The Effect of Drying Boreal Lakes on Plants, Soils, and Microbial Communities in Lake Margin Habitats

Author:

Patil Vijay P.1ORCID,McFarland Jack W.2ORCID,Wickland Kimberly P.3ORCID,Manies Kristen2ORCID,Winterstein Mark4ORCID,Hollingsworth Teresa N.56ORCID,Euskirchen Eugénie S.4ORCID,Waldrop Mark P.2ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Alaska Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Anchorage AK USA

2. Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Moffett Field CA USA

3. Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Boulder CO USA

4. Institute of Arctic Biology University of Alaska, Fairbanks Fairbanks AK USA

5. PNW Research Station USDA Forest Service Fairbanks AK USA

6. Now at Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute Rocky Mountain Research Station Missoula MT USA

Abstract

AbstractDecadal scale lake drying in interior Alaska results in lake margin colonization by willow shrub and graminoid vegetation, but the effects of these changes on plant production, biodiversity, soil properties, and soil microbial communities are not well known. We studied changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) storage, plant and microbial community composition, and soil microbial activities in drying and non‐drying lakes in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Historic changes in lake area were determined using Landsat imagery. Results showed that SOC storage in drying lake margins declined by 0.13 kg C m−2 yr−1 over 30 years of exposure of lake sediments, with no significant change in soil N. Lake drying resulted in an increase in graminoid and shrub aboveground net primary production (ANPP, +3% yr−1) with little change in plant functional composition. Increases in ANPP were similar in magnitude (but opposite in sign) to losses in SOC over a 30‐year drying trend. Potential decomposition rates and soil enzyme activities were lower in drying lake margins compared to stable lake margins, possibly due to high salinities in drying lake margin soils. Microbial communities shifted in response to changing plant communities, although they still retained a legacy of the previous plant community. Understanding how changing lake hydrology impacts the ecology and biogeochemistry of lake margin terrestrial ecosystems is an underexamined phenomenon with large impacts to landscape processes.

Publisher

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

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