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Recent primary production increases in arctic lakes
Author(s) -
Michelutti Neal,
Wolfe Alexander P.,
Vinebrooke Rolf D.,
Rivard Benoit,
Briner Jason P.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl023693
Subject(s) - arctic , oceanography , sediment , context (archaeology) , environmental science , chlorophyll a , primary producers , geology , physical geography , phytoplankton , ecology , geography , geomorphology , paleontology , nutrient , biology , botany
A new application of reflectance spectroscopy enables inferences of lake sediment chlorophyll a concentrations and hence of historical trends in lacustrine primary production. In a survey of six arctic lakes on Baffin Island (Nunavut, Canada), pronounced increases of spectrally‐inferred chlorophyll a concentrations are consistently expressed in sediments deposited during the 20th century. Climate warming appears to be increasing both aquatic chlorophyll a production and its sequestration to sediments, as these lakes enter new biological regimes that are largely unique in the context of the late Holocene.