Fewer blue lakes and more murky lakes across the continental U.S.: Implications for planktonic food webs.

Elevated allochthonous inputs of organic matter are increasingly recognized as a driver of ecosystem change in lakes, particularly when concurrent with eutrophication. Evaluation of lakes in a nutrient-color paradigm (i.e., based on total phosphorus and true color) enables a more robust approach to research and management. To assess temporal and spatial patterns in nutrient-color status for U.S. lakes and associated food web attributes, we analyzed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Lakes Assessment (NLA) data. With 1000+ lakes sampled in 2007 and 2012 in a stratified random sampling design, the NLA enables rigorous assessment of lake condition across the continental U.S. We demonstrate that many U.S. lakes are simultaneously experiencing eutrophication and brownification to produce an abundance of "murky" lakes. Overall, "blue" lakes decreased by ~ 18% (46% of lakes in 2007 to 28% in 2012) while "murky" lakes increased by almost 12% (24% of lakes in 2007 to 35.4% in 2012). No statistical differences were observed in the proportions of "green" or "brown" lakes. Regionally, murky lakes significantly increased in the Northern Appalachian, Southern Plains, and Xeric ecoregions. Murky lakes exhibited the highest epilimnetic chlorophyll a concentrations, cyanobacterial densities, and microcystin concentrations. Total zooplankton biomass was also highest in murky lakes, primarily due to increased rotifer and copepod biomass. However, zooplankton : phytoplankton biomass ratios were low, suggesting reduced energy transfer to higher trophic levels. These results emphasize that many lakes in the U.S. are simultaneously "greening" and "browning", with potentially negative consequences for water quality and food web structure.

National-scale remotely sensed lake trophic state from 1984 through 2020.

Lake trophic state is a key ecosystem property that integrates a lake's physical, chemical, and biological processes. Despite the importance of trophic state as a gauge of lake water quality, standardized and machine-readable observations are uncommon. Remote sensing presents an opportunity to detect and analyze lake trophic state with reproducible, robust methods across time and space. We used Landsat surface reflectance data to create the first compendium of annual lake trophic state for 55,662 lakes of at least 10 ha in area throughout the contiguous United States from 1984 through 2020. The dataset was constructed with FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reproducible) in mind, where data are publicly available, relational keys from parent datasets are retained, and all data wrangling and modeling routines are scripted for future reuse. Together, this resource offers critical data to address basic and applied research questions about lake water quality at a suite of spatial and temporal scales.

Warming and resource availability shift food web structure and metabolism.

Climate change disrupts ecological systems in many ways. Many documented responses depend on species' life histories, contributing to the view that climate change effects are important but difficult to characterize generally. However, systematic variation in metabolic effects of temperature across trophic levels suggests that warming may lead to predictable shifts in food web structure and productivity. We experimentally tested the effects of warming on food web structure and productivity under two resource supply scenarios. Consistent with predictions based on universal metabolic responses to temperature, we found that warming strengthened consumer control of primary production when resources were augmented. Warming shifted food web structure and reduced total biomass despite increases in primary productivity in a marine food web. In contrast, at lower resource levels, food web production was constrained at all temperatures. These results demonstrate that small temperature changes could dramatically shift food web dynamics and provide a general, species-independent mechanism for ecological response to environmental temperature change.

Natural organic matter and sunlight accelerate the degradation of 17ss-estradiol in water.

Nanomolar concentrations of steroid hormones such as 17beta-estradiol can influence the reproductive development and sex ratios of invertebrate and vertebrate populations. Thus their release into surface and ground waters from wastewater facilities and agricultural applications of animal waste is of environmental concern. Many of these compounds are chromophoric and susceptible to photolytic degradation. High intensity UV-C radiation has been demonstrated to degrade some of these compounds in engineered systems. However, the degradation efficacy of natural solar radiation in shallow fresh waters is less understood. Here photolytic experiments with 17beta-estradiol demonstrated modest photodegradation (~26%) when exposed to simulated sunlight between 290 and 720 nm. Photodegradation significantly increased (~40-50%) in the presence of 2.0-15.0 mg/l of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) derived from humic acids of the Suwannee River, GA. However, rates of photodegradation reached a threshold at approximately 5.0 mg/l DOC. Observed suppression of photolysis in the presence of a radical inhibitor (i.e. 2-propanol) indicated that a significant proportion of the degradation was due to radicals formed from the photolysis of DOC. Although photodegradation was greatest in full sunlight containing UV-B (290-320 nm), degradation was also detected with UV-A (320-400 nm) and visible light (400-720 nm) alone.

Impact of simulated solar irradiation on disinfection byproduct precursors.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the major drinking water source for 23 million California residents. Consequently, many studies have examined disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation in relation to Delta dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration. However, DOC characteristics within the Delta are not the same as those entering downstream water treatment facilities. As water is transferred to Southern California through the California Aqueduct, a 714.5 km-open channel, it is exposed to sunlight, potentially altering DBP precursors. We collected water from three sites within the Delta and one nearthe California Aqueduct, representing different DOC sources, and irradiated them in a solar simulator at a dose equivalent to that received during four days conveyance in the aqueduct. Photolytic changes in DOC were assessed by measuring CO2 and organic acid production, fluorescence, and ultraviolet absorbance over time. Trihalomethane (THM) and haloacetic acid (HAA) formation potentials, as well as the distribution of hydrophobic, transphilic, and hydrophilic acid fractions were determined at exposures equivalent to one and four days. Solar irradiation significantly decreased ultraviolet absorbance and fluorescence intensity, produced organic acids, and increased the hydrophilic fraction of waters. These changes in DOC caused a shift in bromine incorporation among the THM and HAA species. Our results are the first to demonstrate the importance of sunlight in altering DOC with respect to DBP formation.

Damaging UV radiation and invertebrate predation: conflicting selective pressures for zooplankton vertical distribution in the water column of low DOC lakes.

In nature most organisms have to manage conflicting demands of food gathering, predator avoidance, and finding a favorable abiotic environment (oxygen, temperature, etc.) in order to maximize their fitness. In the vertical water column of lakes with high solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) and invertebrate predators, zooplankton face two particularly strong and conflicting selective pressures. During daylight hours invertebrate predators often induce an upward vertical migration of zooplankton prey while potentially damaging UV forces a downward migration. We used 2.2 m long columns suspended vertically in a lake to conduct 2x2 factorial experiments to examine patterns of depth selection behavior by zooplankton in the presence and absence of both the invertebrate predator Chaoborus and UV. We hypothesized that Chaoborus and UV both affect the distribution of zooplankton and a combination of both factors would lead to a narrowing of depth distribution. We found that when Chaoborus were present zooplankton tended to be distributed at shallower depths in the columns, while in the presence of UV they exhibited a deeper distribution. Chaoborus themselves were always found near the bottom of the columns regardless of the UV treatment. Simultaneous exposure to predators and UV resulted in a peak of zooplankton (especially Daphnia catawba) distribution at intermediate depths. In a significant number of cases, depth range was narrowed in response to Chaoborus, UV, or both.