Impacts of forestry planting on primary production in upland lakes from north‐west Ireland

Planted forests are increasing in many upland regions worldwide, but knowledge about their potential effects on algal communities of catchment lakes is relatively unknown. Here, the effects of afforestation were investigated using palaeolimnology at six upland lake sites in the north‐west of Ireland...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global change biology 2016-04, Vol.22 (4), p.1490-1504
Main Authors: Stevenson, Mark A., McGowan, Suzanne, Anderson, N. John, Foy, Robert H., Leavitt, Peter R., McElarney, Yvonne R., Engstrom, Daniel R., Pla-Rabés, Sergi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
afforestation
Algae
Carbon - analysis
carotenoid pigments
catchment disturbance
Cryptophyta - isolation & purification
Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria - isolation & purification
Diatoms - isolation & purification
Fertilizers
forest plantations
Forestry
Forests
Geologic Sediments - analysis
Ireland
Lakes
Lakes - microbiology
land-use change
Nitrogen - analysis
Paleolimnology
Pigments, Biological - analysis
Plantations
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Summary:Planted forests are increasing in many upland regions worldwide, but knowledge about their potential effects on algal communities of catchment lakes is relatively unknown. Here, the effects of afforestation were investigated using palaeolimnology at six upland lake sites in the north‐west of Ireland subject to different extents of forest plantation cover (4–64% of catchment area). ²¹⁰Pb‐dated sediment cores were analysed for carotenoid pigments from algae, stable isotopes of bulk carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N), and C/N ratios. In lakes with >50% of their catchment area covered by plantations, there were two‐ to sixfold increases in pigments from cryptophytes (alloxanthin) and significant but lower increases (39–116%) in those from colonial cyanobacteria (canthaxanthin), but no response from biomarkers of total algal abundance (β‐carotene). In contrast, lakes in catchments with
ISSN:1354-1013
1365-2486
DOI:10.1111/gcb.13194