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Abstract Multiple studies have reported widespread browning of Northern Hemisphere lakes. Most examples are from boreal lakes that have experienced limited human influence, and browning has alternatively been attributed to changes in atmospheric deposition, climate, and land use. To determine the extent and possible causes of browning across a more geographically diverse region, we examined watercolor and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) time series in hundreds of northeastern U.S. lakes. The majority of lakes have increased in both DOC and color, but there were neither coherent spatial patterns in trends nor relationships with previously reported drivers. Color trends were more variable than DOC trends, and DOC and color trends were not strongly correlated, indicating a cause other than or in addition to increased loading of terrestrial carbon. Browning may be pronounced in regions where climate and atmospheric deposition are dominant drivers but muted in more human‐dominated landscapes with a limited extent of organic soils where other disturbances predominate.
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Synchronous variation of dissolved organic carbon in Adirondack lakes at multiple timescales
Abstract Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a key component of aquatic ecosystems with complex effects on ecosystem function. While long‐term increases in DOC termed “brownification” have received considerable attention, directional trends typically account for a minority of variance. DOC concentrations also fluctuate on seasonal to multiannual timescales, but the causes of such variations are less understood. We used a wavelet‐based approach to study timescale‐specific, spatially synchronous fluctuations in DOC across 49 lakes in the Adirondacks, New York, USA. DOC varies synchronously among lakes at within‐season, annual, and interannual timescales, but relationships with external drivers and internal processes indicated by lake chemistry differed across timescales. External drivers explained 78% of spatial DOC synchrony at the annual time scale. Beyond positive trends related to regional recovery from acidification, variability in DOC is a consequence of fluctuations at several timescales that are common among Adirondack lakes in precipitation, solar radiation, and internal chemical concentrations.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1754712
- PAR ID:
- 10419238
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Limnology and Oceanography Letters
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2378-2242
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 649-656
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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