A reference typology of low alkalinity lakes in the UK based on pre-acidification diatom assemblages from lake sediment cores |
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| Authors: | Richard W Battarbee Gavin L Simpson Helen Bennion Christopher Curtis |
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| Institution: | (1) Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, Gower St., London, WC1E 6BT, UK |
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| Abstract: | This paper has two aims: (1) to show for the first time how a natural typology can be established using palaeoecological methods;
and (2) to show how it can be used in lake restoration studies with respect to the definition of recovery targets for acidified
lakes. By defining the characteristic reference assemblages for low alkalinity site types rather than for a specific site
it allows success to be measured more broadly, unconstrained by the specific composition of the pre-acidification flora. We
analyse statistically the pre-acidification diatom assemblages of sediment cores from 121 low alkalinity lakes in the UK in
order to assess whether a reference typology for such lakes can be defined on the basis of their diatom floras. We use samples
dating to ~1850 AD to represent pre-acidification conditions. The results show that three main clusters can be identified,
two dominated by benthic taxa (Clusters 1 and 3) and one dominated by planktonic taxa (Cluster 2). Cluster 1 is characterised
by taxa such as Brachysira vitrea, Cymbella microcephala and Fragilaria spp., Cluster 2 by Cyclotella comensis, C. radiosa, Asterionella formosa, Aulacoseira subarctica and Achnanthes minutissima and Cluster 3 by Eunotia incisa, Frustulia rhomboides var. saxonica, Fragilaria virescens var. exigua, and Cymbella perpusilla. Although environmental data for 1850 AD are not available it is apparent from the contemporary distribution of the taxa
in the different clusters that Cluster 2 represents the most alkaline pre-acidification conditions. Some sites in this cluster
have been acidified, but some, especially the larger, deeper lakes have been enriched. Cluster 1 includes sites that contain
diatoms with relatively high pH optima (pH 6.4–7.4) whereas Cluster 3 sites contain diatoms with the lowest pre-acidification
pH conditions in the data-set. Sites in this cluster also have the lowest base cation concentrations at the present day and
include the sites in the UK that have been most affected by acid deposition. |
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