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Chemical composition and trophic state of shallow saline steppe lakes in central Asia (North Kazakhstan)

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the prevailing chemical composition and trophic state of the shallow saline steppe lakes of North Kazakhstan along a wide size range (< 1–454 km2) and salinity gradient (2–322 g L−1) on a large spatial scale (1000 km), taking into account the potential effects of human disturbances. Water depth, Secchi disk transparency, temperature, pH, electric conductivity, major ions, total dissolved solids, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and phosphorus, nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus, and chlorophyll a were measured. The equivalent percentage of major ions, Spearman rank correlation, multivariate analyses, equilibrium state of lakes, and spatial GIS autocorrelation were calculated. The impact of human disturbances (settlements, farms, and mines) on total organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and chlorophyll a were tested by Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA. The most common combinations of dominant ions were Na-Cl>SO4 and Na-Cl (n = 16; 64%); the Ca, Mg, HCO3, and SO4 ions precipitate with increasing salinity (2–322 g L−1); and ion composition shifts from Na>Mg-Cl>SO4 to Na-Cl. The most of the chemical variables positively, but chlorophyll a negatively, correlated with total dissolved solids, and the total phosphorus had no significant correlation with any variables. The trophic state of these lakes in most cases exceeded the hypertrophic level. The increase in salinity causes change in chemical composition and effects on the phytoplankton development independently from the size of water surface, and the human disturbances had negligible effect on the trophic state of shallow saline lakes in this region of Kazakhstan.

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Acknowledgements

This project was carried out in the framework of a scientific and technical cooperation agreement between Kiskunság National Park Directorate (Hungary) and Naurzum State Nature Reserves, which was promoted by the Agricultural Ministries of Kazakhstan and Hungary. We would like to thank colleagues at the Naurzum, Korgalzhyn, and Altyn Dala National Reserves; Kazakh National Agrarian University (Kazakhstan); and the Kiskunság National Park Directorate (Hungary) for all of their work and help, and we would like to especially thank Tatyana Bragina and Evgeny Bragin for their scientific assistance. The project was also funded by the Mektep Publishing House (Kazakhstan), Naturglobe Ltd., and LAC Holding (Hungary). We especially thank Kairat Bibekov for essential work as the technical manager in this project. The thermodynamic modeling was financially supported by the Russian Scientific Fund (Project 15-17-10003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Centre for Ecological Research, Balaton Limnological Institute, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3, Tihany, 8237, Hungary

    Emil Boros & Lajos Vörös

  2. Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    Laura Jurecska

  3. Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Bioanalytics, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    Enikő Tatár

  4. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 3, Koptyug av., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    Marina Kolpakova

  5. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, 30, Lenin av., Tomsk, 634050, Russia

    Marina Kolpakova

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  1. Emil Boros
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  2. Laura Jurecska
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  3. Enikő Tatár
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  4. Lajos Vörös
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  5. Marina Kolpakova
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Correspondence to Emil Boros.

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Boros, E., Jurecska, L., Tatár, E. et al. Chemical composition and trophic state of shallow saline steppe lakes in central Asia (North Kazakhstan). Environ Monit Assess 189, 546 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6242-6

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