Monteith DT, Juggins S, Simpson GL, Shilland EW, Flower RJ, Kreiser AM (2008) Assessing the accuracy of diatom-based transfer functions in defining reference pH conditions for acidified lakes in the United Kingdom. Holocene 18:57–67
Birks HJB (1995) Quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. In: Maddy D, Brew JS (eds) Statistical modelling of quaternary science data. QRA, Cambridge, pp 161–254
Birks HJB, Line JM, Juggins S, Stevenson AC, ter Braak CJF (1990) Diatoms and pH reconstruction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 327:263–278
Bowman JJ, Harlock S (1998) The spatial distribution of characterised fly-ash particles and trace metals in lake sediments and catchment mosses: Ireland. Water Air Soil Pollut 106:263–286
Bowman JJ, McGettigan M (1994) Atmospheric deposition in acid sensitive areas of Ireland—the influence of wind direction and a new coal burning electricity generation station on precipitation quality. Water Air Soil Pollut 75:159–175
Brakke DF, Henrikson A, Norton SA (1987) The relative importance of acidity sources for humic lakes in Norway. Nature 329:432–434
Chen G, Dalton C, Leira M, Taylor D (2008) Diatom-inferred pH and total phosphorus (TP) transfer functions for the Irish Ecoregion using palaeolimnological techniques. J Paleolimnol 40:143–163
Dean WE (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods. J Sediment Petrol 44:242–248
De Eyto E, Irvine K (2007) Assessing the status of shallow lakes using an additive model of biomass size spectra. Aquat Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst 17:724–736
Dore AJ, Choularton TW, Fowler D (1992) An improved wet deposition map of the United Kingdom incorporating the seeder-feeder effect over mountainous terrain. Atmos Environ 26A:1375–1381
Eakins JD, Morrison RT (1978) A new procedure for the determination of lead-210 in lake and marine sediments. Int J Appl Radiat Isot 29:531–536
EPER (2004) The European Pollutant Register, viewed: 06 May 2007, [http://eper.eea.europa.eu/eper/]
Flower RJ, Rippey B, Rose NL, Appleby PG, Batterbee RW (1994) Palaeolimnological evidence for the acidification of lakes by atmospheric pollution in western Ireland. J Ecol 82:581–596
Foged (1977) Freshwater diatoms in Ireland. Bibliotheca Pycologica 34:221
Ginn BK, Stewart LJ, Cumming BF, Smol JP (2007) Surface-water acidification and reproducibility of sediment cores from Kejimkujik Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada. Water Air Soil Pollut 183:15–24
Hornung M, Bull KR, Cresser M, Ullyett J, Hall JR, Langan S, Loveland PJ, Wilson MJ (1995) The sensitivity of surface waters of Great Britain to acidification predicted from catchment characteristics. Environ Pollut 87:207–214
Hustedt F (1937–1939) Systematische und okologische untersuchungen uber den diatomeen-flora von Jana, Bali, Summatra. Archiv fuer hydrobiologie Supplementband 15 & 16
Igoe F, O’Grady MF, Tierney D, Fitzmaurice P (2003) Arctic char Salvelinus alpinus (L.) in Ireland—a millennium review of its distribution and status with conservation recommendations. Biol Environ Proc R Ir Acad 103B:9–22
Jones VJ, Flower RJ, Appleby PG, Natkanski J, Richardson N, Rippey B, Stevenson AC, Batterbee RW (1993) Palaeolimnological evidence for the acidification and atmospheric contamination of lochs in the Cairngorm and Lochnagar areas of Scotland. J Ecol 81:3–24
Jordan C (1997) Mapping of rainfall chemistry in Ireland 1972–1994. Proc R Ir Acad 97B:53–73
Joshi SR (1987) Nondestructive determination of lead-210 and radium-226 in sediments by direct photon analysis. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 116:169–182
Juggins S (2003) C2 software for ecological and palaeoecological data analysis and visualisation. User guide version 1.3. Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Klein H, Benedictow A, Fagerli H (2007) Transboundary air pollution by main pollutants (S, N, O3) and PM. Data Note 1/07, EMEP MSC-W
Kopacek J, Kana J, Santruckova H, Picek T, Stuchlik E (2004) Chemical and biochemical characteristics of alpine soils in the Tatra Mountains and their correlation with lake water quality. Water Air Soil Pollut 153:307–327
Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1986) Bacillariophyceae. 1. Teil: Naviculaceae. In: Ettl H, Gerloff J, Heynig H, Mollenhauer D (eds) Süsswasser flora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2/1. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 876 pp
Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1988) Bacillariophyceae. 2. Teil: Bacillariaceae Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae. In: Ettl H, Gerloff J, Heynig H, Mollenhauer D (eds) Süsswasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2/2. VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena, 596 pp
Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1991a) Bacillariophyceae. 3. Teil: Centrales, Fragilariaceae, Eunotiaceae. In: Ettl H, Gerloff J, Heynig H, Mollenhauer D (eds) Süsswasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2/3. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 576 pp
Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1991b) Bacillariophyceae. 4. Teil: Achnanthaceae, Kritische Ergänzungen zu Navicula (Lineolatae) und Gomphonema, Gesamtliteraturverzeichnis Teil 1–4. In: Ettl H, Gärtner G, Gerloff J, Heynig H, Mollenhauer D (eds) Süsswasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2/4. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 437 pp
Larsen J (2000) Recent changes in diatom-inferred pH, heavy metals, and spheroidal carbonacous particles in lake sediments near an oil Refinery at Mongstad, western Norway. J Paleolimnol 23:343–363
Larsen J (2003) Size distributions and concentrations of spheroidal carbonaceous fly-ash particles (SCPs) in lake sediments as an aid to detecting locally deposited atmospheric pollution. Water Air Soil Pollut 149:163–175
Leira M, Jordan P, Taylor D, Dalton C, Bennion H, Rose N, Irvine K (2006) Assessing the ecological status of candidate reference lakes in Ireland using palaeolimnology. J Appl Ecol 43:816–827
Leira M, Cole EE, Mitchell FJG (2007) Peat erosion and atmospheric deposition on an oligotrophic Lake in Eastern Ireland. J Paleolimnol 38:49–71
Monteith DT, Shilland EM (2007) The United Kingdom acid waters monitoring network assessment of the first 18 years of data: data summary annex accompanying research project final report. ENSIS Ltd, London
Mylona S (1993) Trends of sulphur dioxide emissions, air concentrations and deposition of sulphur in Europe since 1880. EMEP/MSC-W 2/93. EMEP
Mylona S (1996) Sulphur dioxide emissions in Europe 1880–1991 and their effect on sulphur concentrations and deposition. Tellus 48B:662–689
Norberg M, Bigler C, Renberg I (2008) Monitoring compared with paleolimnology: implications for the definition of reference condition in limed lakes in Sweden. Environ Monit Assess 146:295–308
OECD (1982) Eutrophication of waters: monitoring, assessment and control. Report of the OECD Cooperative programme on eutrophication. OECD, Paris, 164 pp
O’Leary B (2007) Air Quality in Ireland 2006 key indicators of ambient air quality. EPA, Wexford
O’Riordan C (2000) Development of Ireland’s power system 1927–1997. Eirgrid, Dublin
Renberg I, Hansson H (2008) The HTH sediment corer. J Palaeolimnol 40:655–659
Rose NL (1994) A note on further refinements to a procedure for the extraction of carbonaceous fly-ash particles from sediments. J Paleolimnol 11:201–204
Rose NL (1995) Carbonaceous particle record in lake sediments from the Arctic and other remote areas of the northern hemisphere. Sci Total Environ 160(161):487–496
Rose NL (2001) Fly-ash particles. In: Last WM, Smol JP (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments vol. 2 physical and geochemical methods. Kluwer, Amsterdam, pp 319–349
Rose NL, Appleby PG (2005) Regional applications of lake sediment dating by spheroidal carbonaceous particle analysis 1: United Kingdom. J Paleolimnol 34:349–361
Rose NL, Monteith DT (2005) Temporal trends in spheroidal carbonaceous particle deposition derived from annual sediment traps and lake sediment cores and their relationship with non-marine sulphate. Environm Pollut 137:151–163
Rose NL, Harlock S, Appleby PG (1999) The spatial and temporal distributions of spheroidal carbonaceous fly-ash particles (SCP) in the lake sediment records of European mountain lakes. Water Air Soil Pollut 113:1–32
Rose NL, Monteith DT, Kettle H, Thompson R, Yang H, Muir D (2004) A consideration of potential confounding factors limiting chemical and biological recovery at Lochnagar, a remote mountain loch in Scotland. J Limnol 63:63–76
ter Braak CJF, Juggins S (1993) Weighted averaging partial least square regression (WA-PLS): an improved method for reconstructing environmental variables from species assemblages. Hydrobiologia 269(270):485–502
Toner P, Bowman J, Clabby K, Lucey J, McGarrigle M, Concannon C, Clenaghan C, Cunningham P, Delaney J, O’Boyle S, MacCáthaigh M, Craig M, Quinn R (2005) Water quality in Ireland 2001–2003. Environmental Protection Agency, Wexford
Van Dam H, Mertens A, Sinkeldam J (1994) A coded checklist and ecological indicator values of freshwater diatoms from the Netherlands. Aquat Ecol 28:117–133
Vinebrooke RD (1996) Abiotic and biotic regulation of periphyton in recovering acidified lakes. J North Am Benthol Soc 15:318–331
Vukic J, Fott J, Petrusek A, Sanda R (2006) What can size distribution of spheroidal carbonaceous particles reveal about their source? Atmos Environ 40:3527–3535
Vuorenmaa J, Forsius M (2007) Recovery of acidified Finnish lakes: trends, patterns and dependence of catchment characteristics. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Discuss 4:3249–3283
Acknowledgments
The research presented here would not have been possible without the generous support of the EPA, and the authors would like to thank in particular Jim Bowman, Alice Wemaere, Paul Toner and Shane Colgan. Thanks are also due to Manel Leira, Richard McFaul, Pete Rodgers, Elaine Treacy, Phil Jordan and Catherine Dalton for help with fieldwork; and to Neil Rose for helpful advice with SCPs. Barry O’Dwyer received financial support from the EPA through a PhD scholarship (2004-PHD4-2-M1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
O’Dwyer, B., Taylor, D. Variations in levels of deposition of atmosphere-borne industrial pollutants at three oligotrophic lakes in Ireland over the last 50–150 years: sediment-based archives of sources, levels and ecological sensitivity. J Paleolimnol 44, 123–142 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9392-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9392-x