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Multiple anthropogenic stressors cause ecological surprises in boreal lakes.
- Source :
-
Global Change Biology . Dec2006, Vol. 12 Issue 12, p2316-2322. 7p. 1 Chart, 3 Graphs. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- The number of combinations of anthropogenic stressors affecting global change is increasing; however, few studies have empirically tested for their interactive effects on ecosystems. Most importantly, interactions among ecological stressors generate nonadditive effects that cannot be easily predicted based on single-stressor studies. Here, we corroborate findings from an in situ mesocosm experiment with evidence from a whole-ecosystem manipulation to demonstrate for the first time that interactions between climate and acidification determine their cumulative impact on the food-web structure of coldwater lakes. Interactions among warming, drought, and acidification, rather than the sum of their individual effects, best explained significant changes in planktonic consumer and producer biomass over a 23-year period. Further, these stressors interactively exerted significant synergistic and antagonistic effects on consumers and producers, respectively. The observed prevalence of long- and short-term ecological surprises involving the cumulative impacts of multiple anthropogenic stressors highlights the high degree of uncertainty surrounding current forecasts of the consequences of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 13541013
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Global Change Biology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 23407609
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01257.x