Lakes as model systems for understanding global change

Research using lakes and ponds as model systems contributes both to addressing the freshwater biodiversity crisis and developing general theories and frameworks for understanding how biological systems respond to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors.

There is an extensive literature describing the ever-increasing influence of human activities on the natural world, which is particularly acute in freshwaters1. However, despite advancements in recent years, the ability to predict stressor impacts on communities and ecosystem-level processes remains limited. Key challenges stem from how different groups of organisms frequently respond to environmental changes in different ways and how effects are often mediated through species (biotic–biotic) interactions2. Effects also depend on abiotic context and may be moderated by other co-occurring stressors. It is difficult to investigate these issues at relevant scales, but climate change research focused on how single species (or small sets of species) respond to individual physical factors, such as temperature or rainfall, is likely to miss important interactions that may either dampen or amplify future impacts3. Given their unique features, lakes and ponds (herein referred to as lakes) are exceptionally positioned as model systems that can facilitate broader understanding of how climate and other anthropogenic changes impact biological systems.

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Fig. 1: Reductionist and emergent representations of lake and pond ecosystems.
Fig. 2: Schematic of multiple stressors and ecological services common to lakes and ponds.

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  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Charlie J. G. Loewen

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Loewen, C.J.G. Lakes as model systems for understanding global change.
Nat. Clim. Chang. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01624-5

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  • Published: 23 March 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01624-5

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