Nutrient availability affected shallow-lake ecosystem response along the Late-Glacial/Holocene transition
Abstract
Shallow lowland lakes undergo long-lasting natural eutrophication processes, which can be studied through the development of communities of aquatic organisms. However, records showing millennial-scale trophic status variability in these water bodies are rare.
Two radiocarbon-dated sedimentary profiles from former (now destroyed by brown coal mining) Lake Komoany (Central Europe, Czech Republic) served for a multi-proxy study of biological remains (diatoms, chironomids, pollen) supplemented by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and loss-on-ignition (LOI). The age-depth model and palynostratigraphy confirm a continuous Late-Glacial to Early-Holocene record.
The results suggest consistent in-lake conditions with high nutrient availability since the lake origin in the Late-Glacial period. A distinct shift at the Late-Glacial/Holocene boundary evidenced by an enhancement in diatom valve concentration and a lithological interface was foregone by a qualitative change in diatom and chironomid assemblages along with rise in LOI.
It suggests that a major transformation occurred before the onset of the Holocene. As this qualitative change was characterized by a decrease in relative abundance of nutrient-demanding species, we propose an indirect climatic control by means of nutrient availability as the main driver of the aquatic species composition.