Lake ecosystem responses to catchment disturbance and airborne pollution: an 800-year perspective in southern Sweden
Bragée, Petra LU ; Choudhary, Preetam ; Routh, Joyanto ; Boyle, John F. and Hammarlund, Dan LU
(2013)
In Journal of Paleolimnology
50(4).
p.545-560
- Abstract
- Sediment sequences spanning the last 800 years from two small lakes in the south Swedish uplands were explored for assessment of effects of changing human population, local land-use practices and airborne pollution on lake-ecosystem functioning and resilience. Variations in nutrient cycling and deposition of lithogenic elements were studied, using a multi-proxy stratigraphic approach. Carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic analyses were applied in combination with records of hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) to investigate the sources and depositional conditions of sediment organic matter. Changes in fluvial and airborne delivery of inorganic matter were based on X-ray fluorescence measurements. The results reveal that population growth and... (More)
- Sediment sequences spanning the last 800 years from two small lakes in the south Swedish uplands were explored for assessment of effects of changing human population, local land-use practices and airborne pollution on lake-ecosystem functioning and resilience. Variations in nutrient cycling and deposition of lithogenic elements were studied, using a multi-proxy stratigraphic approach. Carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic analyses were applied in combination with records of hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) to investigate the sources and depositional conditions of sediment organic matter. Changes in fluvial and airborne delivery of inorganic matter were based on X-ray fluorescence measurements. The results reveal that population growth and related increases in land-use pressure had a major impact on catchment erosion and input of terrestrial organic matter to the lakes from the 1500s to the end of the 1800s. Evidence also exists of a brief period of catchment disturbance at ca. 1200-1300, followed by recovery, likely connected to the Black Death pandemic. At ca. 1900 synchronous shifts in most of the proxy records suggest a marked change in external forcing common to the two lakes related to a major decrease in population density and the introduction of modern forestry following the industrial revolution. Interestingly, the two sediment records exhibit generally coherent trends in C/N ratio, organic C content and delta C-13, both before and after 1900, indicating broadly similar sensitivities of the lake ecosystems to human impact. In contrast, deviating trends in total N content, delta N-15 and lithogenic element concentrations (K, Ti, Rb and Zr) reflect site-specific responses to local disturbances during the last century due to different nutrient conditions and catchment properties. Our companion sediment records highlight the importance of understanding long-term human impact on watersheds and demonstrate how regional versus local forcing of lake ecosystems, as well as site-specific responses related to catchment characteristics can be reconstructed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4197948
- author
- Bragée, Petra
LU
; Choudhary, Preetam
; Routh, Joyanto
; Boyle, John F.
and Hammarlund, Dan
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Land-use change, Human impact, Lake sediments, Stable isotopes, Inorganic elements, Hydrocarbons
- in
- Journal of Paleolimnology
- volume
- 50
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 545 - 560
- publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000326622200010
- scopus:84887268034
- ISSN
- 0921-2728
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10933-013-9746-2
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 13708dfc-f666-4b44-9578-1cb3ea32bab5 (old id 4197948)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 13:48:49
- date last changed
- 2025-10-14 13:22:50
@article{13708dfc-f666-4b44-9578-1cb3ea32bab5,
abstract = {{Sediment sequences spanning the last 800 years from two small lakes in the south Swedish uplands were explored for assessment of effects of changing human population, local land-use practices and airborne pollution on lake-ecosystem functioning and resilience. Variations in nutrient cycling and deposition of lithogenic elements were studied, using a multi-proxy stratigraphic approach. Carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic analyses were applied in combination with records of hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) to investigate the sources and depositional conditions of sediment organic matter. Changes in fluvial and airborne delivery of inorganic matter were based on X-ray fluorescence measurements. The results reveal that population growth and related increases in land-use pressure had a major impact on catchment erosion and input of terrestrial organic matter to the lakes from the 1500s to the end of the 1800s. Evidence also exists of a brief period of catchment disturbance at ca. 1200-1300, followed by recovery, likely connected to the Black Death pandemic. At ca. 1900 synchronous shifts in most of the proxy records suggest a marked change in external forcing common to the two lakes related to a major decrease in population density and the introduction of modern forestry following the industrial revolution. Interestingly, the two sediment records exhibit generally coherent trends in C/N ratio, organic C content and delta C-13, both before and after 1900, indicating broadly similar sensitivities of the lake ecosystems to human impact. In contrast, deviating trends in total N content, delta N-15 and lithogenic element concentrations (K, Ti, Rb and Zr) reflect site-specific responses to local disturbances during the last century due to different nutrient conditions and catchment properties. Our companion sediment records highlight the importance of understanding long-term human impact on watersheds and demonstrate how regional versus local forcing of lake ecosystems, as well as site-specific responses related to catchment characteristics can be reconstructed.}},
author = {{Bragée, Petra and Choudhary, Preetam and Routh, Joyanto and Boyle, John F. and Hammarlund, Dan}},
issn = {{0921-2728}},
keywords = {{Land-use change; Human impact; Lake sediments; Stable isotopes; Inorganic elements; Hydrocarbons}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{545--560}},
publisher = {{Springer Science and Business Media B.V.}},
series = {{Journal of Paleolimnology}},
title = {{Lake ecosystem responses to catchment disturbance and airborne pollution: an 800-year perspective in southern Sweden}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-013-9746-2}},
doi = {{10.1007/s10933-013-9746-2}},
volume = {{50}},
year = {{2013}},
}