Effects of Climate, Limnological Features and Watershed Clearcut Logging on Long-Term Variation in Zooplankton Communities of Boreal Shield Lakes

摘要

In Canada, climate change and forest harvesting may both threaten the ecological integrity of boreal lakes. To disentangle the effects of natural variation in climate and lake environments from those of logging, we evaluated long-term variation (1991–2003) in zooplankton communities of six boreal lakes in Ontario. We monitored concomitantly changes in zooplankton abundance and composition in three undisturbed and three harvested lakes, five years prior and eight years after watershed clearcut logging. We tested the hypothesis that long-term natural variation in climate and lake environments will be more important drivers of zooplankton community changes than short-term impacts of logging. We used space/time interaction tests and asymmetric eigenvector maps to model zooplankton responses to environmental changes and logging. Year-to-year variation in zooplankton abundance and composition were almost an order of magnitude whereas among-lake variation was stable through time. Breakpoints in time series of zooplankton in each lake were not directly related to logging. Climatic and limnological features were the most important drivers of long-term variation in the zooplankton community, shading the effect of logging. These results highlight the need to better understand the pressures exerted by climate change on boreal lake ecosystems in the context of anthropogenic pressure, such as logging.