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Carbon dioxide supersaturation promotes primary production in lakes.
Ecol Lett. 2012 Mar 16
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20 Mar 2012
New Finding
DOI: 10.3410/f.14166956.15669056
This study shows, in a systematic way, that co-limitation of primary production by CO2 is common in unproductive lakes and thus, opens a new paradigm in limnology.
We have learnt (and we are teaching the students so far!) that, besides light availability, primary production in lakes is mainly limited...Continue reading
We have learnt (and we are teaching the students so far!) that, besides light availability, primary production in lakes is mainly limited...Continue reading
This study shows, in a systematic way, that co-limitation of primary production by CO2 is common in unproductive lakes and thus, opens a new paradigm in limnology.
We have learnt (and we are teaching the students so far!) that, besides light availability, primary production in lakes is mainly limited by nutrients, particularly by phosphorus. The debate about the role of phosphorus and nitrogen limitation in freshwater ecosystems has been intense during recent years. In this study, however, the authors showed that, under CO2 supersaturation, primary production in 23 Swedish lakes is stimulated and that co-limitation by CO2 is common in many unproductive lakes. The importance of this study is the implication that CO2 could be a driver of primary production for the most common type of lakes (i.e. unproductive) and that a relationship between lake primary production and the organic carbon exported from the terrestrial ecosystem is to be expected. The latter is somehow counterintuitive because terrestrial organic carbon reduces light penetration due to its high content in humic substances.
We have learnt (and we are teaching the students so far!) that, besides light availability, primary production in lakes is mainly limited by nutrients, particularly by phosphorus. The debate about the role of phosphorus and nitrogen limitation in freshwater ecosystems has been intense during recent years. In this study, however, the authors showed that, under CO2 supersaturation, primary production in 23 Swedish lakes is stimulated and that co-limitation by CO2 is common in many unproductive lakes. The importance of this study is the implication that CO2 could be a driver of primary production for the most common type of lakes (i.e. unproductive) and that a relationship between lake primary production and the organic carbon exported from the terrestrial ecosystem is to be expected. The latter is somehow counterintuitive because terrestrial organic carbon reduces light penetration due to its high content in humic substances.
Disclosures
None declared
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Sommaruga R: F1000Prime Recommendation of [Jansson M et al., Ecol Lett 2012]. In F1000Prime, 20 Mar 2012; DOI: 10.3410/f.14166956.15669056. F1000Prime.com/14166956#eval15669056
F1000Prime Recommendations, Dissents and Comments for [Jansson M et al., Ecol Lett 2012]. In F1000Prime, 19 May 2013; F1000Prime.com/14166956
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Ecology Letters (2012) ABSTRACT: A majority of the world's lakes are supersaturated with respect to carbon dioxide (CO(2) ). By experimental manipulation of the CO(2) concentration in supersaturated boreal lakes, we demonstrate that phytoplankton primary production was up to 10 times higher in supersaturated lake water in comparison with water with CO(2) at equilibrium concentrations and that CO(2) , together with nutrients, explained most of the variation in pelagic primary production and phytoplankton biomass over a wide variety of unproductive lakes. These results suggest that phytoplankton can be co-limited by CO(2) and nutrients in unproductive lakes. As import of terrestrial organic carbon and its subsequent microbial mineralisation in lakes is a driving force of CO(2) -supersaturation our results suggest that lake productivity and carbon cycling may respond to variations in terrestrial organic carbon export, (e.g. caused by land use or climate change) in ways not described before.
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01762.x
PMID: 22420750
