Ecosystem responses of shallow thermokarst lakes to climate-driven hydrological change: Insights from long-term monitoring of periphytic diatom community composition at Old Crow Flats (Yukon, Canada)

Author:

Mohammed Wathiq J1,MacDonald Lauren A1,Thomas Kathryn E1,McDonald Ian2,Turner Kevin W3,Wolfe Brent B4,Hall Roland I1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

2. Parks Canada Agency, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

3. Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

4. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Shallow waterbodies are abundant in Arctic and subarctic landscapes where they provide productive wildlife habitat and hold cultural and socioeconomic importance for Indigenous communities. Their vulnerability to climate-driven hydrological and limnological changes enhances a need for long-term monitoring data capable of tracking aquatic ecosystem responses. Here, we evaluate biological and inferred physicochemical responses associated with a rise in rainfall-generated runoff and increasingly positive lake water balances in Old Crow Flats (OCF), a 5600 km2 thermokarst landscape in northern Yukon. This is achieved by analyzing periphytic diatom community composition in biofilms accrued on artificial-substrate samplers at 14 lakes collected mostly annually during 2008–2019 CE. Results reveal that diatom communities at 10 of the 14 lakes converged toward a composition typical of lakes with rainfall-dominated input waters. These include six of nine lakes that were not initially dominated by rainfall input. The shifts in diatom community composition infer rise of lake-water pH and ionic content, and they reveal that northern shallow lake ecosystems are responsive to climate-driven increases in rainfall. Based on data generated during the 12 -year-long monitoring period, we conclude that lakes located centrally within OCF are most vulnerable to rapid climate-driven hydroecological change due to flat terrain, larger lake surface area, and sparse terrestrial vegetation, which provide less resistance to lake expansion, shoreline erosion, and sudden drainage. This information assists the local Indigenous community and natural resource stewardship agencies to anticipate changes to traditional food sources and inform adaptation options.

Funder

Government of Canada International Polar Year Program

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Parks Canada

Natural Resources Canada

Polar Knowledge Canada

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Northern Research Chair

Government of Iraq and University of Babylon

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Multidisciplinary

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