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Factors controlling recent diatom assemblages across a steep local nutrient gradient in central-eastern Finland

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Abstract

The Iisalmi Route, a chain of lakes in central-eastern Finland, is more eutrophic than its surroundings. We used multivariate analyses to study the influence of selected environmental factors (water quality, basin characteristics, and subcatchment surficial geology) on the recent diatom assemblages across this steep local nutrient gradient. In addition to the spatial analysis of surface sediment diatom assemblages from 51 sampling sites (48 lakes), temporal changes in the total phosphorus (TP) concentrations of one Iisalmi Route lake (Lake Kirmanjärvi) were analyzed using weighted averaging partial least squares regression and 27 fossil diatom samples. Both TP and electrical conductivity (EC) showed statistically significant independent signals in the modern diatom data. The TP gradient was related to till grain size variation suggesting that geological factors affect the spatial TP variation directly or indirectly through differences in land use. Based on the temporal study, the direct effect of geology is most likely behind the steep nutrient gradient in the area because Lake Kirmanjärvi was found to be naturally eutrophic. EC, on the other hand, seems related to anthropogenic disturbance. Our study highlights the importance of taking the local geology into account when assessing past or present water quality or planning for lake management.

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Acknowledgements

Finnish Cultural Foundation and its Varsinais-Suomi Regional fund, Geological Survey of Finland, Alfred Kordelin Foundation, Olvi Foundation, Turun yliopistosäätiö, and TOP-Säätiö are greatly acknowledged for funding this study. We also want to thank Alpo Eronen for sediment sampling, Kari Tiitta for diatom sampling, Erna Mäkeläinen for preparing diatom slides, Esko Kuusisto for the ice cover data of Lake Porovesi, Juha Miettinen for his valuable comments, Anssi Kinnunen for programming assistance, and everyone else that has cooperated with us and helped this research in any way. We are also grateful to the reviewers for their constructive criticism. Furthermore, we would like to acknowledge the modeling and assessment unit of the Freshwater Centre of the Finnish Environmental Institute that allowed access to their VEMALA model.

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  1. Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Mira Tammelin

  2. Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 1237, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Tommi Kauppila

  3. Ramboll Finland Oy, Kirjastokatu 4, 70100, Kuopio, Finland

    Matias Viitasalo

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  1. Mira Tammelin
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Tammelin, M., Kauppila, T. & Viitasalo, M. Factors controlling recent diatom assemblages across a steep local nutrient gradient in central-eastern Finland. Hydrobiologia 799, 309–325 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3229-9

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