Critical nitrogen deposition loads in high-elevation lakes of the western US inferred from paleolimnological records

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
By: , and 

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Abstract

Critical loads of nitrogen (N) from atmospheric deposition were determined for alpine lake ecosystems in the western US using fossil diatom assemblages in lake sediment cores. Changes in diatom species over the last century were indicative of N enrichment in two areas, the eastern Sierra Nevada, starting between 1960 and 1965, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, starting in 1980. In contrast, no changes in diatom community structure were apparent in lakes of Glacier National Park. To determine critical N loads that elicited these community changes, we modeled wet nitrogen deposition rates for the period in which diatom shifts first occurred in each area using deposition data spanning from 1980 to 2007. We determined a critical load of 1.4 kg N ha−1 year−1 wet N deposition to elicit key nutrient enrichment effects on diatom communities in both the eastern Sierra Nevada and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Critical nitrogen deposition loads in high-elevation lakes of the western US inferred from paleolimnological records
Series title Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
DOI 10.1007/s11270-010-0526-6
Volume 216
Issue 1-4
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher Springer Link
Description 10 p.
First page 193
Last page 202
Country United States
State California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
Other Geospatial Lakes of the Western US
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