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Nitrogen (N) deposition and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) levels in northern lakes are shifting due to climate change and atmospheric deposition declines, altering the availability of light and nutrients in these ecosystems. Yet their impacts on the biomass, stoichiometry, and the structure of planktonic food chains remain uncertain. We therefore investigated zooplankton-to-seston biomass ratios (Z:S in C, N, and P) across 34 Swedish lakes with varying N deposition, DOC concentration, and fish predation control. Mean Z:S values were 2.9% for C, 7.5% for N, and 7.7% for P, with substantial regional variation. Z:S ratios were higher in lakes with lower atmospheric N deposition, improved seston quality, and greater calanoid copepod dominance in zooplankton. The strong link between zooplankton stoichiometry and community composition underscores the role of calanoids in regulating nutrient dynamics in northern lakes. Fish predation reduced zooplankton biomass but did not significantly alter Z:S ratios or zooplankton community composition. Meanwhile, increasing DOC dampened the higher Z:S in low N deposition lakes by reducing calanoid dominance and promoting more uniform zooplankton assemblages. Our findings suggest that lake browning counteracts the expected increase in Z:S ratios associated with recovery from atmospheric N deposition, potentially altering nutrient transfer in lake food webs.

Widespread increases in lake browning, which affects primary production, have been observed in northern lakes. While lake browning is attributed to increases in terrestrially derived total organic carbon (TOC) and total iron (Fe), Fe does not consistently correlate with increasing TOC over time. This temporal mismatch between TOC and Fe indicates that we still do not fully understand the causes of lake browning, especially in the context of gradually changing climatic conditions. In this study, we utilized Fennoscandian 30-year (1990–2020) time series data for 102 lakes to describe possible reasons for the temporal decoupling between TOC and Fe. Using Bayesian mixed-effects models and wavelet coherence analysis, we found evidence for differential responses of TOC and Fe concentrations to changes in precipitation, temperature, and sulfur deposition. While TOC appeared more sensitive to the effects of precipitation, temperature and sulfur deposition in individual lakes, Fe concentrations were impacted by complex interactions among these environmental variables. Although TOC and Fe increased in most lakes in response to increased temperature and precipitation, 41% of the lakes—typically with larger catchment-to-lake area ratios and shorter water residence times—exhibited a declining trend in Fe. This analysis encompasses lakes of both significant and non-significant changes over time. This decline in Fe was associated with short-timescale (2–4 years) increases in precipitation, leading to a temporal decoupling between Fe and TOC. Our findings suggest that Fe concentrations do not increase uniformly with rising temperatures and increased precipitation, especially in regions where sulfur deposition has declined due to atmospheric recovery policies.

Zooplankton community composition of northern lakes is changing due to the interactive effects of climate change and recovery from acidification, yet limited data are available to assess these changes combined. Here, we built a database using archives of temperature, water chemistry and zooplankton data from 60 Scandinavian lakes that represent broad spatial and temporal gradients in key parameters: temperature, calcium (Ca), total phosphorus (TP), total organic carbon (TOC), and pH. Using machine learning techniques, we found that Ca was the most important determinant of the relative abundance of all zooplankton groups studied, while pH was second, and TOC third in importance. Further, we found that Ca is declining in almost all lakes, and we detected a critical Ca threshold in lake water of 1.3 mg L−1, below which the relative abundance of zooplankton shifts toward dominance of Holopedium gibberum and small cladocerans at the expense of Daphnia and copepods. Our findings suggest that low Ca concentrations may shape zooplankton communities, and that current trajectories of Ca decline could promote widespread changes in pelagic food webs as zooplankton are important trophic links from phytoplankton to fish and different zooplankton species play different roles in this context.

Global change may introduce fundamental alterations in phytoplankton biomass and community structure that can alter the productivity of northern lakes. In this study, we utilized Swedish and Finnish monitoring data from lakes that are spatially (135 lakes) and temporally (1995-2019, 110 lakes) extensive to assess how phytoplankton biomass (PB) of dominant phytoplankton groups related to changes in water temperature, pH and key nutrients [total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), total organic carbon (TOC), iron (Fe)] along spatial (Fennoscandia) and temporal (25 years) gradients. Using a machine learning approach, we found that TP was the most important determinant of total PB and biomass of a specific species of Raphidophyceae - Gonyostomum semen - and Cyanobacteria (both typically with adverse impacts on food-webs and water quality) in spatial analyses, while Fe and pH were second in importance for G. semen and TN and pH were second and third in importance for Cyanobacteria. However, in temporal analyses, decreasing Fe and increasing pH and TOC were associated with a decrease in G. semen and an increase in Cyanobacteria. In addition, in many lakes increasing TOC seemed to have generated browning to an extent that significantly reduced PB. The identified discrepancy between the spatial and temporal results suggests that substitutions of data for space-for-time may not be adequate to characterize long-term effects of global change on phytoplankton. Further, we found that total PB exhibited contrasting temporal trends (increasing in northern- and decreasing in southern Fennoscandia), with the decline in total PB being more pronounced than the increase. Among phytoplankton, G. semen biomass showed the strongest decline, while cyanobacterial biomass showed the strongest increase over 25 years. Our findings suggest that progressing browning and changes in Fe and pH promote significant temporal changes in PB and shifts in phytoplankton community structures in northern lakes.

Air–water gas exchange velocities (k) are critical components of many biogeochemical and ecological process studies in aquatic systems. However, their high spatiotemporal variability is difficult to capture with traditional methods, especially in turbulent flow. Here, we investigate the potential of sound spectral analysis to infer k in running waters, based on the rationale that both turbulence and entrained bubbles drive gas exchange and cause a characteristic sound. We explored the relationship between k and sound spectral properties using laboratory experiments and field observations under a wide range of turbulence and bubble conditions. We estimated k using flux chamber measurements of CO₂ exchange and recorded sound above and below the water surface by microphones and hydrophones, respectively. We found a strong influence of turbulence and bubbles on sound pressure levels (SPLs) at octave bands of 31.5 Hz and 1000 Hz, respectively. The difference in SPLs at these bands and background noise bands showed a linear correlation with k both in the laboratory (R² = 0.93–0.99) and in the field (median R² = 0.42–0.90). Underwater sound indices outperformed aerial sound indices in general, and indices based on hydraulic parameters in particular, in turbulent and bubbly surface flow. The results highlight the unique potential of acoustic techniques to predict k, isolate mechanisms, and improve the spatiotemporal coverage of k estimates in bubbly flow.

Forestry practices often result in an increased export of carbon and nitrogen to downstream aquatic systems. Although these losses affect the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget of managed forests, it is unknown if they modify GHG emissions of recipient aquatic systems. To assess this question, air-water fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) were quantified for humic lakes and their inlet streams in four boreal catchments using a before-after control-impact experiment. Two catchments were treated with forest clear-cuts followed by site preparation (18 % and 44 % of the catchment area). GHG fluxes and hydrological and physicochemical water characteristics were measured at multiple locations in lakes and streams at high temporal resolution throughout the summer season over a 4-year period. Both lakes and streams evaded all GHGs. The treatment did not significantly change GHG fluxes in streams or lakes within 3 years after the treatment, despite significant increases of CO2 and CH4 concentrations in hillslope groundwater. Our results highlight that GHGs leaching from forest clear-cuts may be buffered in the riparian zone-stream continuum, likely acting as effective biogeochemical processors and wind shelters to prevent additional GHG evasion via downstream inland waters. These findings are representative of low productive forests located in relatively flat landscapes where forestry practices cause only a limited initial impact on catchment hydrology and biogeochemistry.

Global warming and land use scenarios suggest increased 21^st century nitrogen (N) inputs to aquatic systems. Nitrogen affects in-lake processing and, potentially, atmospheric exchange of greenhouse gases, probably being most relevant in unproductive systems. Here, we test for the first time the effect of a whole-lake experimental increase (threefold) in external nitrate loads on the atmospheric exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) from N-limited unproductive boreal lakes. Nitrate enrichment effects were assessed within a paired Before/After-Control/Impact framework based on 2-hourly to biweekly surface-water sampling of dissolved gas concentrations, and monthly whole-lake inventory surveys, carried out over 4 yrs in six lakes. Nitrate enrichment did not affect gas exchange during summer stratification and whole-lake gas inventories during summer and winter stratification. This finding specifically emphasizes the modest role of internal carbon fixation for the CO₂ dynamics of unproductive boreal lakes. A global synthesis of 52 published studies revealed a wide range of nutrient fertilization effects, both in systems similar to our experimental lakes, and other more productive systems. Effects depended mainly on the spatiotemporal scale of the study and became more pronounced when N enrichment was combined with phosphorous. Conclusively, although short-term and habitat-specific effects can occur, changes in N supply have only weak whole-ecosystem effects on greenhouse gas emissions from unproductive boreal lakes.

Global warming is expected to influence lake gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (R) by increasing water temperature and terrestrial export of organic material and inorganic nutrients from the catchment. We experimentally tested the effects of warming (3 A degrees C) and natural humic river runoff, separately and in combination, on habitat-specific and whole ecosystem net ecosystem production (NEP = GPP - R) in replicated large scale (136 m(3)) experimental pond ecosystems over one open water season. Pelagic NEP was reduced by warming and increased with humic river water addition. Littoral NEP (benthos, macrophytes, periphyton) showed an opposite pattern with increasing NEP following warming and decreasing NEP following humic river water addition. These changes were a result of changes in GPP with warming (negative in pelagic, positive in littoral) and with humic water addition (positive in pelagic, negative in littoral), while no effects were observed on pelagic respiration. As a result of the counteracting effects on NEP in pelagic and littoral habitats, whole ecosystem NEP was not affected by the treatments. The study suggests that climate mediated changes in temperature and river runoff have relatively small effects on the overall metabolic balance of shallow aquatic ecosystems but there may be large habitat-specific effects.