Complexity of diatom response to Lateglacial and Holocene climate and environmental change in ancient, deep, and oligotrophic Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania)

Zhang, X.S.; Reed, J.M.; Lacey, J.H.; Francke, A.; Leng, M.J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1115-5166; Levkov, Z.; Wagner, B.. 2015 Complexity of diatom response to Lateglacial and Holocene climate and environmental change in ancient, deep, and oligotrophic Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania). Biogeosciences Discussions, 12 (17). 14343-14375. https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-12-14343-2015

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Abstract/Summary

Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania) is a rare example of a deep, ancient Mediterranean lake and is a key site for palaeoclimate research in the northeastern Mediterranean region. This study conducts the first high-resolution diatom analysis during the Lateglacial and Holocene in Lake Ohrid. It demonstrates a complex diatom response to temperature change, with a direct response to temperature-induced productivity and an indirect response to temperature-related stratification/mixing regime and epilimnetic nutrient availability. During the Lateglacial (ca. 12 300–11 800 cal yr BP), the low-diversity dominance of hypolimnetic Cyclotella fottii indicates low temperature-dependent lake productivity. During the earliest Holocene (ca. 11 800–10 600 cal yr BP), although the slight increase in small, epilimnetic C. minuscula suggests climate warming and enhanced thermal stratification, diatom concentration remains very low as during the Lateglacial, indicating that temperature increase was muted. The early Holocene (ca. 10 600–8200 cal yr BP) marked a sustained increase in epilimnetic taxa, with mesotrophic C. ocellata indicating high temperature-induced lake productivity between ca. 10 600–10 200 cal yr BP and between ca. 9500–8200 cal yr BP, and with C. minuscula in response to low nutrient availability in the epilimnion between ca. 10 200–9500 cal yr BP. During the mid Holocene (ca. 8200–2600 cal yr BP), when sedimentological and geochemical proxies provide evidence for high temperature, anomalously low C. ocellata abundance is probably a response to epilimnetic nutrient limitation, almost mimicking the Lateglacial flora apart from mesotrophic Stephanodiscus transylvanicus indicative of high temperature-induced productivity in the hypolimnion. During the late Holocene (ca. 2600–0 cal yr BP), high abundance and fluctuating composition of epilimnetic taxa is largely a response to enhanced anthropogenic nutrient input. In this deep, oligotrophic lake, this study demonstrates the strong influence of lake physical and chemical processes in mediating the complex response of diatoms to climate change with particular respect to temperature.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-12-14343-2015
ISSN:	1810-6285
Date made live:	03 Sep 2015 14:34 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/511721

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