1. Climate-driven regime shifts in the biological communities of arctic lakes.
- Author
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Smol JP, Wolfe AP, Birks HJ, Douglas MS, Jones VJ, Korhola A, Pienitz R, Rühland K, Sorvari S, Antoniades D, Brooks SJ, Fallu MA, Hughes M, Keatley BE, Laing TE, Michelutti N, Nazarova L, Nyman M, Paterson AM, Perren B, Quinlan R, Rautio M, Saulnier-Talbot E, Siitonen S, Solovieva N, and Weckström J
- Subjects
- Animals, Arctic Regions, Biodiversity, Eukaryota isolation & purification, Fresh Water, Invertebrates, Time Factors, Water Microbiology, Cold Climate, Ecosystem, Greenhouse Effect
- Abstract
Fifty-five paleolimnological records from lakes in the circumpolar Arctic reveal widespread species changes and ecological reorganizations in algae and invertebrate communities since approximately anno Domini 1850. The remoteness of these sites, coupled with the ecological characteristics of taxa involved, indicate that changes are primarily driven by climate warming through lengthening of the summer growing season and related limnological changes. The widespread distribution and similar character of these changes indicate that the opportunity to study arctic ecosystems unaffected by human influences may have disappeared.
- Published
- 2005
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