In order to predict the effects of climate change on polar ecosystems, disentangling mechanisms of nutrient transfer in food webs is crucial. We investigated sources of nutrients in tundra lakes, tracing their transfer through the food web and relating the observed patterns to runoff, snow coverage, and the presence of migratory geese in lake catchments. C and N content (elemental and isotopic) of several food web components including Lepidurus arcticus (Notostraca, at the top of the lake food webs) in 18 shallow Arctic lakes was compared. Terrestrial productivity and geese abundance were key biotic factors that interacted with abiotic variables (snow coverage, lake and catchment size) in determining the amount and origin of nutrient inputs, affecting the trophic interactions among aquatic species, food chain length and nutrient flow in Arctic lake food webs. Decreasing snow coverage, increasing abundance and expansion of the geese’s range are expected across the Arctic due to climate warming. By relating nutrient inputs and food web structure to snow coverage, vegetation and geese, this study contributes to our mechanistic understanding of the cascade effects of climate change’ in tundra ecosystems, and may help predict the response of lakes to changes in nutrient inputs at lower latitudes.

Climate‐related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems / Calizza, Edoardo; Salvatori, Rosamaria; Rossi, David; Pasquali, Vittorio; Careddu, Giulio; Sporta Caputi, Simona; Maccapan, Deborah; Santarelli, Luca; Montemurro, Pietro; Rossi, Loreto; Costantini, Maria Letizia. - In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2045-2322. - 12:1(2022). [10.1038/s41598-022-06136-4]

Climate‐related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems

Calizza, Edoardo;Pasquali, Vittorio;Careddu, Giulio
;
Sporta Caputi, Simona;Maccapan, Deborah;Rossi, Loreto;Costantini, Maria Letizia
2022

Abstract

In order to predict the effects of climate change on polar ecosystems, disentangling mechanisms of nutrient transfer in food webs is crucial. We investigated sources of nutrients in tundra lakes, tracing their transfer through the food web and relating the observed patterns to runoff, snow coverage, and the presence of migratory geese in lake catchments. C and N content (elemental and isotopic) of several food web components including Lepidurus arcticus (Notostraca, at the top of the lake food webs) in 18 shallow Arctic lakes was compared. Terrestrial productivity and geese abundance were key biotic factors that interacted with abiotic variables (snow coverage, lake and catchment size) in determining the amount and origin of nutrient inputs, affecting the trophic interactions among aquatic species, food chain length and nutrient flow in Arctic lake food webs. Decreasing snow coverage, increasing abundance and expansion of the geese’s range are expected across the Arctic due to climate warming. By relating nutrient inputs and food web structure to snow coverage, vegetation and geese, this study contributes to our mechanistic understanding of the cascade effects of climate change’ in tundra ecosystems, and may help predict the response of lakes to changes in nutrient inputs at lower latitudes.
2022
Arctic lake; nutrient transfer; food webs
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Climate‐related drivers of nutrient inputs and food web structure in shallow Arctic lake ecosystems / Calizza, Edoardo; Salvatori, Rosamaria; Rossi, David; Pasquali, Vittorio; Careddu, Giulio; Sporta Caputi, Simona; Maccapan, Deborah; Santarelli, Luca; Montemurro, Pietro; Rossi, Loreto; Costantini, Maria Letizia. - In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2045-2322. - 12:1(2022). [10.1038/s41598-022-06136-4]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1607165
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