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Long‐term patterns of dissolved organic carbon in lakes across eastern Canada: Evidence of a pronounced climate effect
Author(s) -
Zhang Jan,
Hudson Jeff,
Neal Richard,
Sereda Jeff,
Clair Thomas,
Turner Michael,
Jeffries Dean,
Dillon Peter,
Molot Lewis,
Somers Keith,
Hesslein Ray
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0030
Subject(s) - precipitation , dissolved organic carbon , nova scotia , environmental science , pacific decadal oscillation , period (music) , total organic carbon , watershed , climatology , oceanography , el niño southern oscillation , geography , geology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , physics , machine learning , meteorology , computer science , acoustics
We analyzed the 21‐yr dynamics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in 55 lakes during ice‐free periods in five regions across eastern Canada in relation to total solar radiation (TSR), precipitation, air temperature, sulfate deposition (SO4), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), North Atlantic Oscillation, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). A synchronous pattern in DOC was found among lakes within each region; however, a synchronous pattern in DOC was not found among regions, except for Kejimkujik and Yarmouth. Long‐term trends of increasing or decreasing DOC concentration were not evident except at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), where an increase in DOC correlated with a decrease in summer TSR and an increase in summer precipitation. Annual mean temperature increased at the Nova Scotia and Turkey Lakes Watershed regions (TLW) over the study period, but there was no corresponding change in DOC. TSR and precipitation were important explanatory variables across all regions, except for the TLW. Summer TSR, or annual TSR, had a negative relationship, while summer precipitation had a positive relationship with the temporal DOC pattern in all regions except TLW. TSR and precipitation explained 78%, 49%, and 84% of the variation in the long‐term DOC patterns at Dorset, ELA, and Nova Scotia (NS) regions, respectively. In contrast, the long‐term pattern in DOC at TLW was only weakly related to SOI and PDO.