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Lake Temperatures as Sentinel Responses to Climate Change

Pilla, Rachel M
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9156-9486
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1443090263

Abstract Details

2015, Master of Science, Miami University, Biology.
The surface waters of two small lakes in northeastern Pennsylvania have warmed over the past 27 summers (1988-2014), but with no significant increase in air temperature, the quintessential driver of lake surface warming. I assessed long-term trends and interannual relationships between lake thermal structure and regional meteorological patterns to determine the changes in and drivers of lake temperatures. Strong increases in thermal stratification accompanied surface water warming trends in both lakes. In the clearer lake, I found cooler deepwater temperatures over time contributing to net whole-lake cooling. Precipitation significantly increased over this time period and was most strongly correlated to the changes in lake thermal structure. These changes are largely related to precipitation-driven increases in dissolved organic matter in the lakes, leading to reductions in water transparency driving thermal responses. These changes to lake ecosystems have important ecological consequences, including changes in physical processes and vertical habitat gradients.
Craig Williamson (Advisor)
Michael Vanni (Committee Member)
Jing Zhang (Committee Member)
38 p.
Biology
climate change; limnology; lake temperature; water transparency; precipitation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pilla, R. M. (2015). Lake Temperatures as Sentinel Responses to Climate Change [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1443090263

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pilla, Rachel. Lake Temperatures as Sentinel Responses to Climate Change. 2015. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1443090263.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pilla, Rachel. "Lake Temperatures as Sentinel Responses to Climate Change." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1443090263

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1443090263
397
© 2015, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Lake Temperatures as Sentinel Responses to Climate Change by Rachel M Pilla is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.