Long-Term Environmental Monitoring in an Arctic Lake Polluted by Metals under Climate Change

Environments

Vladimir A. Dauvalter¹  Nikolay A. Kashulin¹  Elena M. Zubova¹  Zakhar I. Slukovskii¹  Peter M. Terentyev¹  Oksana I. Vandysh¹  Svetlana A. Valkova¹  Dmitry B. Denisov¹  Alexander A. Cherepanov¹ 

[1] Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems of Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 184209 Moscow, Russia;

关键词: pollution;    heavy metals;    ecosystem;    Lake Kuetsjarvi;   

DOI  :  10.3390/environments7050034

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Lake Kuetsjarvi (in the lower reaches of the Pasvik River, Murmansk Region, Russia) in the border area between Russia and Norway, is one of the most polluted water reservoirs in the European Arctic. The operation of the Pechenganikel Smelter located on its shores has led to the extremely high concentrations of heavy metals observed in the waters and sediments of the lake. Long-term comprehensive studies of the ecosystem of Lake Kuetsjarvi have made it possible to identify the response of its components to the global and regional change in the environment and climate as a whole, resulting in increased water toxicity and eutrophication, reduction in the number of stenobiont species of aquatic organisms against the background of an increase in the number of eurybiontic and invasive species. Modern communities of Lake Kuetsjarvi are the result of a combination of long-term changes in the abiotic environment and biotic interactions. Heavy-metal pollution of Lake Kuetsjarvi, observed since the 1930s, has led to the formation of a community that is resistant to this type of impact and supports large populations of adapted species. Adaptations of communities to the dynamics of the environmental conditions that their members are exposed to include changes in the species composition, quantitative indicators, ratios between individual taxonomic groups, and the population structure. The development of sympatric forms that differ in the ecological niches they occupy, morphology, and life cycle strategies, including the transition to a short-cycle survival strategy, allows whitefish to remain the dominant species and maintain high population numbers. Unlike the organismal level, responses to medium-term environmental changes on the population and community level are less specific and characterized by stronger inertia.

【 授权许可】

Unknown