Effects of Consecutive Extreme Weather Events on a Temperate Dystrophic Lake: A Detailed Insight into Physical, Chemical and Biological Responses

Between May and July 2018, Ireland experienced an exceptional heat wave, which broke long-term temperature and drought records. These calm, stable conditions were abruptly interrupted by a second extreme weather event, Atlantic Storm Hector, in late June. Using high-frequency monitoring data, couple...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2020-05, Vol.12 (5), p.1411
Main Authors: Calderó-Pascual, Maria, de Eyto, Elvira, Jennings, Eleanor, Dillane, Mary, Andersen, Mikkel René, Kelly, Sean, Wilson, Harriet Louise, McCarthy, Valerie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic ecosystems
Biological sampling
Biomass
Carbon
Chlorophyll
Climate change
Consumers
Drought
Dystrophic lakes
Environmental aspects
Environmental changes
Extreme weather
Food
Food quality
Heat
Heat waves
Ireland
Lakes
Metabolism
Nitrogen
Peatlands
Phosphorus
Plankton
Precipitation
Rivers
Storms
Stratification
Terrestrial ecosystems
Trophic levels
Water inflow
Weather
Zooplankton
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Summary:Between May and July 2018, Ireland experienced an exceptional heat wave, which broke long-term temperature and drought records. These calm, stable conditions were abruptly interrupted by a second extreme weather event, Atlantic Storm Hector, in late June. Using high-frequency monitoring data, coupled with fortnightly biological sampling, we show that the storm directly affected the stratification pattern of Lough Feeagh, resulting in an intense mixing event. The lake restabilised quickly after the storm as the heatwave continued. During the storm there was a three-fold reduction in Schmidt stability, with a mixed layer deepening of 9.5 m coinciding with a two-fold reduction in chlorophyll a but a three-fold increase in total zooplankton biomass. Epilimnetic respiration increased and net ecosystem productivity decreased. The ratio of total nitrogen:total phosphorus from in-lake versus inflow rivers was decoupled, leading to a cascade effect on higher trophic levels. A step change in nitrogen:phosphorus imbalances suggested that the zooplankton community shifted from phosphorus to nitrogen nutrient constraints. Such characterisations of both lake thermal and ecological responses to extreme weather events are relatively rare but are crucial to our understanding of how lakes are changing as the impacts of global climate change accelerate.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w12051411