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Effects of multiple stressors on lakes in south-central Ontario: 15 years of change in lakewater chemistry and sedimentary diatom assemblages

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Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly affected by human influences. Since the pre-industrial era, lakes of the Muskoka–Haliburton region of south-central Ontario have had increases in shoreline residential development and acid deposition. Previous research on 54 of these lakes, using sediment cores and diatom-based transfer functions, showed changes in lakewater pH and total phosphorus concentration between the preindustrial era and 1992. Since 1992, there has been further change, which we have documented for the same set of lakes, using similar methods. For example, dissolved organic carbon has increased and there have been significant increases in planktonic diatoms (e.g. Cyclotella stelligera) commonly associated with climate warming. More striking diatom changes have occurred in the past 15 years than between pre-industrial times and 1992. Significant changes observed in both chemical (e.g. pH, Ca, DOC) and biological data suggest that novel stressors, such as declines in lake calcium concentrations, acting in conjunction with climate and land-use change, have created ecosystems for which there are no historical analogs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Adam Jeziorski, Jennifer Korosi and Josh Thienpont for their assistance in the field. We also thank Neal Michelutti for his comments on early drafts of this manuscript. We thank the researchers and staff at the Dorset Environmental Science Centre for logistical support, water chemistry data collection and analysis. This research was made possible by a NSERC Discovery grant to JPS. We would also like to thank editor Brian Moss and 2 anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL), Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Kristopher R. Hadley & John P. Smol

  2. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Dorset Environmental Science Centre, PO Box 39, 1026 Bellwood Acres Road, Dorset, ON, P0A 1E0, Canada

    Andrew M. Paterson

  3. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Roland I. Hall

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  1. Kristopher R. Hadley
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  4. John P. Smol
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Correspondence to Kristopher R. Hadley.

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Hadley, K.R., Paterson, A.M., Hall, R.I. et al. Effects of multiple stressors on lakes in south-central Ontario: 15 years of change in lakewater chemistry and sedimentary diatom assemblages. Aquat Sci 75, 349–360 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-012-0280-5

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