RESUMO
The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs), Antarctica, represent a cold, desert ecosystem poised on the threshold of melting and freezing water. The MDVs have experienced dramatic signs of climatic change, most notably a warm austral summer in 2001-2002 that caused widespread flooding, partial ice cover loss and lake level rise. To understand the impact of these climatic disturbances on lake microbial communities, we simulated lake level rise and ice-cover loss by transplanting dialysis-bagged communities from selected depths to other locations in the water column or to an open water perimeter moat. Bacteria and eukaryote communities residing in the surface waters (5 m) exhibited shifts in community composition when exposed to either disturbance, while microbial communities from below the surface were largely unaffected by the transplant. We also observed an accumulation of labile dissolved organic carbon in the transplanted surface communities. In addition, there were taxa-specific sensitivities: cryptophytes and Actinobacteria were highly sensitive particularly to the moat transplant, while chlorophytes and several bacterial taxa increased in relative abundance or were unaffected. Our results reveal that future climate-driven disturbances will likely undermine the stability and productivity of MDV lake phytoplankton and bacterial communities in the surface waters of this extreme environment.
Assuntos
Lagos , Fitoplâncton , Ecossistema , Regiões Antárticas , Bactérias/genética , ÁguaRESUMO
Diatom metacommunities are structured by environmental, historical, and spatial factors that are often attributed to organism dispersal. In the McMurdo Sound region (MSR) of Antarctica, wind connects aquatic habitats through delivery of inorganic and organic matter. We evaluated the dispersal of diatoms in aeolian material and its relation to the regional diatom metacommunity using light microscopy and 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The concentration of diatoms ranged from 0 to 8.76 * 106 valves · g-1 dry aeolian material. Up to 15% of whole cells contained visible protoplasm, indicating that up to 3.43 * 104 potentially viable individuals could be dispersed in a year to a single 2 -cm2 site. Diatom DNA and RNA was detected at each site, reinforcing the likelihood that we observed dispersal of viable diatoms. Of the 50 known morphospecies in the MSR, 72% were identified from aeolian material using microscopy. Aeolian community composition varied primarily by site. Meanwhile, each aeolian community was comprised of morphospecies found in aquatic communities from the same lake basin. These results suggest that aeolian diatom dispersal in the MSR is spatially structured, is predominantly local, and connects local aquatic habitats via a shared species pool. Nonetheless, aeolian community structure was distinct from that of aquatic communities, indicating that intrahabitat dispersal and environmental filtering also underlie diatom metacommunity dynamics. The present study confirms that a large number of diatoms are passively dispersed by wind across a landscape characterized by aeolian processes, integrating the regional flora and contributing to metacommunity structure and landscape connectivity.
Assuntos
Diatomáceas , Regiões Antárticas , Ecossistema , Lagos , VentoRESUMO
In the western USA, one legacy of historic mining is drainage of acidic, metal-rich water generated by exposure to oxygen of sulfide minerals in mine workings, referred to as acid mine drainage (AMD). Streams receiving AMD and natural acid rock drainage (ARD) have a low pH, high dissolved metal concentrations, and extensive streambed oxide deposits. Recently, enhanced ARD generation in the Snake River watershed in the Rocky Mountains has been shown to be associated with warmer summer air temperatures, which has been attributed to expanding weathering fronts that promote oxidation due to earlier drying of shallow soils. In mountain watersheds where complex orogeny disseminated minerals throughout the landscape, weathering processes may also mobilize rare earth elements (REEs). We report that in the Snake River REEs are currently distributed in streams at concentrations ranging from 1 to 100 µg/L. Further, analysis of archived sample indicates that REE increases over time are also associated with increased summer air temperatures. In downstream reaches where the Snake River discharges into a water supply reservoir, colloidal and particulate metal oxides are abundant and sorptive processes may influence REE speciation. We also show that REEs accumulate in benthic invertebrates at concentrations comparable to toxic metals associated with ARD.
Assuntos
Metais Terras Raras , Poluentes Químicos da Água , Biota , Mudança Climática , Colorado , Monitoramento Ambiental , Metais Terras Raras/análise , Minerais , Poluentes Químicos da Água/análise , Qualidade da ÁguaRESUMO
Residual pit lakes from mining are often dangerous to sample for water quality. Thus, pit lakes may be rarely (or never) sampled. This study developed new technology in which water-sampling devices, mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), were used to sample three pit lakes in Nevada, USA, during 1 week in 2017. Water-quality datasets from two of the three pit lakes on public lands, Dexter and Clipper, are presented here. The current conditions of the Dexter pit lake were assessed by examining cation and anion concentration changes that have occurred over a 17-year period since the pit lake was last sampled in 2000. Data gathered during this sampling campaign assessed 2017 conditions of the Dexter and Clipper pit lakes by comparing constituent concentrations to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) pit lake water-quality requirements, indicating that selenium concentrations exceeded regulatory standards. We compared our sampling data for Dexter lake to prior water-quality data from the Dexter pit lake collected in 1999 and 2000. This comparison for the Dexter pit lake indicates that evapoconcentration may have caused increasing cation and anion concentrations. This UAV sampling approach can potentially incorporate the use of additional multiparameter probes: pH, oxygen concentration, turbidity, or chlorophyll. Some limitations of this UAV water-sampling methodology are battery duration, weather conditions, and payload capacity.
Assuntos
Lagos , Água , Monitoramento Ambiental , Mineração , Qualidade da ÁguaRESUMO
Northern ecosystems are experiencing some of the most dramatic impacts of global change on Earth. Rising temperatures, hydrological intensification, changes in atmospheric acid deposition and associated acidification recovery, and changes in vegetative cover are resulting in fundamental changes in terrestrial-aquatic biogeochemical linkages. The effects of global change are readily observed in alterations in the supply of dissolved organic matter (DOM)-the messenger between terrestrial and lake ecosystems-with potentially profound effects on the structure and function of lakes. Northern terrestrial ecosystems contain substantial stores of organic matter and filter or funnel DOM, affecting the timing and magnitude of DOM delivery to surface waters. This terrestrial DOM is processed in streams, rivers, and lakes, ultimately shifting its composition, stoichiometry, and bioavailability. Here, we explore the potential consequences of these global change-driven effects for lake food webs at northern latitudes. Notably, we provide evidence that increased allochthonous DOM supply to lakes is overwhelming increased autochthonous DOM supply that potentially results from earlier ice-out and a longer growing season. Furthermore, we assess the potential implications of this shift for the nutritional quality of autotrophs in terms of their stoichiometry, fatty acid composition, toxin production, and methylmercury concentration, and therefore, contaminant transfer through the food web. We conclude that global change in northern regions leads not only to reduced primary productivity but also to nutritionally poorer lake food webs, with discernible consequences for the trophic web to fish and humans.
Assuntos
Mudança Climática , Cadeia Alimentar , Animais , Peixes , Lagos/química , Rios/química , Estações do AnoRESUMO
We reassessed the molecular weight of dissolved organic matter (DOM) determined by high pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) using measurements made with different columns and various generations of polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) molecular weight standards. Molecular weight measurements made with a newer generation HPSEC column and PSS standards from more recent lots are roughly 200 to 400 Da lower than initial measurements made in the early 1990s. These updated numbers match DOM molecular weights measured by colligative methods and fall within a range of values calculated from hydroxyl radical kinetics. These changes suggest improved accuracy of HPSEC molecular weight measurements that we attribute to improved accuracy of PSS standards and changes in the column packing. We also isolated DOM from wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) using XAD-8, a cation exchange resin, and PPL, a styrene-divinylbenzene media, and observed little difference in molecular weight and specific UV absorbance at 280 nm (SUVA280) between the two solid phase extraction resins, suggesting they capture similar DOM moieties. PPR DOM also showed lower SUVA280 at similar weights compared to DOM isolates from a global range of environments, which we attribute to oxidized sulfur in PPR DOM that would increase molecular weight without affecting SUVA280.
Assuntos
Radical Hidroxila , Extração em Fase Sólida , Cromatografia em Gel , Peso Molecular , Padrões de ReferênciaRESUMO
Over the last several decades dissolved organic carbon concentrations (DOC) in surface waters have increased throughout much of the northern hemisphere. Several hypotheses have been proposed regarding the drivers of this phenomenon including decreased sulfur (S) deposition working via an acidity- change mechanism. Using fluorescence spectroscopy and data from two long-term (24+ years at completion of this study) whole watershed acidification experiments, that is, the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) and Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia (FEF) allowed us to control for factors other than the acidity-change mechanism (e.g., differing vegetation, shifting climate), resulting in the first study we are aware of where the acidity change mechanism could be experimentally isolated at the whole ecosystem and decadal scales as the driver of shifts in DOM dynamics. The multidecadal record of stream chemistry at BBWM demonstrates a significantly lower DOC concentration in the treated compared to the reference watershed. Additionally, at both BBWM and FEF we found significant and sustained differences in stream fluorescence index (FI) between the treated and reference watersheds, with the reference watersheds demonstrating a stronger terrestrial DOM signature. These data, coupled with evidence of pH shifts in upper soil horizons support the hypotheses that declines in S deposition are driving changes in the solubility of soil organic matter and increased flux of terrestrial DOC to water bodies.
Assuntos
Ecossistema , Monitoramento Ambiental , Carbono , Concentração de Íons de Hidrogênio , Maine , West VirginiaRESUMO
Northern permafrost soils store a vast reservoir of carbon, nearly twice that of the present atmosphere. Current and projected climate warming threatens widespread thaw of these frozen, organic carbon (OC)-rich soils. Upon thaw, mobilized permafrost OC in dissolved and particulate forms can enter streams and rivers, which are important processors of OC and conduits for carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Here, we demonstrate that ancient dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leached from 35,800 y B.P. permafrost soils is rapidly mineralized to CO2. During 200-h experiments in a novel high-temporal-resolution bioreactor, DOC concentration decreased by an average of 53%, fueling a more than sevenfold increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration. Eighty-seven percent of the DOC loss to microbial uptake was derived from the low-molecular-weight (LMW) organic acids acetate and butyrate. To our knowledge, our study is the first to directly quantify high CO2 production rates from permafrost-derived LMW DOC mineralization. The observed DOC loss rates are among the highest reported for permafrost carbon and demonstrate the potential importance of LMW DOC in driving the rapid metabolism of Pleistocene-age permafrost carbon upon thaw and the outgassing of CO2 to the atmosphere by soils and nearby inland waters.
Assuntos
Ácidos/análise , Dióxido de Carbono/análise , Compostos Orgânicos/análise , Pergelissolo , Peso MolecularRESUMO
Organic matter (OM) plays a significant role in biogeochemical processes in soil and water systems. Water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) leached from soil samples is often analyzed as representative of potentially mobile OM. However, there are many WSOM extraction methods in the literature with no clear guidelines for method selection. In this study, four common leaching solutions (0.5 M K2SO4, 0.01 M CaCl2, 2 M KCl, and H2O) were used to extract WSOM from various locations within a forested catchment. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to analyze the impact of extraction method on WSOM chemistry. While all four methods consistently identified chemical differences between WSOM from a north-facing slope, south-facing slope, and riparian zone, there were clear differences in fluorescence signals between the leaching methods. All three salt solutions contained WSOM with a higher fluorescence index and humification index than WSOM leached with H2O, suggesting the presence of salts releases different fractions of the soil organic matter. A parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model developed from the leachates identified a distinctive soil humic fluorophore observed in all samples and fluorescent artifacts present in H2O-leached samples.
Assuntos
Cloreto de Cálcio/química , Compostos Orgânicos/química , Cloreto de Potássio/química , Espectrometria de Fluorescência/métodos , Sulfatos/química , Análise Fatorial , Fluorescência , Solo , Soluções , Água/químicaRESUMO
In some high arsenic (As) groundwater systems, correlations are observed between dissolved organic matter (DOM) and As concentrations, but in other systems, such relationships are absent. The role of labile DOM as the main driver of microbial reductive dissolution is not sufficient to explain the variation in DOM-As relationships. Other processes that may also influence As mobility include complexation of As by dissolved humic substances, and competitive sorption and electron shuttling reactions mediated by humics. To evaluate such humic DOM influences, we characterized the optical properties of filtered surface water (n = 10) and groundwater (n = 24) samples spanning an age gradient in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Further, we analyzed large volume fulvic acid (FA) isolates (n = 6) for optical properties, C and N content, and (13)C NMR spectroscopic distribution. Old groundwater (>30 years old) contained primarily sediment-derived DOM and had significantly higher (p < 0.001) dissolved As concentration than groundwater that was younger than 5 years old. Younger groundwater had DOM spectroscopic signatures similar to surface water DOM and characteristic of a sewage pollution influence. Associations between dissolved As, iron (Fe), and FA concentration and fluorescence properties of isolated FA in this field study suggest that aromatic, terrestrially derived FAs promote As-Fe-FA complexation reactions that may enhance As mobility.
Assuntos
Arsênio/análise , Água Subterrânea/análise , Bangladesh , Fluorescência , Sedimentos Geológicos/análise , Água Subterrânea/química , Substâncias Húmicas/análise , Ferro/química , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética , Esgotos , Poluentes Químicos da Água/análise , Purificação da Água/métodosRESUMO
The permanent ice cover of Lake Vida (Antarctica) encapsulates an extreme cryogenic brine ecosystem (-13 °C; salinity, 200). This aphotic ecosystem is anoxic and consists of a slightly acidic (pH 6.2) sodium chloride-dominated brine. Expeditions in 2005 and 2010 were conducted to investigate the biogeochemistry of Lake Vida's brine system. A phylogenetically diverse and metabolically active Bacteria dominated microbial assemblage was observed in the brine. These bacteria live under very high levels of reduced metals, ammonia, molecular hydrogen (H(2)), and dissolved organic carbon, as well as high concentrations of oxidized species of nitrogen (i.e., supersaturated nitrous oxide and â¼1 mmolâ L(-1) nitrate) and sulfur (as sulfate). The existence of this system, with active biota, and a suite of reduced as well as oxidized compounds, is unusual given the millennial scale of its isolation from external sources of energy. The geochemistry of the brine suggests that abiotic brine-rock reactions may occur in this system and that the rich sources of dissolved electron acceptors prevent sulfate reduction and methanogenesis from being energetically favorable. The discovery of this ecosystem and the in situ biotic and abiotic processes occurring at low temperature provides a tractable system to study habitability of isolated terrestrial cryoenvironments (e.g., permafrost cryopegs and subglacial ecosystems), and is a potential analog for habitats on other icy worlds where water-rock reactions may cooccur with saline deposits and subsurface oceans.
Assuntos
Lagos/microbiologia , Microbiologia da Água , Regiões Antárticas , Bactérias/classificação , Bactérias/genética , Bactérias/isolamento & purificação , Clima Frio , Ecossistema , Evolução Molecular , Gelo , Lagos/análise , Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Filogenia , RNA Bacteriano/genética , RNA Ribossômico/genéticaRESUMO
This study examines the effect on aquatic copper toxicity of the chemical fractionation of fulvic acid (FA) that results from its association with iron and aluminum oxyhydroxide precipitates. Fractionated and unfractionated FAs obtained from streamwater and suspended sediment were utilized in acute Cu toxicity tests on Ceriodaphnia dubia. Toxicity test results with equal FA concentrations (6 mg FA/L) show that the fractionated dissolved FA was 3 times less effective at reducing Cu toxicity (EC50 13 ± 0.6 µg Cu/L) than were the unfractionated dissolved FAs (EC50 39 ± 0.4 and 41 ± 1.2 µg Cu/L). The fractionation is a consequence of preferential sorption of molecules having strong metal-binding (more aromatic) moieties to precipitating Fe- and Al-rich oxyhydroxides, causing the remaining dissolved FA to be depleted in these functional groups. As a result, there is more bioavailable dissolved Cu in the water and hence greater potential for Cu toxicity to aquatic organisms. In predicting Cu toxicity, biotic ligand models (BLMs) take into account dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration; however, unless DOC characteristics are accounted for, model predictions can underestimate acute Cu toxicity for water containing fractionated dissolved FA. This may have implications for water-quality criteria in systems containing Fe- and Al-rich sediment, and in mined and mineralized areas in particular. Optical measurements, such as specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA254), show promise for use as spectral indicators of DOC chemical fractionation and inferred increased Cu toxicity.
Assuntos
Óxido de Alumínio/química , Benzopiranos/química , Cladocera/efeitos dos fármacos , Cobre/toxicidade , Ferro/química , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Animais , Organismos Aquáticos , Fracionamento Químico , Colorado , Cobre/química , Água Doce , Ligantes , Testes de Toxicidade Aguda/métodos , Poluentes Químicos da Água/químicaRESUMO
Flow pulses mobilize particulate organic matter (POM) in streams from the surrounding landscape and streambed. This POM serves as a source of energy and nutrients, as well as a means for organismal dispersal, to downstream communities. In the barren terrestrial landscape of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica, benthic microbial mats occupying different in-stream habitat types are the dominant POM source in the many glacier-fed streams. Many of these streams experience daily flow peaks that mobilize POM, and diatoms recovered from underlying stream sediments suggest that mat-derived diatoms in the POM are retained there through hyporheic exchange. Yet, 'how much' and 'when' different in-stream habitat types contribute to POM diatom assemblages is unknown. To quantify the contribution of different in-stream habitat types to POM diatom assemblages, we collected time-integrated POM samples over four diel experiments, which spanned a gradient of flow conditions over three summers. Diatoms from POM samples were identified, quantified, and compared with dominant habitat types (i.e., benthic 'orange' mats, marginal 'black' mats, and bare sediments). Like bulk POM, diatom cell concentrations followed a clockwise hysteresis pattern with stream discharge over the daily flow cycles, indicating supply limitation. Diatom community analyses showed that different habitat types harbor distinct diatom communities, and mixing models revealed that a substantial proportion of POM diatoms originated from bare sediments during baseflow conditions. Meanwhile, orange and black mats contribute diatoms to POM primarily during daily flow peaks when both cell concentrations and discharge are highest, making mats the most important contributors to POM diatom assemblages at high flows. These observations may help explain the presence of mat-derived diatoms in hyporheic sediments. Our results thus indicate a varying importance of different in-stream habitats to POM generation and export on daily to seasonal timescales, with implications for biogeochemical cycling and the local diatom metacommunity.
RESUMO
The 2018 Camp Fire was a large late-year (November) wildfire that produced an urban firestorm in the Town of Paradise, California, USA, and destroyed more than 18 000 structures. Runoff from burned wildland areas is known to contain ash, which can transport contaminants including metals into nearby watersheds. However, due to historically infrequent occurrences, the effect of wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires, such as the Camp Fire, on surface water quality has not been well-characterized. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of widespread urban burning on surface water quality in major watersheds of the Camp Fire area. Between November 2018 and May 2019, 140 surface water samples were collected, including baseflow and stormflow, from burned and unburned watersheds with varying extent of urban development. Samples were analyzed for total and filter-passing metals, dissolved organic carbon, major anions, and total suspended solids. Ash and debris from the Camp Fire contributed metals to downstream watersheds via runoff throughout the storm season. Increases in concentration up to 200-fold were found for metals Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in burned watersheds compared to pre-fire values. Total concentrations of Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn exceeded EPA aquatic habitat acute criteria by up to 16-fold for up to five months after the fire. To assess possible transport mechanisms and bioavailability, a subset of 18 samples was analyzed using four filters with nominal pore sizes ranging from 0.22 to 1.2 µm to determine the particulate size distribution of metals. Trace and major metals (Al, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were found mostly associated with larger grain sizes (>0.45 µm), and some metals (Al, Cr, Fe, and Pb) also included a substantial colloidal phase (0.22 to 0.45 µm). This study suggests that fires in the wildland-urban interface increase metal concentrations, mainly through particulate driven transport. The metals with the largest increases are likely from anthropogenic disaster materials, though biomass ash also is a major contributor to water quality. The increase in metals following WUI burning may have adverse ecological impacts.
Assuntos
Monitoramento Ambiental , Metais , Poluentes Químicos da Água , Incêndios Florestais , California , Poluentes Químicos da Água/análise , Metais/análise , Chuva , Movimentos da ÁguaRESUMO
The ephemeral stream habitats of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica support desiccation and freeze-tolerant microbial mats that are hot spots of primary productivity in an otherwise inhospitable environment. The ecological processes that structure bacterial communities in this harsh environment are not known; however, insights from diatom community ecology may prove to be informative. We examined the relationships between diatoms and bacteria at the community and taxon levels. The diversity and community structure of stream microbial mats were characterized using high-throughput pyrosequencing for bacteria and morphological identification for diatoms. We found significant relationships between diatom communities and the communities of cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria, and co-occurrence analysis identified numerous correlations between the relative abundances of individual diatom and bacterial taxa, which may result from species interactions. Additionally, the strength of correlations between heterotrophic bacteria and diatoms varied along a hydrologic gradient, indicating that flow regime may influence the overall community structure. Phylogenetic consistency in the co-occurrence patterns suggests that the associations are ecologically relevant. Despite these community- and taxon-level relationships, diatom and bacterial alpha diversity were inversely correlated, which may highlight a fundamental difference between the processes that influence bacterial and diatom community assembly in these streams. Our results therefore demonstrate that the relationships between diatoms and bacteria are complex and may result from species interactions as well as niche-specific processes.
Assuntos
Bactérias , Biota , Diatomáceas , Ecossistema , Rios , Regiões Antárticas , Bactérias/classificação , Bactérias/genética , Cianobactérias/classificação , Cianobactérias/genética , Diatomáceas/classificação , Diatomáceas/genética , Ecologia , Filogenia , Rios/microbiologia , Rios/parasitologia , Especificidade da EspécieRESUMO
The last several decades have seen decreases in SO(4)(2-) deposition across the northeastern United States. As a result, SO(4)(2-) concentrations in lakes and streams have also decreased and many surface water bodies have become less acidic. During the same time period, there has been a concurrent increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in many lakes and streams. We used fluorescence spectroscopy to characterize the dissolved organic matter (DOM) quality of archived samples from nine acid-sensitive lakes in Maine collected between 1993 and 2009, and determined that increased DOM contributions to lakes were primarily derived from litter and soil. All five lakes with increasing DOC trends demonstrated significant decreasing (i.e., more terrestrial) trends in fluorescence index (FI) and significant positive correlations between SO(4)(2-) and FI. This study used the chemical signature of terrestrial DOM to support the hypothesis that increased DOC concentrations in lakes and streams are driven by declining acid deposition and increased solubility of soil organic matter across a large area of the landscape.
Assuntos
Benzopiranos/análise , Carbono/análise , Substâncias Húmicas/análise , Lagos/análise , Sulfatos/análise , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , Concentração de Íons de Hidrogênio , Maine , New England , Espectrometria de FluorescênciaRESUMO
A unique 30-year streamwater chemistry data set from a mineralized alpine watershed with naturally acidic, metal-rich water displays dissolved concentrations of Zn and other metals of ecological concern increasing by 100-400% (400-2000 µg/L) during low-flow months, when metal concentrations are highest. SO(4) and other major ions show similar increases. A lack of natural or anthropogenic land disturbances in the watershed during the study period suggests that climate change is the underlying cause. Local mean annual and mean summer air temperatures have increased at a rate of 0.2-1.2 °C/decade since the 1980s. Other climatic and hydrologic indices, including stream discharge during low-flow months, do not display statistically significant trends. Consideration of potential specific causal mechanisms driven by rising temperatures suggests that melting of permafrost and falling water tables (from decreased recharge) are probable explanations for the increasing concentrations. The prospect of future widespread increases in dissolved solutes from mineralized watersheds is concerning given likely negative impacts on downstream ecosystems and water resources, and complications created for the establishment of attainable remediation objectives at mine sites.
Assuntos
Mudança Climática , Água Doce/análise , Metais/análise , Minerais/análise , Qualidade da Água , Hidrologia , Zinco/análiseRESUMO
The period of disrupted human activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, coined the "anthropause," altered the nature of interactions between humans and ecosystems. It is uncertain how the anthropause has changed ecosystem states, functions, and feedback to human systems through shifts in ecosystem services. Here, we used an existing disturbance framework to propose new investigation pathways for coordinated studies of distributed, long-term social-ecological research to capture effects of the anthropause. Although it is still too early to comprehensively evaluate effects due to pandemic-related delays in data availability and ecological response lags, we detail three case studies that show how long-term data can be used to document and interpret changes in air and water quality and wildlife populations and behavior coinciding with the anthropause. These early findings may guide interpretations of effects of the anthropause as it interacts with other ongoing environmental changes in the future, particularly highlighting the importance of long-term data in separating disturbance impacts from natural variation and long-term trends. Effects of this global disturbance have local to global effects on ecosystems with feedback to social systems that may be detectable at spatial scales captured by nationally to globally distributed research networks.