Article

 

Hydrological Controls on Ecosystem Dynamics in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica. Pubblico Deposited

Contenuto scaricabile

Scarica il pdf
https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/articles/qr46r1463
Abstract
  • The McMurdo Dry Valleys constitute the largest ice free area of Antarctica. The area is a polar desert with an annual precipitation of ∼ 3 cm water equivalent, but contains several lakes fed by glacial melt water streams that flow from four to twelve weeks of the year. Over the past ∼20 years, data have been collected on the lakes located in Taylor Valley, Antarctica as part of the McMurdo Dry Valley Long-Term Ecological Research program (MCM-LTER). This work aims to understand the impact of climate variations on the biological processes in all the ecosystem types within Taylor Valley, including the lakes. These lakes are stratified, closed-basin systems and are perennially covered with ice. Each lake contains a variety of planktonic and benthic algae that require nutrients for photosynthesis and growth. The work presented here focuses on Lake Fryxell, one of the three main lakes of Taylor Valley; it is fed by thirteen melt-water streams. We use a functional regression approach to link the physical, chemical, and biological processes within the stream-lake system to evaluate the input of water and nutrients on the biological processes in the lakes. The technique has been shown previously to provide important insights into these Antarctic lacustrine systems where data acquisition is not temporally coherent. We use data on primary production (PPR) and chlorophyll-A (CHL)from Lake Fryxell as well as discharge observations from two streams flowing into the lake. Our findings show an association between both PPR, CHL and stream input.
Creator
Date Issued
  • 2016-01-01
Academic Affiliation
Journal Title
Journal Issue/Number
  • 7
Journal Volume
  • 11
File Extent
  • 0159038-0159038
Subject
Ultima modifica
  • 2019-12-06
Identifier
  • PubMed ID: 27441705
Resource Type
Dichiarazione dei diritti
DOI
ISSN
  • 1932-6203
Language

Le relazioni

Elementi