Climate change drives widespread shifts in lake thermal habitat

Benjamin M. Kraemer (), Rachel M. Pilla, R. Iestyn Woolway, Orlane Anneville, Syuhei Ban, William Colom-Montero, Shawn P. Devlin, Martin T. Dokulil, Evelyn E. Gaiser, K. David Hambright, Dag O. Hessen, Scott N. Higgins, Klaus D. Jöhnk, Wendel Keller, Lesley B. Knoll, Peter R. Leavitt, Fabio Lepori, Martin S. Luger, Stephen C. Maberly, Dörthe C. Müller-Navarra, Andrew M. Paterson, Donald C. Pierson, David C. Richardson, Michela Rogora, James A. Rusak, Steven Sadro, Nico Salmaso, Martin Schmid, Eugene A. Silow, Ruben Sommaruga, Julio A. A. Stelzer, Dietmar Straile, Wim Thiery, Maxim A. Timofeyev, Piet Verburg, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer and Rita Adrian
Additional contact information
Benjamin M. Kraemer: Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Rachel M. Pilla: Miami University
R. Iestyn Woolway: Dundalk Institute of Technology
Orlane Anneville: University Savoie Mont Blanc, CARRTEL
Syuhei Ban: University of Shiga Prefecture
William Colom-Montero: Uppsala University
Shawn P. Devlin: University of Montana
Martin T. Dokulil: University of Innsbruck
Evelyn E. Gaiser: Florida International University
K. David Hambright: University of Oklahoma
Dag O. Hessen: University of Oslo
Scott N. Higgins: IISD Experimental Lakes Area Inc
Klaus D. Jöhnk: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
Wendel Keller: Laurentian University
Lesley B. Knoll: University of Minnesota
Peter R. Leavitt: University of Regina
Fabio Lepori: University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland
Martin S. Luger: Federal Agency for Water Management
Stephen C. Maberly: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Dörthe C. Müller-Navarra: University of Hamburg
Andrew M. Paterson: Ontario Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks
Donald C. Pierson: Uppsala University
David C. Richardson: State University of New York at New Paltz
Michela Rogora: CNR Water Research Institute (IRSA)
James A. Rusak: Ontario Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks
Steven Sadro: University of California-Davis
Nico Salmaso: Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach
Martin Schmid: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Eugene A. Silow: Irkutsk State University
Ruben Sommaruga: University of Innsbruck
Julio A. A. Stelzer: Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Dietmar Straile: University of Konstanz
Wim Thiery: ETH Zürich
Maxim A. Timofeyev: Irkutsk State University
Piet Verburg: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer: Uppsala University
Rita Adrian: Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

Nature Climate Change, 2021, vol. 11, issue 6, 521-529

Abstract: Abstract Lake surfaces are warming worldwide, raising concerns about lake organism responses to thermal habitat changes. Species may cope with temperature increases by shifting their seasonality or their depth to track suitable thermal habitats, but these responses may be constrained by ecological interactions, life histories or limiting resources. Here we use 32 million temperature measurements from 139 lakes to quantify thermal habitat change (percentage of non-overlap) and assess how this change is exacerbated by potential habitat constraints. Long-term temperature change resulted in an average 6.2% non-overlap between thermal habitats in baseline (1978–1995) and recent (1996–2013) time periods, with non-overlap increasing to 19.4% on average when habitats were restricted by season and depth. Tropical lakes exhibited substantially higher thermal non-overlap compared with lakes at other latitudes. Lakes with high thermal habitat change coincided with those having numerous endemic species, suggesting that conservation actions should consider thermal habitat change to preserve lake biodiversity.

Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01060-3

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