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Influence of atmospheric modes of variability on the limnological characteristics of large lakes south of the Alps: a new emerging paradigm

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Abstract

Winter air and spring surface water temperatures, spring epilimnetic phosphorus, and hypolimnetic oxygen in the deep lakes south of the Alps (Garda, Iseo, Como, Lugano, and Maggiore) showed a high degree of temporal coherence. The common temporal patterns were originating from the effects caused by winter climate, and from corresponding synchronisms in the interannual variations in the extent of the spring water renewal and replenishment of nutrients. In turn, the sequence of linked causal events was triggered by two atmospheric modes of variability relevant for the Mediterranean region, i.e. the East Atlantic pattern (EA) and the Eastern Mediterranean Pattern (EMP). In contrast, there were no significant relationships of air and water temperatures with the North Atlantic Oscillation. In oligotrophic lakes, which were characterised by weak vertical nutrient gradients, the spring replenishment of P was negligible and difficult to detect (Maggiore), or detectable but of minor importance (Garda and Como) compared to that measured in more enriched lakes (Iseo and Lugano). The applicability of EA and EMP in the study of the impact of climate on aquatic ecosystems will require to be tested by expanding the number, typology, and geographical location of water bodies in the Alpine and Mediterranean regions.

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Acknowledgements

In Lake Garda the research was funded in part by the Veneto Region, ARPAV and the EU Central Europe Programme (EULAKES Project, 2CE243P3). Studies on lakes Maggiore and Lugano were funded by the CIPAIS (International Commission for the Protection of Waters between Italy and Switzerland). This study was made in the framework of the LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Italian network, site “Southern Alpine lakes”, IT08-000-A (http://www.lteritalia.it/).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sustainable Agro-ecosystems and Bioresources Department, IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all’Adige, Fondazione E. Mach, Via E. Mach 1, S. Michele all’Adige, 38010, Trento, Italy

    Nico Salmaso & Leonardo Cerasino

  2. ARPA Lombardia, Dipartimento di Lecco, Via I Maggio, 21/b, 23848, Oggiono, Lecco, Italy

    Fabio Buzzi

  3. Dipartimento Scienze Ambiente e Territorio e Scienze della Terra, Università di Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126, Milan, Italy

    Letizia Garibaldi & Barbara Leoni

  4. C.N.R. Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi, L.go Tonolli, 50, 28922, Verbania Pallanza, Italy

    Giuseppe Morabito & Michela Rogora

  5. Istituto Scienze della Terra, Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana (SUPSI), Blocco C, Ufficio 109, Via Trevano/Casella Postale 72, 6952, Canobbio, Switzerland

    Marco Simona

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  1. Nico Salmaso
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Correspondence to Nico Salmaso.

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Guest editors: D. Straile, D. Gerdeaux, D. M. Livingstone, P. Nõges, F. Peeters & K.-O. Rothhaupt / European Large Lakes III. Large lakes under changing environmental conditions

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Salmaso, N., Buzzi, F., Cerasino, L. et al. Influence of atmospheric modes of variability on the limnological characteristics of large lakes south of the Alps: a new emerging paradigm. Hydrobiologia 731, 31–48 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1659-6

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